In a tough economic climate where many states are cutting
incentives and raising tax rates in an effort to increase revenue
and close vast budget deficits, debate continues as to the extent
that state and local taxation are affecting the exploration of
natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shales. Such tax
incentives may be overridden by logistical concerns such as access
to production wells and ability to ship products to market via
barge, rail, truck, and pipe. As the primary Marcellus Shale
states, West Virginia and Pennsylvania are competing for the
exploration, drilling, transportation, processing, and
manufacturing of natural gas. The combined tax breaks and credits
offered in West Virginia provide incentives for natural gas
developers to extract natural gas in the state....
Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued a Notice of Inquiry on April 19th ("NOI") seeking comment on its policy regarding capacity priority rights and open access on developer-owned interconnection facilities that connect generation facilities to the integrated transmission grid ("Interconnection Facilities").
At FERC’s open meeting on April 19, 2012, FERC approved several orders addressing core aspects of Reliability Standards compliance, including cybersecurity Reliability Standards, compliance registration, and contingency planning issues.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC"), on April 19, 2012, approved the eight modified Critical Infrastructure Protection ("CIP") Reliability Standards, CIP-002-4 through CIP-009-4 ("Version 4 CIP Standards"), which were developed and submitted for approval by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation ("NERC") ("Final Order").
On May 4, 2012, the US Bureau of Land Management ("BLM" or the "Bureau"), which is part of the Department of the Interior, released its proposed rule for regulating hydraulic fracturing on public and Indian lands. As expected, the proposal addresses public disclosure of fracturing fluid constituents, well-bore integrity, and wastewater management.
On April 20, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued an order accepting proposed revisions to the WSPP Agreement addressing sales of renewable energy certificates ("RECs") made pursuant to that agreement.
The U.S. lags behind Europe in the development of offshore wind (OSW) projects in part due to the lack of a mandatory national renewable energy standard and other tax incentives.
On April 27, 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) proposed final regulations governing the eligibility of biomass energy for Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) for compliance with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS).