Speaking Energy

In Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station v. FERC,¹ decided on July 21, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ended long-running litigation over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC or “Commission”) approval of the Weymouth Compressor Station in Norfolk, Massachusetts. The Weymouth Compressor Station is part of the Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, L.L.C. Atlantic Bridge Project, which received a certificate under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) from FERC in 2017 (Docket No. CP16-9).² In Fore River, the court found that the petitioners, local residents, municipalities, and an environmental organization lacked Article III standing to challenge two orders issued by FERC after the certificate issued (1) a December 26, 2018, delegated order granting Algonquin a two-year extension of time to construct the facilities (the “Extension Order”)³ that was subsequently upheld by a full Commission order on February 21, 2020 (the “2020 Rehearing Order”);⁴ and (2) a January 20, 2022, denial of rehearing (the “2022 Rehearing Order”)⁵ of a September 24, 2020, order authorizing Algonquin to place the facilities in service (the “In-Service Extension Order”).⁶ It also dismissed the petitions as moot. 

Last week, the Asia Climate Summit 2022 (“ACS 2022”) organized by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) took place in Singapore. The ACS 2022, which was held shortly after the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) Climate Summit in Egypt, served as an important follow-up forum for dialogue among policy-makers, corporates and innovators to continue discussions on the world’s evolving net-zero landscape and clean energy growth opportunities. Paul Greening (Partner) and Jooyoung Song (Counsel), who are both members of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP’s global energy and transactions team, attended ACS 2022 and wanted to share the following observations:

We are pleased to share a recording of Akin Gump’s mid-year energy briefing that recently took place, along with the presentation materials.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP partner Shariff Barakat will be moderating a panel at CCS / Decarbonization Project Development, Finance & Investment Summit, "Introduction to 45Q", to review the provisions and components of the initial legislation, guidance issued in 2020 and 2021, and the identification and growth of other potential revenue streams for such projects. The session will take place Monday, July 25, 2022, from 8:30am – 9:15am.

Please use code 221262 for a 15% discount: https://infocastinc.com/event/ccs-decarbonization.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP partner Daniel Lynch will be presenting 11 sessions over two days with Infocast as part of the master-class series on "Renewable Energy Hedging for Today’s Markets" covering complex issues from assessing and mitigating basic risk to understanding and using proxy generation instruments. The seminar is approved for CLE and will take place New York July 20-21, 2022, with opening remarks commencing at 1:00 pm EST on the 20^th  and concluding at 5:30 pm EST on the 21^st.

Please click here to register.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP partners Shariff Barakat and Jeff Cohen will be presenting a two day master-class with Infocast, " Tax Equity Structure Solutions for Today’s Renewable Projects ", conducting 11 sessions encompassing complex issues such as Understanding Federal Tax Incentives and the Situation Now, Partnership Rules and a Focus on Capital Accounts, and Walkthrough of Partnership Flip Models. The seminar is approved for CLE and will take place in New York July 19-20, 2022, with registration opening on the 19^th at 8:00 am EST and concluding the 20^th at noon EST.

Please click here to register.

Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) published the Energy 2050 Committee Report (the “Report”) on 22nd March. The committee (consisting of experts from both the public and private sectors (the “Committee”) concluded that it is feasible for Singapore’s power sector to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The content of the Report appears to indicate that hydrogen is set to play a key role in Singapore’s efforts of more broadly achieving net-zero by the government’s current target of “by or around mid-century,” as announced by the Minister for Finance, Mr Lawrence Wong, during his 2022 Budget speech in February¹. The release of the Report is timely given that Singapore is set to formally revise its Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) later this year—the Report may serve as a precursor to the government formally setting its net-zero target at 2050.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP partner Daniel Lynch will be presenting a live video webinar with Strafford titled, "Renewable Energy M&A: Deal Structures, Key Issues, and Diligence Considerations", to discuss complex issues involving transaction structure, due diligence in identifying and allocating risks, and valuation and balancing upside/risks between buyers and sellers. The webinar is approved for CLE and will take place Tuesday, June 7, 2022, from 1:00pm – 2:30pm EDT.

Please click here to register.