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Sullivan & Worcester has one goal: to help businesses thrive in an ever-changing marketplace. We combine the breadth of experience and sophistication you expect from a prominent, top-tier law firm with an unusually creative and flexible approach. Clients choose Sullivan & Worcester because our lawyers are hands-on, business savvy and straightforward, with an intense commitment to our clients' interests.

Recent Posts

Blog Update: The Future of Electricity Markets? Corporations Directly Buying Renewable Power

Posted by Administrator on 10/6/16 11:08 AM
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Topics: corporate procurement, Renewable power

EDGE Advisory: Focus on Corporate Renewables

Posted by Administrator on 10/4/16 1:24 PM

Co-author Jim Wrathall and Morgan M. Gerard

Sullivan & Worcester, LLP recently released our EDGE Advisory: Focus on Corporate Renewables.  EDGE examines energy macro-trends through articles and expert contributions focusing on market direction, policy updates, and innovations in finance.

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Topics: corporate procurement, renewable energy finance, tax equity

New York Unveils Details of its Clean Energy Program

Posted by Administrator on 8/9/16 11:46 AM

The New York Department of Public Service (DPS or Commission) on August 1, 2016 issued its long-awaited Clean Energy Standard order (“Order”). The Order sets forth the means by which the Empire State intends to achieve its ambitious goal of supplying 50% of the State’s electricity needs with clean energy by 2030 (50x30). By attaining this target the State will reduce its overall carbon emissions by 40%.

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Topics: NY REV, Renewable Energy, Reforming the Energy Vision, New York Solar, clean energy standard

The Brownfield Gold Rush: Municipalities Give Contaminated Properties New Life- Published by Cleantechnica

Posted by Administrator on 7/26/16 10:05 AM

Innovative local government leaders throughout the country are taking advantage of state and federal incentives to transform former landfills and contaminated industrial properties and waste sites into energy-producing wind and solar projects. Two examples of municipalities giving such contaminated properties new life are discussed in this article – redeveloping once polluted properties into solar installations in New Bedford, Massachusetts and revitalizing a former Bethlehem Steel plant into renewable energy projects in Lackawanna, New York.

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Topics: Solar Energy, solar brownfield, contaminated property, brownfield

Opening the Floodgates for U.S. Clean Energy Deployment- Published by Power Finance & Risk

Posted by Administrator on 7/22/16 2:25 PM
"The biggest obstacle to renewable energy growth in the U.S. is the availability of tax equity investment supporting project construction.  There is not nearly as much tax equity investment as is needed to support financing and building all of the renewable projects in development.  As a result, the pace of project financing and construction is being severely constrained."
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The New Gold Standard for Building Performance - PEER

Posted by Administrator on 7/19/16 10:20 AM

Co-authors Jeffrey M. Karp and Morgan M. Gerard 

Electricity-grid vulnerabilities were deeply exposed in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and its associated storm surge, as a single outage at a substation caused a sweeping black-out across downtown Manhattan, New York. Making matters worse, climate change science anticipates that future storms will be both stronger and more frequent.  To facilitate and improve the security, resiliency, and reliability of the macrogrid system, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has developed PEER, Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal, the nation’s first comprehensive, consumer-centric, data-driven tool for evaluating power system performance. 

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Topics: Distributed Energy, Renewable Energy, United States Green Building Council, USGBC, LEED, Resiliency, Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal, PEER

Update: Confluence of Emissions Regulations Favor Renewable Energy Development

Posted by Administrator on 7/1/16 12:29 PM


This posts continues our discussion regarding the status of several major recent regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that target reductions in emissions from the oil, natural gas, and coal industries, and how these regulations will drive increased investment in cleaner and renewable energy. In particular it provides updates to Part 1 in this series on EPA’s Carbon Pollution Standards for New, Modified, and Reconstructed Power Plants and Part 2 on EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).

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U.S. Offshore Wind:  Mid-Year Update

Posted by Administrator on 6/7/16 2:13 PM

Several speakers at the recent American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) annual conference in New Orleans lauded the positive impact of Congress's extensions of the production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC) in December 2015. As they noted, these extensions position wind energy for a period of unprecedented stability and growth—at least for the onshore wind sector.

Offshore wind has tremendous potential in the United States, but unlike the onshore wind sector, offshore still has a long way to go to reach critical mass. The recent PTC/ITC extensions ramp down by the early 2020s. As a result, only a few early offshore projects are likely to be far enough along to benefit from the PTC/ITC extensions. Absent a further tax incentive specifically directed to offshore wind, as recently proposed by Senators Markey (D-Mass) and Whitehouse (D-RI), offshore wind will continue to rely on state-level policies to build out the necessary supply chain.

Where will U.S. offshore wind find support to attain critical mass? Here are six major areas of recent progress:

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Topics: Renewable Energy, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, DONG Energy, BOEM, New Jersey Offshore Wind, Maryland Offshore Wind, Massachusetts Offshore Wind, New York Offshore Wind

Confluence of Emissions Regulations Favor Renewable Energy Investment (Part 2)

Posted by Administrator on 5/24/16 12:01 PM

In yesterday’s Part 1, we discussed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules regulating emissions from existing and new stationary electricity generating units. In today’s post, we discuss EPA’s regulations regarding emissions of mercury and air toxics, and emissions of methane and other volatile organic compounds.

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Topics: Renewable Energy, Mercury Air Toxics Standards, Methane Emissions Standards

Confluence of Emissions Regulations Favor Renewable Energy Investment (Part 1)

Posted by Administrator on 5/23/16 3:39 PM

GOP Presidential Candidate Donald Trump made several sweeping promises while on the campaign trail vowing to reopen shuttered mines and bring coal back to its dominance of a decade ago. These promises, however, are dated as the coal industry continues to face multiple hurdles: (1) greater availability of affordable natural gas and renewable resources; (2) stricter emissions standards for fossil-fuel fired electricity generating sources; and as a result, (3) reluctance in the investor community to finance new coal projects.  What candidates on both sides of the political spectrum could say is that, although the mines will close, the country remains dedicated to training displaced miners to work in a new renewable energy future.

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Topics: Renewable Energy, clean power plan, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, renewable energy investment, new stationary source rule, existing stationary source rule

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About the Blog


The Environment & Energy Insights blog analyzes developments in the law, as well as provides updates and perspectives on trends and polices.

The material on this site is for general information only and is not legal advice. No liability is accepted for any loss or damage which may result from reliance on it. Always consult a qualified lawyer about a specific legal problem.

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