July 21, 2023 By: Robert S. Cooper The Adolph v. Uber Ruling Thwarts The U.S. Supreme Court’s Landmark Viking Decision In a widely anticipated but unsurprising ruling, the California Supreme Court on July 17, 2023 issued its decision in Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc., (S274671) weighing in on the United States Supreme Court’s (“SCOTUS”) recent landmark decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, (2022) 596 U.S. __, [142 S. Ct 1906] (Viking) ...
On July 13, 2023, Law No. 21,586 was enacted. This law amends Law No. 21,435 to extend the term to fulfill certain requirements set forth therein, and also amends the Water Code to introduce an administrative procedure to clarify and complete titles of water rights (“WR”). Amendments to Law No ...
Michelle Craven-Faulkner, Partner and Rail Sector Lead participated in a roundtable in Birmingham last month hosted by Insider Media Limited, which was focused on the challenges, obstacles and opportunities supply chains face when looking at how manufacturing is adapting and innovating to bring forward the green revolution in transport. Michelle joined a team of experts and leading players from the mobility sector covering rail, automotive and aerospace ...
Shoosmiths’ energy & infrastructure partner Chris Pritchett hosted a panel discussion at the UK Solar Summit, focused on how public and private sector organisations are capitalising on solar carports. Chris joined 350 solar energy professionals at the inaugural event to take stock of the rapid progress the industry is making towards a decarbonised energy system, as well as evaluating the obstacles that are threatening to impede that progress ...
"Leave this to me, I'm British… I know how to queue."{1} The Energy Services Operator (ESO) recently published a consultation which sets out a vision of medium-term reform for connections to (or affecting) the Transmission Network, whether they are directly connected or embedded ...
The UK now has one publicly accessible charge point for every 11.2 Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) on the road, having seen a remarkable 70% jump in charge points over the past year. The figures, utilised in the calculation of the Electric Vehicle Country Attractiveness (EVCA) Index developed by Cornwall Insight and law firm Shoosmiths, demonstrate the substantial impact of the government's ongoing efforts to expand the charging infrastructure network ...
As of June 1, 2023, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr, “BMDV”) published a new draft bill for a regulation on consent management services (Consent Management Regulation Einwilligungsverwaltungsverordnung, “EinwV”) under the German Telecommunications Telemedia Data Protection Act (Telekommunikation-Telemedien-Datenschutz-Gesetz, “TTDSG”) ...
This pilot is a first-of-its-kind use of distributed ledger (Web3) SLC technology and is expected to deliver reduced operational costs and improved risk management for lenders. Based on natural language contract terms developed by SVW and converted to SLCs using Hunit’s AI-powered tools, MMB’s clients will benefit from simplified processes, streamlined monitoring, and improved contract fulfilment ...
Throughout the United States and globally there is an undisputed trend towards renewable energy as much of the world seeks to decarbonize in response to the risks of climate change. As the article, “Clean energy investment is now nearly 2x that of fossil fuels – here’s why,” from Electrek notes, as of 2023, for every $1 spent on fossil fuels globally, now more than $1.70 is spent investing in clean energy, a ratio that was 1:1 just five years ago ...
It is broadly accepted that hydrogen has an important part to play in our net zero future -the shape and the extent of that role, however, is widely debated. Low carbon mobility is one of those areas. Most analysis has focussed on the commanding position held by battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in personal mobility, and some of the advantages which hydrogen fuel cells have in heavy duty or return-to-base applications like buses[1], waste vehicles[2] and heavy haulage ...
Monday, May 29, 2023, marked the official end of the 88th regular session of the Texas Legislature. It was an especially active session for the energy industry, which saw the passage of several bills that, if signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, will have significant and long-term impacts on the oil and gas, renewable energy and power sectors in Texas ...
Key Takeaways Rooftop solar (“RTS”) power installations are permissible, based on two categories: Category 1 – RTS systems not synchronized with the national power grid; or Category 2 – RTS systems synchronized with the national power grid. An annual quota for Category 2 permits will be set. Compensation tariffs (i.e. reduced tariffs payable by consumers based on their RTS generation). Technical and safety standards. One Window Web Portal ...
The Supreme Court on 10 May 2023 considered whether damage caused by an oil spill in 2011 could constitute a “continuing nuisance” – and so extend the limitation period for a claim ...
As countries and companies around the world set goals for renewable energy targets, there is constant uncertainty as to the best path for reaching these goals. While wind and solar development are often top of mind, nuclear generation recently has entered the discussion to achieve a carbon-free energy future. The linked articles discuss renewable energy goals and opinions regarding nuclear energy's role in such a transition ...
On April 19th 2023, Law No. 21.553 which regulates paid passenger transportation applications and the services provided through them was published in the Official Gazette. The Law includes important provisions regarding the protection of consumers of passenger transportation services, making the sphere of protection of Law No. 19.496 - Consumer Protection Act ("CPA”), applicable to the contracts entered by passengers with the platforms of transportation application companies ("TAC") ...
On April 20th, 2023, President Gabriel Boric announced the guidelines of the National Lithium Strategy, through which the Government seeks to promote the lithium exploitation by the Chilean State (by means of State-owned companies or in association with private entities), to generate value-added lithium products and investment in technology and research ...
“Electrification” has become a ubiquitous term these days, although depending on who you ask, it might have different meanings. However defined, a critical component of electrification as a policy choice to reduce reliance on fossil fuels is the need to fully evaluate both its practicality and the transparency of its cost impacts, particularly as that relates to lower income and middle class families, as well as small business ...
Not long ago, the idea of having a national transport strategy about data would have seemed outlandish. From around five years ago, we’ve had predictions of a lifestyle revolution based on the value of data. Now, that revolution has gone mainstream, and with it, the world of planes, trains and automobiles ...
Shoosmiths’ Public Inquiries team is delighted to present a series of podcasts in respect of reflections and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hosted by Hayley Saunders and Alex Friston, we are delighted to be joined by a variety of speakers, each bringing something different to the table in relation to impacts, views and then thoughts towards the Public Inquiry, which is set to commence its first public hearings on 13 June ...
Back in March 2022, a furore erupted over the mass redundancies by P&O Ferries of its workers and their replacement with an international crew on much lower wages. Amidst all the calls for changes to prevent ‘fire and rehire’ tactics, the only relevant change to employment legislation to have made it onto the statute book so far is The Seafarers' Wages Act 2023 (SWA 2023), which came into force on 23 March 2023 ...
April 5, 2023 By: Nora Sheriff and Samir Hafez In their Wildfire Mitigation Plans (WMPs), Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) indicate plans to spend roughly $18 billion and $5.8 billion respectively over the 2023-2025 WMP cycle. These total figures represent an approximately 26% increase over the utilities’ 2020-2022 WMP expenditures ...
The N.C. Building Code Council is required by North Carolina law to reevaluate the building code every six years. In light of climate change legislation enacted in North Carolina on the heels of Governor Cooper’s 2019 Clean Energy Plan, changes to the energy code are being considered that would result in an 18 percent increase in energy efficiency for new homes. These code changes are in line with the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code ...
