Switch2 Energy, Shoosmiths and HermeticaBlack came together to discuss procurement and delivery of new, low cost, low carbon heat networks ...
Switch2 Energy, Shoosmiths and BEIS came together to provide an update on how regulation, rising energy prices and decarbonisation targets are impacting heat network operators and customers. This first webinar looks at the background to heat networks, an update on policy and impending regulation ...
Last November 6, the government of Québec held an important working session that brought together various northern partners for the purpose of ensuring the sustainable and socially responsible development of the vast territory covered by the Plan Nord.Back in the fall of 2008, the Québec government announced the introduction of this Plan Nord for the economic development of the territory of northern Québec ...
Amidst price wars, a global pandemic, and the diminished demand for oil, E&P borrowers and secured lenders face inevitable credit agreement defaults ahead (if not already). Although real property foreclosure of oil and gas assets is often seen as a secured lender’s primary remedy, negative oil prices, operational challenges and the potential for liability may leave some banks contemplating whether a real property foreclosure is the best course of action ...
The mining sector is affected by constant changes in the market, along with exploration results and discoveries. The fast pace of this change results in trends developing on a micro or macro scale, and one of the re-emerging trends seen in the industry today is the use of strategic alliances for mineral exploration purposes. The nature and terms of a strategic alliance can vary greatly, depending upon the objectives of the parties ...
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has revised its Rules of Practice and Procedure (Revised RPP) which govern the proceedings before the ERC through the issuance of ERC Resolution No. 01, Series of 2021.1 The Revised RPP took effect on April 13, 2021 (or 15 days after its publication in Business Mirror, a newspaper of general circulation). It allows the ERC to adapt to changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and modernizes the ERC rules of procedure ...
South Africa is a party to a number of international environmental agreements, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Control (“UNFCCC”), 1992, the Kyoto Protocol, 1997 and the Paris Agreement. In terms of the Paris Agreement, governments have made a commitment to ensure that global average temperatures remain below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. For South Africa, a country that relies heavily on fossil fuels to generate energy, this is a mammoth task ...
In this long running case, the Court of Appeal has granted Dwr Cymru (on 26 July) leave to appeal the Competition Appeal Tribunal's (the CAT) finding that Dwr Cymru had abused its dominant position by setting an access charge that resulted in a margin squeeze on Albion Water (Albion). The Court of Appeal is due to hear the case later this year ...
Despite being home to the first natural gas well in the United States, the State of New York has prohibited the use of hydraulic fracturing within its borders. Since the election of Governor Andrew Cuomo, the question in the oil and gas industry is whether he will lift the ban. Shortly after his election, Governor Cuomo tasked the Department of Environmental Conservation with drafting rules to allow for hydraulic fracturing ...
On July 2, 2012, the North Carolina Senate and House of Representatives voted to override Governor Perdue’s veto of Senate Bill 820, known as the Clean Energy and Economic Security Act (the “Act”), legalizing hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling within the State but delaying permitting until the General Assembly takes additional legislative action to allow it ...
In December 2004 and more recently in March 2005, the Superior Court rendered three significant judgments respecting motions for authorization to institute class actions. In the first case, Bouchard v. Laiterie et Boulangerie Parmalat Inc.1, the motion was denied for the absence of interest and of rights of the applicant. In the second case, Citoyens pour une qualité de vie v. Aéroports de Montréal2, the motion was denied for lack of identical, similar or related questions of law or fact ...
The Supreme Court of Canada confirms that only those modern practices that maintain a reasonable degree of continuity with the practices, customs or traditions that were integral to an Aboriginal group’s pre-contact dist inctive culture will be protected as an Aboriginal right under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. On November 10, 2011, in the case of Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band v ...
In a significant victory for Dinsmore’s attorneys and their clients, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia upheld the continuing viability of subjacent support waivers in coal severance deeds in West Virginia. A copy of the decision, released Nov. 16, 2017, is available here. These were consolidated appeals that required the Court to interpret various provisions of the West Virginia Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act (WVSCMRA) ...
Captive power generation in the Indian solar sector is, literally, a hotbed of policy and regulatory contradiction. While the Electricity Act, 2003 (“Act”) incentivises captive power generation, losing lucrative industrial and commercial customers to captive power consumption is a deeply unpopular outcome for our financially beleaguered state power distribution and transmission companies which rely on high industrial tariffs paid by such customers ...
In an opinion that should give pause to mineral lessors, the Texas Supreme Court revisited the scope of the duty that an executive rights holder owes a non-executive, holding that a lessor’s negotiation of an above-market bonus (for itself) and below-market royalty (shared with the non-executive) may give rise to liability to the non-executive.KCM Financial LLC v. Bradshaw, No. 13-0199, 2015 Tex. LEXIS 220, --- S.W.3d --- (Tex. Mar. 6, 2015) ...
Two and a half years after the expiry of the deadline for the implementation of the Third Energy Package, the Macedonian authorities seem eager to finalise this process in the near future. The new draft legislation has been in the pipeline for quite some time, but until now its adoption was postponed due to different reasons ...
Last week, Shoosmiths hosted an event with leading industry body, Regen on REMA, The UK’s Review of Electricity Market Arrangements. During this event we heard directly from representatives from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, debating the most important issues for the clean energy sector to consider and discuss the key options for reform with leading developers and investors ...
As noted in our January 2015 Haynes and Boone Alert on “Stretching Your Borrowing Base,” the spring borrowing base redetermination season is upon us. Borrowing base reductions seem a certainty for many oil and gas producers ...
The nearly global response to the spread of the deadly Coronavirus has led to governmental authorities at all levels issuing “stay-at-home orders,” “orders to close non-essential businesses,” and bans on gatherings of 10 people or more. The resulting shut-down, as well as the impact of widespread remote-working practices and displacement of personnel, may disrupt or interrupt trading and hedging activity ...
An increased number of corporate transactions and mergers have been observed in the oil and gas sector on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) in recent years. Several oil majors and traditional utilities and downstream companies have reduced their presence and, to some extent, been replaced by smaller companies, including start-ups backed by private equity ...
We are very excited to be supporting the UN Global Compact Network UK’s ‘Transitioning to a Net Zero’ webinar series ...
The global focus on reducing greenhouse gases and promoting renewable energy cannot be ignored in today’s business environment. Whether your business deals directly in energy or not, EU green policy-making is likely to affect your costs: transport, shipping, heating, electricity - all are ultimately affected by EU legislation on energy and climate change. In March 2007, the Council of the European Union agreed a new Energy Policy ...
South Africans’ recent celebration of Freedom Day signalled 27 years of democracy. Through democracy, our Constitution further brought us rights and obligations to guide our rainbow nation, including freedom of expression and environmental rights to protect our environment, health and well-being while focusing on the sustainability of our environment. Although clothing serves a function and a need, for many, luxury clothing is the gold standard of self-expression and success ...
"What are the 'waters of the United States'? As it turns out, defining that statutory phrase—a central component of the Clean Water Act—is a contentious and difficult task." This observation, recently made by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, understates the difficulty in answering what should otherwise be an anodyne question: Does my project require a Clean Water Act permit? At this moment, answers to this question may be far from certain ...
