Power & Pipes

President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) establishing the National Energy Dominance Council (Council) on February 14, 2025. The EO outlines the rationale for creating the Council, its members, and its primary functions.

Donald J. Trump became the 47th president of the United States on January 20. His second inaugural address focused significantly on energy policy, where he promised to declare a national energy emergency. Making America “energy dominant again” is the second of his four America First Priorities. President Trump’s energy policy aims to meet two of his goals: reducing energy costs as part of his plan to “defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices” and restoring American manufacturing.

On January 14, 2025, with just days remaining before a presidential administration change, President Joseph R. Biden issued an Executive Order on Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure (EO) that directs federal government agencies to solicit proposals for the development of “frontier” artificial intelligence (AI) data centers on federal lands. While the EO remains for now, it could soon be rescinded by the new administration. Recognizing the substantial amount of energy infrastructure needed to train AI models, the EO is heavily focused on incentivizing the expeditious development of low or zero carbon energy resources to power these AI data centers. Set out below is a summary of key parts of the EO. Morgan Lewis’s data centers team is available to discuss the EO and assist with data center development and related issues.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on September 19, 2024 to tighten its existing mandatory controls for certain electric assets. The proposal reflects FERC’s increasing concern that current controls are not up to the task of preventing bad actors from infiltrating the supply chain of critical electric infrastructure, thereby creating significant risk to electric system reliability.

The US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has advanced the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, a bipartisan energy bill that would facilitate permitting for energy infrastructure and mining projects.

In our final dispatch from the CERAWeek conference by S&P Global, Felipe Alice shared some insights and key takeaways from a luncheon and dialogue session featuring tech entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist Bill Gates.

Our coverage of the CERAWeek conference by S&P Global in Houston, running from March 18 to March 22, continues with more updates. Today’s missive comes from the Innovation Agora, which is connected to the Executive Conference at CERAWeek. The Innovation Agora is described as a “vibrant and interactive marketplace of ideas on energy innovation and emerging technologies.” It includes several amphitheaters or “hubs” that are designed for presentations and conversations involving the latest trends in climate change, carbon, hydrogen, and emerging energy technologies.

We’re back with another update from CERAWeek 2024 by S&P Global to highlight some key takeaways from day two of the conference. Many of the sessions on this day were dedicated to infrastructure development and highlighted the opportunities and the challenges facing energy project developers.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a class action lawsuit claiming a California utility was liable for blackouts that were allegedly caused by inadequate electric system maintenance.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a notice of inquiry (NOI) in December 2023 seeking comments on whether and, if so, how FERC should revise its policy on providing blanket authorizations for investment companies under Section 203(a)(2) of the Federal Power Act (FPA). This policy has permitted certain nonactive investors (such as mutual funds) to purchase and sell equity interests in utilities and holding companies without the typical FERC review of such investments.