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Drawing on over 39 years of experience in the energy industry, Bud Earley, a non-lawyer senior advisor, provides analysis and advice on a wide range of federal and state energy regulatory issues, including transaction and rate issues, regional transmission organization (RTO) tariffs and rules, interconnection, retail choice and demand response for electricity customers, a natural gas pipelines and hydroelectric facility licenses, and LNG export authorizations.
Working with Covington teams, Mr. Earley has provided advice and analysis to investment firms, utilities, independent power producers, project developers, customers, marketers and U.S. and international energy companies.
Prior to joining Covington, Mr. Earley served for over 30 years in various staff positions at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). While at the FERC, Mr. Earley was instrumental in developing and applying policies regarding the transition of the electric utility industry to competition, including policies regarding independent power producers, transmission access, standard generator interconnection procedures, organized electricity markets, mergers and market-based rates.
- For a major U.S. utility, secured favorable rulings from FERC regarding rate incentives for major transmission projects, market-based rate authority for its generation assets and a declaratory order regarding an underwater transmission project.
- For a major U.S. energy company, advised on securing DOE approval to export LNG and from FERC to construct an LNG terminal.
- For a prominent coalition of major electricity market stakeholders, providing ongoing analyses and other services regarding state and federal regulatory and policy matters related to electricity competition.
- For U.S. investment firms, secured FERC approval of the sale of a generator to a U.S. electric utility, and advised on the Federal Power Act implications of unwinding a series of investments in U.S. transmission and hydroelectric facilities.
- For a prominent Asian investment firm, securing FERC approval of a substantial investment in a U.S. electric utility
- For a U.S. and transmission cooperative, obtained a favorable ruling from FERC on a complaint against a transmission provider for violating its open access tariff, and securing an interconnection agreement for a new generator.
- For potential LNG terminal developers, advised on the regulatory process for securing approvals from DOE and FERC to export LNG and build LNG terminal facilities.
- For a coalition of U.S. electric generating companies, advised on successful federal court challenge of state regulatory interference in FERC-jurisdictional wholesale markets.
- Advised foreign government agency on reforming its electricity market surveillance program.
- For a U.S. generating company, successfully advised on organized market tariffs and business practices in an enforcement investigation regarding alleged market manipulation.
Memberships and Affiliations
- Energy Bar Association
Previous Experience
- Allegheny Energy, Inc., Director of FERC and RTO External Affairs
- FERC, Director of Regional Market Coordination, Office of Markets, Tariffs and Rates
- FERC, Advisor to Commissioner William Massey
- FERC, Director of Electricity Policy, Office of Economic Policy
October 23, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) that would allow certain Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) systems to be certified as Qualifying Facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) and thus receive regulatory benefits meant, in part, to encourage the innovation and development of ...
September 22, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The FERC approved a final rule that will enable distributed energy resource (DER) aggregators to compete in organized wholesale electricity markets. DERs are located on the distribution system or behind the customer meter and include electric storage resources, intermittent generation, distributed generation, demand response, energy efficiency, thermal storage, ...
August 13, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved tariff terms for a Regional Transmission Operator (RTO) to treat electric storage resources as transmission facilities under certain circumstances. Previously, FERC approved only one case-specific proposal to treat storage as transmission. Treatment as a transmission facility provides additional ...
July 31, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The Department of Energy (DOE) adopted a new policy which extends the standard term for authorizations to export natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. lower-48 states to countries without a free trade agreement with the U.S. to December 31, 2050. The standard term had been 20 years. The new standard term...… Continue Reading
July 23, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The FERC recently issued a final rule (Order No. 872) revising its regulations implementing the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), which encourages the development of certain renewable and cogeneration facilities. PURPA, and FERC’s rules implementing it, establish benefits to those facilities by obligating electric utilities to purchase ...
July 1, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently signaled that it is exploring ways to improve the cybersecurity of the U.S. electricity grid. On June 18, 2020, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding whether some of its reliability standards regarding cybersecurity must be enhanced and whether the focus of its standards must change due...… ...
June 18, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has scheduled a conference on September 30, 2020 regarding carbon pricing in organized wholesale electricity markets. According to the conference notice, the purpose is to discuss “considerations related to state adoption of mechanisms to price carbon dioxide emissions…in regions with FERC-jurisdictional organized ...
June 9, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has announced plans to hold a two-day technical conference on July 8-9, 2020 regarding the ongoing impacts that the emergency conditions caused by COVID-19 are having on the United States’ energy industry. FERC’s stated objective is to ensure the continued functioning of energy markets, electricity transmission, ...
May 20, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
As described in an earlier post to this blog, the Commerce Department initiated an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 into whether “laminations for stacked cores for incorporation into transformers, stacked and wound cores for incorporation into transformers, electrical transformers, and transformer regulators are being imported ...
May 13, 2020, Inside Energy & Environment
The Department of Energy proposes to no longer subject LNG exports to evaluation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). According to a recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), DOE says that the only source of potential environmental impacts within its authority to review are those associated with transporting natural gas by ship, and those...… ...
February 2020, Energy Law Report
March 2019, Pratt's Energy Law Report
Too Much of a Good Thing? An Illustrated Guide to Solar Curtailment on California’s Grid
April 3, 2017, Green Tech Media
Bud Earley is quoted in a Green Tech Media article examining how California is managing oversupply of solar power. According to Earley, wind generators are not curtailing because they “generally receive -- in addition to market revenues -- production tax credits, renewable energy credits, and contractual energy payments, which amount to about $130/MWh for the ...
April 2017, Pratt's Energy Law Report
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Policy Statement clarifying the flexibility electric storage resources have regarding rate designs to recover their costs. Wilbur ("Bud") Earley discusses these policies and rules, which are of interest to storage operators and investors, grid managers, other participants in Regional Transmission Organizations, ...
January 2017, Energy Law Report
March 27, 2015, InsideEnergy&Environment Blog
November 10, 2014, InsideEnergy&Environment Blog
January 22, 2014, Covington E-Alert
September 12, 2013, Covington E-Alert
July 25, 2013, Covington E-Alert
November 20, 2012, Covington E-Alert
October 25, 2012, Covington E-Alert
July 26, 2012, Covington E-Alert
June 29, 2012, Covington E-Alert
May 23, 2012, Covington E-Alert
April 26, 2012, Covington E-Alert
February 29, 2012, Covington E-Alert
November 22, 2011, Covington E-Alert
July 12, 2011, Covington E-Alert
FERC Begins Review of Transmission Investment Incentives, Possibly Signaling a Change in Policy
May 31, 2011, Covington E-Alert
FERC Approves Rules to Improve Compensation to Demand Response in Organized Electricity Markets
April 1, 2011, Covington E-Alert
FERC Opens Inquiry on Revising Market Power Standards in Light of Revised DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines
March 31, 2011, Covington E-Alert
February 25, 2011, Covington E-Alert
January 11, 2011, Covington E-Alert
December 1, 2010, Covington E-Alert
December 1, 2010, Covington E-Alert
November 1, 2010, Covington E-Alert
October 29, 2010, Covington E-Alert
October 18, 2010, Covington E-Alert
July 29, 2010, Covington E-Alert
June 28, 2010, Covington E-Alert
June 18, 2010, Covington E-Alert
April 1, 2010, Covington E-Alert
March 29, 2010, Covington E-Alert
December 10, 2009, Covington E-Alert
November 5, 2009, Covington E-Alert
September 24, 2009, Covington E-Alert
August 7, 2009, Covington E-Alert
July 24, 2009, Covington E-Alert
July 22, 2009, Covington E-Alert
May 7, 2009, Covington E-Alert
April 29, 2009, Covington E-Alert
December 2, 2008, Covington E-Alert
FERC Acts on Enforcement Compliance Policy, Standards of Conduct and Organized Electricity Markets
October 27, 2008, Covington E-Alert
September 24, 2008, Covington E-Alert
June 26, 2008, Covington E-Alert