Smith Anderson Lawyers Speak at N.C. Bar Association’s Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law Section Annual Meeting

Smith Anderson partner David Berry and associate Caroline Belk spoke at the 2009 Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law Section Annual Meeting on April 24 and 25. The title of the program is “The Heat Is On”.

This year’s program focused on greenhouse gas emissions regulation, the rise of greenhouse gas markets in the United States, likely changes under the Obama administration, implementation of North Carolina’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS), and other current environmental law topics.

Mr. Berry’s presentation with Mr. Kent Fonvielle, Progress Energy’s Manager – Renewable Energy, first provided an overview of North Carolina’s REPS, which requires that a certain percentage of electricity sold by the State’s utilities be generated from renewable or alternative energy resources by 2021. Their presentation also discussed the challenges facing new solar, wind, biomass and other renewable energy projects, the utilities’ ongoing REPS compliance efforts, and current regulatory issues.

Ms. Belk’s presentation focused on important environmental federal and state court decisions during the last year.