In January, the United States Supreme Court decided not to weigh in on a climate change lawsuit between the City of Honolulu and Sunoco. The lawsuit alleges that oil companies made misleading statements about the impacts of their fossil fuel products in creating human-induced climate change. However, the Supreme Court’s decision says nothing about the merits of the underlying claims.…
On June 3, 2024, Colorado Governor Jared Polis approved House Bill 24-1472 (the “Bill”), which increases the damage caps for tort and wrongful death actions beginning January 1, 2025. The Bill will increase the cap for non-economic losses or injuries[1] from $250,000 to $1.5 million, as well as increase the wrongful death cap to $2.125 million. The Bill will adjust…
Each year, the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) allows states to determine whether they want to participate in a royalty reporting simplification process, benefiting leaseholders of marginal wells. The process includes ONRR providing a list of qualifying marginal federal oil and gas properties to the states receiving a portion of federal royalties from those properties. This report is issued…
Last week, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) adopted amendments to New Mexico’s Community Solar Rule (17.9.573 NMAC) that will bring significant developments to the state’s solar energy landscape. Importantly, the PRC raised the statewide solar capacity cap from 200 MW to 500 MW, authorizing an additional 300 MW to New Mexico’s Community Solar program cap effective November 1,…
The Royalty Resiliency Act, House Resolution 7377, (“the Act”) was signed into law by President Biden on September 20, 2024, and requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue all determinations of allocations of production for units and communitization agreements (“CA”) within 120 days of a request for determination. Sponsored by Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX-38) and passed by unanimous consent…
As has been highly reported and talked about, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final rule on leases and the leasing process, known as the Leasing Rule,[1] raises minimum bonding requirements from $10,000 to $150,000 for a lease bond and from $25,000 to $500,000 for a statewide bond, effective June 22, 2024 for new federal leases or assignments. Less discussed…
The U.S. Supreme Court formally ended the administrative law doctrine known as “Chevron deference” this summer in Loper Bright Enterprises, Inc v. Raimondo. This decision is celebrated as a significant victory for reigning in federal agency regulatory over-reach and the power of the administrative state. Appropriately so. But, with the revelry dust now settled, there is still confusion as to…
Changes are coming to the statutory pooling process in Colorado. Senate Bill 24-185 (SB24-185), which was signed into law on May 22, 2024, expands protections for and grants additional rights to unleased mineral interest owners and local governments in Colorado. Under current law, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) may, in the absence of voluntary pooling, enter an…
For the first time, the New Mexico Supreme Court has confirmed that electric rates established by New Mexico electric cooperatives are subject to New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission’s (“PRC”) review and approval. Prior to this decision, under New Mexico’s Public Utility Act, rural electric cooperatives rates generally went into effect as soon as the cooperative proposed them and without review…
In a remarkable decision, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) rejected a settlement agreement between New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas regarding a long-standing legal battle over use of waters from the Rio Grande. In Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado,[1] the Court held that federal interests in interstate waters can take precedence over an agreement between the three…