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Vinson & Elkins is a sponsor of the Edison Electric Institute's (EEI) 2025 Spring Legal Conference taking place in Chicago from April 9-11, 2025.

The past few years have seen concerted efforts — both domestically and globally — advancing the reporting and disclosure of various climate- and sustainability-related metrics by businesses and investors.

On March 19, 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued two technical assistance documents (the “DEI Guidance”) addressing the application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) to employers’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) policies and practices.

The global energy sector continues to be shaped by geopolitical shifts, regulatory changes, and the ongoing energy transition. As industries and governments navigate decarbonisation, energy security, and evolving investment landscapes, disputes are becoming more frequent and complex.

In early March 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) finalized its climate-related disclosures rule (The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors) (the “Final Rule”).

On February 3, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a partial motion to dismiss filed by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”), dismissing the claims that SB 253 (the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) and SB 261 (the Climate-related Financial Risk Act) (collectively the “California Climate Laws”) violate the Supremacy Clause and limitations on extraterritorial regulation.

On January 10, 2025, the Treasury Department (the “Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) continued their flurry of new guidance by releasing IRS Notice 2025-10 (the “Notice”) concerning the clean fuel production credit available under section 45Z of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code,” and such credit, the “Clean Fuel Production Credit”),¹ for certain clean fuels produced and sold between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2027.²

On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) issued final regulations (T.D. 10024) (the “Final Regulations” and the preamble thereto, the “Preamble”) regarding the clean electricity production tax credit and the clean electricity investment tax credit provided by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”)¹ and available under new sections 45Y and 48E, respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

On January 10, 2024, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) published the final regulations governing the section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (“Final Regulations”).

In this article published by Mining Magazine, Louise Woods and Elena Guillet explore the challenges of securing critical minerals for the energy transition, with a focus on deep-sea mining.

On December 16, 2024, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) released a notice soliciting comments on a number of specific questions to inform its implementation of the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (“CCDAA” or “SB 253”) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (“CRFRA” or “SB 261”) (the “Notice”).