Federal and State Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) Bills to be Heard Today

Members of the House Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities Committee will hear testimony on HB 1305 establishing a state Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) today (2/10/09) upon adjournment in the House Chambers. What's "upon adjournment"? The Indiana House of Representatives is scheduled to go into session on the floor at 1:00 pm today. Here is a link to their calendar http://www.in.gov/legislative/reports/2009/BCALH.PDF. So how much of this calendar will they attempt to address before the committee hearing on HB 1305 "upon adjournment"? Who knows for sure but I would tune in around 3:00 pm to see where they are on their calendar.

To watch HB 1305 this afternoon visit http://www.in.gov/legislative/session/video.html

The hearing on the federal Senate RES bill starts this morning at 10 AM.
For details on this federal committee hearing see: http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=3de47fcb-99e4-e0fd-c5e6-52532f60f256

To watch the committee hearing click the link above and then . or http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.LiveStream


News Release

U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE’S PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD IS “DOWNRIGHT WIMPY” – GOAL SHOULD BE MUCH HIGHER

For Immediate Release: Monday - February 9, 2009
Contact: Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.23

Washington DC – The proposed Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) to be considered by the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources at a hearing on February 10 falls far short of what is doable and needed according to the SUN DAY Campaign.

The Senate committee will meet on Tuesday morning at 10:00 am (in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building) to take testimony on the Democratic staff draft for Chairman Jeff Bingaman’s Renewable Electricity Standard. The amendment requires sellers of electricity to retail consumers to obtain certain percentages of their electric supply from new renewable energy resources.

Calendar Year: .......................... Minimum annual %:
2011 through 2012 .................................... 4.0
2013 through 2015 .................................... 8.0
2016 through 2018 ................................... 12.0
2019 through 2020 ................................... 16.0
2021 through 2039 ................................... 20.0

Qualifying renewables (including distributed generators) are wind, solar, ocean, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas and incremental hydropower. Existing hydropower generators and municipal solid waste generators are excluded from the base amount from which the percentage requirements are calculated.

However, according to statistics compiled in its “Electric Power Monthly” the Energy Information Administration reports that renewables (excluding large hydro and municipal waste) already account for almost 3% of U.S. electricity production. Moreover, in recent years, solar and wind have been expanding by more than 30% annually while geothermal is poised to double its current contribution within the next several years. Biomass and incremental hydropower are also expanding. In fact, in 2008, renewable energy accounted for the largest share of new electricity capacity additions.

Consequently, at current growth rates, renewables could - and probably will - easily surpass the committee’s proposed 4.0% target well before 2011-2012. Furthermore, President Barack Obama has proposed a goal of doubling renewable energy within the next three years, which would yield a renewable share of roughly 6% of U.S. electricity supply by the end of 2011.

“In light of present trends, the Senate committee’s proposed standard is well below what is realistically doable and likely over the next several years - even at only very modest ‘business-as-usual’ growth rates,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “Assuming there is a significantly more aggressive national commitment to developing sustainable energy technologies, then the Senate proposal is downright wimpy.”

Longer-term, dozens of recent studies suggest that the Senate committee’s proposal for renewable energy’s share of the nation’s electricity supply falls far short of what is technically and economically feasible and likely. (A compilation of 2008 news stories that discuss the findings of these studies is available upon request from the SUN DAY Campaign.)

At a minimum, a target of 25% of U.S. electricity supply from renewable energy sources (excluding large hydro and municipal waste) by 2025 is achievable. This is roughly equal to the goal set by the European Union for its member nations. It is also consistent with a resolution unanimously adopted by the Members of the U.S. Senate in June 2007.

However, if matched by an aggressive campaign to substantially improve energy efficiency and reduce total electric demand - particularly in light of the threat of climate change, renewable energy’s share could be significantly higher. Given the right mix of tax policy, access to financial credit, R&D funding, government procurement, transmission grid development, interconnection standards, and other forms of public sector support, renewable energy sources conceivably could account for at least half - and maybe significantly more - of the nation’s electricity supply within the next quarter-century.

“The Senate committee should be designing a renewable electricity standard that envisions near-term targets at least twice as high as now proposed,” concluded Ken Bossong. “If the United States fully committed itself to sustainable energy development and discontinued squandering resources on dead-end nuclear and fossil fuel options, a national electricity generating system based 100% on renewable energy sources could become a reality.”

The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1993 to promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels.

SUN DAY CAMPAIGN, Ken Bossong, 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite #340; Takoma Park, MD 20912, 301-270-6477 x.23 sun-day-campaign@hotmail.com

Markey-Platts RES Bill Filed in US Congress

R-E-S ... P-E-C-T

Bipartisan duo introduce renewable-electricity-standard bill in House

Posted by Kate Sheppard at 9:08 PM on 04 Feb 2009

Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Todd Platts (R-Pa.) on Wednesday introduced legislation in the House to create a federal renewable electricity standard (RES) that would require the United States to draw a quarter of its electricity from clean sources by 2025. Markey also introduced a second bill that would require the country to reduce energy consumption 15 percent by 2020.

The American Renewable Energy Act [PDF] would put an RES in place starting in 2012. The legislators estimate that it would help create more than 350,000 new jobs over the next 10 years. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia already have RES's in place, including both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, the legislators' home states.

Markey and Platts helped get an RES passed in the House last Congress as part of the 2007 energy bill, but the provision didn't make it through the Senate.

"With our economy in crisis, renewable energy can create hundreds of thousands of new green jobs, revitalize declining manufacturing sectors, and decrease global warming pollution," said Markey, who chairs the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming and the energy and environment subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

"Establishing a federal renewable electricity standard will help to protect our environment as well as promote economic development and energy security," said Platts.

Markey's second bill, the Save American Energy Act [PDF], would create an energy-efficiency resource standard that mandates a 15 percent reduction in electricity demand by 2020. Markey estimates that the measure would reduce peak electricity demand by 90,000 megawatts and eliminate the need for 300 new medium-size power plants.

The Union of Concerned Scientists put out a statement in support of the RES bill, noting that it would increase power generation from renewable sources by 135 percent and provide enough clean electricity to power 150 million homes, according to its analysis.

"This electrifying standard would provide a smart, proven, cost-effective strategy to ramp up our clean energy use, create tens of thousands of jobs, and lower consumer utility bills," said Alan Nogee, director of the UCS Clean Energy Program. "The clean energy tax incentives that Congress is finalizing will get us moving in the right direction in the near term, and the renewable energy standard makes sure we stay on that path for the foreseeable future."

League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski also praised the bill. "This bill will create an economic demand for wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the coming years," he said. "It will help establish a powerful, productive, and profitable clean energy industry that will employ generations of Americans."

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Indiana Feed-in Tariff Proposal Scheduled for Hearing 2/12/09 at 8:30 AM

AGENDA FOR: Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities Committee
MEETING: February 12, 830AM, 156C State House, Indianapolis

CHAIR: Representative Moses Jr.
VICE CHAIR: Pierce
MEMBERS: Battles, Blanton, Dvorak, Reske, Stevenson. Lutz R.M.M., Behning, Frizzell, Koch, Soliday.

AGENDA:

HB 1622 Advanced renewable energy tariffs aka Feed-in Tariffs (Pierce)

Renewable Energy Bills to be Heard in Indiana House on Feb. 10th

Please read these bills carefully and contact your state legislator if they are a member of this committee BEFORE the committee hearing.

Check this website around 2:30 or 3:00 pm to watch the hearing on-line. http://www.in.gov/legislative/session/video.html

AGENDA FOR: House Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities
MEETING: Tuesday, February 10, 2009, House Chamber, Upon Adjournment

CHAIR: Representative Moses Jr.
VICE CHAIR: Pierce

MEMBERS: Battles, Blanton, Dvorak, Reske, Stevenson.
Lutz R.M.M., Behning, Frizzell, Koch, Soliday.

AGENDA:
HB 1305 Renewable energy. (Grubb) Renewable Electricity Standard (RES)
HB 1360 Alternative energy incentives for REMCs. (Battles)
HB 1438 Renewable energy investment tax credit. (Grubb)

US Senate Panel To Review Draft Renewable Energy Bill-Sources

What impact should this have on the numerous renewable electricity standard bills filed during the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly? Tell us what you think? Should Indiana try to pass a state Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) again or just sit back and see if a federal RES will pass this year?

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., whose committee is responsible for writing energy legislation, will next week review a draft bill that could require that 20% to 25% of the nation's electricity comes from renewable energy sources, according to aides and people close to the matter.

Analysts say an increased Democrat majority means Congress stands an excellent chance of passing such a renewable mandate, which would give the wind, solar and other alternative industries a major financial boost.

President Barack Obama has already pledged to push for a 25% mandate, with a 10% standard achieved early in the next decade, and enacting such a standard would help Democrats accelerate their clean energy program they say is essential not only for cutting greenhouse gases and reducing the nation's dependence on oil imports, but also to stimulating an ailing economy.

Senate officials and lobbyists close to the matter say the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will review next Tuesday draft legislation to create a standard.

Although the House of Representatives has passed a renewable portfolio standard, or RPS, the Senate failed to by a small number of votes. Many of those "no" votes have been replaced, however, by Democrats who support the measure.

"In the coming Congress, I think we finally have the opportunity to see such a policy adopted and implemented," Bingaman said late last year. "It will start preparing our electricity sector for the inevitable requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

With strong support from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Bingaman's also drafting measures that would reform the nation's transmission infrastructure.

The Energy Policy Act Congress passed in 2005 authorized the Department of Energy to designate national power corridors that would relieve power- transmission bottlenecks and prepare for new high-voltage lines across the country to connect new generations to demand centers. However, a host of planning and siting obstacles have prevented much progress.

That's why momentum is growing on Capitol Hill to establish federal planning and siting authority, and develop cost-allocation strategies to encourage transmission for renewables.

The current high-voltage power grid simply transmits electrons from generation to demand. Alternative sources of power like wind and solar don't produce steady streams of electricity like nuclear or coal plants. A "smart" grid, using advanced technology to balance the load from such intermittent power sources, would manage transmission much more efficiently.

Southern utility companies, including Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) and Southern Co. (SO), have lobbied against a federal renewable portfolio standard, though some encourage state mandates, saying it would put an unfair burden on states and consumers that aren't endowed with the same renewable energy resource bases others are.

Wind turbine manufacturers such as GE Energy, a unit of the General Electric Co. (GE), India's Suzlon Energy (532667.BY) and Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems ( VWS.OS), as well as solar firms such as Norway's Renewable Energy Corp. ASA ( REC.OS), and U.S.-headquartered First Solar Inc. (FSLR) and Evergreen Solar Inc. (ESLR) would benefit under a renewable portfolio standard.

Many lawmakers are likely to try to include provisions that would allow utilities to supplant a certain percentage of the mandate with projects that increase energy efficiency.

The industry is already likely to get a major fiscal boost from a stimulus bill lawmakers are seeking to pass, providing at least $13 billion in extended production tax credits, tens of billions of dollars in loan guarantees and grants, and more than $30 billion for a 30% tax credit for domestic manufacturing of renewable energy projects.

-By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9285; ian.talley@dowjones.com

Dow Jones Newswires
02-03-09 1435ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.