Monday, September 28, 2009

Watch Hearing on Advanced Renewable Energy Contracts (aka Feed-in Tariffs)

The Indiana Renewable Energy Association in conjunction with the World Future Council are sponsoring three experts to testify on Advanced Renewable Energy Contracts (aka Feed-in Tariffs) 9/29/09 at 10 AM to the Regulatory Flexibility Committee in the Indiana Senate Chambers, State House, Indianapolis, IN..

Click HERE for details

http://www.in.gov/legislative/interim/committee/notices/RFSCC9T.pdf

The meeting will be broadcast over the Internet for those unable to attend.

Please visit http://mediaserver.ihets.org/senate to listen to the Webcast.

Martha Duggan, VP Regulatory and Government Affairs, ECD/United Solar, (202) 271-4395 or mduggan@uni-solar.com

Martha A. Duggan serves as Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs for United Solar Ovonic (a division of Energy Conversion Devices), headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan. United Solar is the leading global manufacturer of thin-film flexible solar laminate products for the building integrated and commercial rooftop markets. Ms. Duggan is responsible for policy development and advocacy before state, federal and international governments and energy regulatory bodies. Prior to joining United Solar, Ms. Duggan served as Vice President, Government Affairs for SunEdison, a leading solar integrator. At SunEdison, Ms. Duggan managed a team of solar policy experts across North America. Ms. Duggan has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry. She has worked at regulated utilities, deregulated energy companies, and consulting firms. She is experienced in executive management, finance, operations, policy and sales.

From 2003 until 2008 Ms. Duggan worked for Constellation Energy in a variety of positions including Vice President, Mid-Atlantic region, Vice President, Business Development and Director of Regulatory Affairs. Ms. Duggan has also served at Reliant Energy, Amerada Hess, Statoil Energy and the New Power Company working on policy matters impacting retail and wholesale electricity and natural gas matters. She has testified before state public utility commissions and legislatures and she is a frequently invited presenter at industry seminars. Ms. Duggan serves on the Board of Directors of the Solar Energy Industries Association. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Solar Alliance. She is active in the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and is participating in the Department of Energy’s Solar Vision study. Ms. Duggan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Languages and Linguistics from Georgetown University and a Masters in Business Administration from The George Washington University. She lives in Arlington VA with her husband and two teen age sons.

John Farrell, Senior Researcher, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, (612) 379-3815 or jfarrell@ilsr.org

John Farrell is a senior researcher on the New Rules Project at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, where he examines the benefits of local ownership and dispersed generation of renewable energy. His forthcoming paper is the second and expanded edition of Energy Self Reliant States, examining the potential for all 50 states to serve their own renewable energy needs. He has also written and testified about the potential benefits from feed-in tariffs and other advanced renewable energy policies and has worked with rural Minnesota communities to pursue locally owned renewable energy projects. You can find more of his work and more information on the New Rules Project at www.newrules.org.

Farrell holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute and a B.A. in Mathematics and American Politics and Participatory Democracy from St. Olaf College. John currently lives with his wife, Kristin, and son Benjamin under the north parallel runway of the international airport in south Minneapolis.

Toby D. Couture, Energy & Financial Markets Analyst, Director of Energy Analysis, E3 Analytics, (506) 292-2585 or toby@e3analytics.ca


Toby Couture is currently Energy and Financial Markets Analyst with E3 Analytics, based on the east coast of Canada in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

E3 Analytics is an energy consulting company focusing on the analysis of energy markets, energy policy, and energy economics. It provides leading analysis on the interactions between renewable energy policy and financial markets, focusing primarily on the U.S, Canada, and Europe. Toby is currently serving as Director of Energy Analysis with the firm, and focuses the role of policy in driving renewable energy deployment.

In 2008 and 2009, Couture was leading the National Renewable Energy Lab’s (NREL) analysis on feed-in tariff policies in Golden, Colorado. He has worked closely with the states of Washington, California, Florida, Hawaii and Michigan among others on better understanding the policy and on better adapting it to the U.S. market and regulatory context. He has advised both regulators and state legislators on renewable energy policy and advanced renewable tariffs in Washington, California, Michigan, as well as in Florida and continues to work closely with the Canadian Province of Ontario.

Toby was recently a Fulbright Scholar, and holds a Masters in Energy Policy and Sustainable Development from the University of Moncton, in Canada, as well as Honors in Philosophy and from the University of Mount Allison. He has published widely on renewable energy policy, energy markets, and the role that policy can play in reducing market risks and accelerating renewable energy investment. He currently lives in Canada.



For more information, please contact:
Laura Ann Arnold, President, Indiana Renewable Energy Association, (317) 635-1701 or lauraarnold@indianarenew.org or

Chris Striebeck, LEED-AP Principal, IDS (317) 809-4383 or chris@idsustainability.com

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for a a great and informative website. I'm an Indiana native currently pursuing a graduate degree Public Policy and Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy in New Jersey. I'm trying to find some information on the current status of RPS in Indiana? What happened after the IN house vote? Does HB1102 have a sister bill in the Senate? What's the status? Who are the opponents? I appreciate the informative discussion of feed-in tarrifs; does your organization have an official position/proposal for what you'd like to see the IN legislation look like?

Laura Ann Arnold said...

Sorry but there is no current update on the status of a state RPS or RES legislation in Indiana. As you may or may not recall, the regular session of the Indiana General Assembly adjourned by the end of April 2009. Although there was a Special Session caled in June, no real energy legislation was addressed. An Organization Day was held in November and then the state legislative session will reconvene on Jan. 5, 2010.

There may be RPS proposal introduced again during the 2010 session but it is unclear if such legislation would have any greater success than the past few years.

Legislative proposals, however, do not carry over from one year to the next in Indiana. So the process will start all over again from scratch.

Another Advanced Renewable Energy Contract or Feed-in Tariff bill is expected to be introduced by Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington)