Solar Nation Asks for Calls to Sen. Lugar & Sen. Bayh to Co-Sponsor Cantwell-Ensign Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008

FROM SOLAR NATION--

Yesterday (Thursday, April 3, 2008), Senators Cantwell and Ensign introduced a bipartisan bill, the Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008 into the U.S. Senate. It contains much of what we've been fighting for, over the past year, and by TODAY (Friday, April 4, 2008) it needs a total of 61 senators to co-sponsor it, to ensure passage.

Wait a minute--haven't we been here before? If you follow Solar Nation, you'll remember there's already a bill answering to this description that passed the House in February and is waiting its turn in the Senate.

This is true, but the chances are that that bill won't pass the Senate, since funding for it is still slated to come from the oil and gas industry, a feature that has doomed similar bills twice before.
The Cantwell/Ensign bill, on the other hand, is a pared-down version with a much smaller price tag of $7 billion, which:

• extends the investment tax credit for commercial solar power installations for 8 years
• extends the residential solar investment tax credit for one year and
• removes the current $2000 credit cap
  
• removes the exemption on utilities for claiming these tax credits
• allows the tax credit to offset alternative minimum tax
  
• extends incentives for energy efficiency improvements
  

This is the bill that has the best chance of keeping Solar alive until (and if) Congress can pass a stronger bill next year; in fact, among the 23 co-sponsors it already has, there are some senators who have been steadfast hold-outs to past energy bills.

Please call :

Sen. Lugar's office 202-224-4814; and

Sen. Bayh's office 202-224-5623.

Ask them to sign on to the Cantwell/Ensign bill as a co-sponsor.

Can you make a call to their office TODAY and urge them to get on board?

Business & Environmental Groups Urge Sen. Lugar to Support Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy

3 April 2008

SENT VIA E-MAIL

The Honorable Richard Lugar
U.S. Senate
306 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510-1401

Dear Senator Lugar:

As a coalition of businesses and environmental organizations, we urge you to pass bipartisan legislation as soon as possible that extends federal tax incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and consumer purchases of energy efficient products. These critically important incentives have expired or will expire at the end of this year and must be extended immediately to avoid significant harm to the developing clean energy industries in the United States.

We urge extension of incentives for renewable energy production, energy efficiency in commercial buildings, investment in solar electric systems, use of efficient home heating and cooling equipment, production of efficient home appliances, construction of efficient new homes, efficiency retrofits to existing homes, and consumer purchases of energy efficient products. The technologies produced by these industries play a vital role in reducing global warming pollution, creating new high-wage American jobs, spurring economic growth and saving consumers and businesses money on their energy bills.

It is essential for the development of clean technology industries that extensions of the efficiency and renewable energy tax incentives remain effective for multiple years. Congress has historically extended the clean energy incentives in one or two-year increments, which creates a boom-bust cycle for the technologies covered by the incentives. This cycle undermines the efficient development of the clean energy technology industries into mature industries.

It is critical for the sustained development of the clean energy technology industries that efficiency and renewable energy tax incentives be promptly extended. The delay in extending these provisions is already discouraging investment decisions today for clean energy projects that will be completed in 2009 or later. According to a recent study by Navigant Consulting, failure to promptly extend renewable energy tax incentives places at risk 116,000 jobs in the wind and solar industries and more than $19 billion in clean energy investment.

America is on the cusp of a new, clean energy economy. Extending efficiency and renewable energy tax incentives is critical to promoting the transition to this economy. They will help get us started on solving the global warming problem, reduce energy prices for consumers and create new high-wage jobs. We urge you to do everything you can to ensure prompt passage of legislation with significant bipartisan support that adopts long-term extensions of the efficiency and renewable energy tax incentives and can be enacted into law this spring.

Sincerely,


Laura Ann Arnold, President
Indiana Renewable Energy Association

3M
AIA Indiana Chapter
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
American Solar Energy Society
BOSCH
Bright Idea Energy Services, Evansville, IN
Dow Chemical Company
Duke Energy
ECI Wind & Solar, Fairmount, IN
Green Way Supply, Indianapolis, IN
Home & Mobile Energy, Middlebury, IN
Hoosier Chapter of the Sierra Club
Hoosier Environmental Council
Horizon Wind
Indiana Wildlife Federation
Indy Solar Works, LLC, Indianapolis, IN
Inovateus Development, South Bend, IN
Inverde, Fishers, IN
Johnson Controls
Kyocera
Macy's
Morton Energy, Evansville, IN
National Association of State Energy Officials
National Small Business Association
Oerlikon
Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association
PPG Industries
Reinforcing Services, Markle, IN
Solar Systems of Indiana, Bloomington, IN
SPI Industries, South Bend, IN
Spirax Sarco, Inc
Sun Rise Solar, St. John, IN
Sun Wind Power Inc., Floyds Knobs, IN
Sunvention, Greencastle, IN
US Green Building Council - Indiana Chapter
USA Solar & Wind Inc.
WaterFurnace

If you agree with us, please send your own letter to Sen. Richard Lugar.
senator.lugar@lugar.senate.gov

Indiana General Assembly Adjourns Sine Die Without RES

The 2008 session of the Indiana General Assembly adjourned on Friday, March 14 without enacting a state Renewable Electricity Standard or RES for Indiana electric utilities. Yup, that makes three years in a row that our state legislators were not able to bring us in line with more than half of the other states in the United States that have already adopted an RES.

The last time I wrote about this subject for this blog I described the initial conference committee report offered by Rep. Russ Stilwell for HB 1117. During the final days of the session alternative conference committee report was circulated on behalf of Sen. Brandt Hershman. Most observers believe that Sen. Hershman’s proposal reflected the position of Ed Simcox and the Indiana Energy Association. See www.indianaenergy.org.

The RES portion of this conference committee report was as follows:

Each electricity supplier shall supply electricity that is generated from, or otherwise qualifies as, a renewable energy resource or an advanced energy resource to Indiana customers as a percentage of the total electricity supplied by the electricity supplier to Indiana customers a follows:

2% by 2011 (as compared to 2% by 2010);
4% by 2015 (as compared to 5%);
6% by 2020 (as compared to 8%); and
10% by 2025 (as compared to 12%).

Ok so not as good as the proposal offered by Rep. Stilwell but it was still a start you might think. Yes, but the real debate was over other issues in the bill such as “trackers”.

HB 1280 addressing energy efficient buildings was enacted during the 2008 session, however, it was basically stripped of its original content and was turned into a study committee topic assigned to the Environmental Quality Service Council or EQSC. After a rather lively and lengthy debate --for the short session--, in the Senate Energy & Environmental Affairs Committee chaired by Sen. Beverly Gard (R-Greenfield), HB 1280 was amended to become merely a study committee topic. Sen. Gard did indicate a willingness to amend the bill in Conference Committee and to allow the parties to the discussion to continue negotiations. So HB 1280 was passed by the Senate and then House author Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) dissented on the bill to allow it to be considered in Conference Committee. A Conference Committee hearing was held during the last week of the session; however, a resolution of differences was not reached. During the waning hours of the session, Rep. Pierce withdrew his dissent motion and thereby allowing the House to vote on a concurrence motion to agree with the changes made to the bill in the Senate.

Those interested in learning more about EQSC and its activities during the 2007 interim should visit-- http://www.in.gov/legislative/interim/committee/eqsc.html

Rep. Stilwell Released HB 1117 Proposed Conference Committee Report March 6

The Conference Committee on HB 1117 met on Thursday, March 6, 2008. Conference Committee Chairman Rep. Russ Stilwell (D-Boonville) distributed a proposed conference committee report with the following new language establishing a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) for the State of Indiana:

Each electricity supplier shall supply electricity that is generated from renewable energy resources to Indiana customers as a percentage of the total electricity supplied by the electricity supplier to Indiana customers during a calendar year as follows:

• Two percent (2%) by 2010,


• Five percent (5%) by 2015,


• Eight percent (8%) by 2020, and


• Twelve percent (12%) by 2025.
  

The Conference Committee Report specifies that an electricity supplier may not use a renewable energy resource described in section 5(a)(5) of this chapter to generate more than twenty percent (20%) of the electricity that the electricity supplier is required to supply. Section 5(a)(5) refers to clean coal and energy projects (as defined in IC 8-1-8.8-2).

A full copy Rep. Stilwell's proposed HB1117 Conference Committee Report is not currently available on-line.

To receive a copy of the proposed HB 1117 conference committee report, please send an e-mail to: lauraarnold@indianarenew.org.

Since our last post on this issue, Sen. Richard Young (D-Milltown) has replaced Sen. James Lewis (D-Charlestown) as a Senate conferee. Sen. Lewis is now an advisor to the HB 1117 Conference Committee.

The revised list of HB 1117 Conferees is as follows:

House conferees appointed:

*Rep. Russ Stilwell (D-Boonville), h74@in.gov

*Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford), h65@in.gov

House advisors appointed:

Rep. Kreg Battles (D-Vincennes), h64@in.gov

Rep. Jack Lutz (R-Anderson), h35@in.gov

Rep. Dale Grubb (D-Covington), h42@in.gov

Senate conferees appointed:

*Sen. Brandt Hershman (R-Monticello), s7@in.gov

*Sen. Richard Young (D-Milltown), s47@in.gov

Senate advisors appointed:

Sen. Thomas Wyss (R-Ft. Wayne), s15@in.gov

Sen. James Lewis (D-Charlestown), s45@in.gov

*denotes voting member of the Conference Committee

HB 1117 Conference Committee Meeting 03/06/08, 9:30 AM, Rm 156-A State House

A Conference Committee meeting on HB 1117 has been scheduled for Thursday, March 6, 2008, at 9:30 AM in Room 156-A of the State House. There are no further details at this time. HB 1117 was amended in the Indiana Senate to add a weak Renewable Electricity Standard provision.

The HB 1117 Conferees are as follows:

House conferees appointed:
*Rep. Russ Stilwell (D-Boonville), h74@in.gov
*Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford), h65@in.gov

House advisors appointed:
Rep. Kreg Battles (D-Vincennes), h64@in.gov
Rep. Jack Lutz (R-Anderson), h35@in.gov
Rep. Dale Grubb (D-Covington), h42@in.gov

Senate conferees appointed:
*Sen. Brandt Hershman (R-Monticello), s7@in.gov
*Sen. James Lewis (D-Charlestown), s45@in.gov

Senate advisors appointed:
Sen. Thomas Wyss (R-Ft. Wayne), s15@in.gov
Sen. Richard Young (D-Milltown), s47@in.gov

*denotes voting member of the Conference Committee

To call Representatives while the Legislature is in session, telephone
(317) 232-9600 or 9700; 1-800-382-9841 or 9842.

To call Senators while the Legislatire is in session, telephone
(317) 9400 or 9500; 1-800-382-9467.

Senate Conferees Named for HB 1280

Yesterday (03/03/08) the Senate appointed Conference Committee Conferees for HB 1280 on energy efficient buildings as follows:

Senate conferees appointed: Sens. Hershman and Simpson
Senate advisors appointed: Sens. Gard and Breaux

Indiana General Assembly Enters the "Twilight Zone"; HB 1117 and HB 1280 Conferees Named

We are now moving into the final two weeks of the 2008 session of the Indiana General Assembly. State legislators at this stage of the game only address bills that have already passed both the House and the Senate. Conference Committees are appointed to work out the differences between the versions or the variations of the proposed legislation.

Quite frankly, I refer to this period of the session addressing Conference Committees as the "Twilight Zone".

Wikipedia says this: "The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created (and often written) by its narrator and host Rod Serling. Each episode (156 in the original series) is a self-contained fantasy, science fiction, or horror story, often concluding with an eerie or unexpected twist."

It's the eerie or unexpected twist I guess that causes me to think of Conference Committees as sometimes taking place in the "Twilight Zone". Anything can and does happen during this part of the session. Just remember that this episode of the bizarre fantasy known as the 2008 session of the Indiana General Assembly will conclude March 14th! Of course, there is the possibility that Governor Mitch Daniels will call state legislators back to the State House for a Special Session, however, that is not likely unless they fail to act on property tax relief.

HB 1117 addresses a variety of coal issues including coal gasification. Sen. Hershman added an amendment in the Senate that establishes a weak renewable electricity standard.

For more information see these recent articles:
from the Speedway Navigator http://www.speedwaynavigator.net/V3I1/a24.html
and from the South Bend Tribune http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/BIZ/802230442.

Renewable energy advocates will want to watch HB 1117 closely during conference and to communicate with conferees, advisors and their own state legislators to urge that the renewable electricity standard language be strengthened in the bill.

The conferees and advisors appointed for HB 1117 last week (02/28/08) are as follows:

House conferees appointed: Reps. Stilwell and Koch
House advisors appointed: Reps. Battles and Lutz
Representative Grubb appointed as House advisor
Senate conferees appointed: Sens. Hershman and Lewis
Senate advisors appointed: Sens. Wyss and R. Young

HB 1280 as introduced set out procedures for energy efficient buildings. In the Senate Energy and Environmental Affairs Committee, the bill was amended to require the Environmental Quality Service Council (EQSC) to study whether public entities should be required or encouraged to seek to achieve energy and environmental design ratings in the construction and renovation of buildings and structures. Sen. Gard, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Environmental Affairs Committee, agreed to allow HB 1280 to go to a conference committee to allow parties an opportunity to continue to work on compromise language to address concerns expressed by the Indiana hardwood lumber industry.

Thus far, only House conferees and advisors for HB 1280 have been appointed as follows:

House conferees appointed: Reps. Pierce and Wolkins
House advisors appointed: Reps. Austin and Friend

Stay tuned for the next episode of the "Twilight Zone"!