October 25, 2007
15 Percent by 2020 National Renewable Electricity Standard Would Save Consumers Money and Fight Global Warming, Science Group Says
Group Says Final Energy Bill Must Include Renewable Standard and Increased Fuel Economy
WASHINGTON (October 25, 2007)—An energy bill requiring utilities to generate at least 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources would significantly lower consumer electricity and natural gas bills and reduce global warming pollution, according to new analysis released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The House passed such a provision, called a renewable electricity standard, in its version of the bill.
"With this renewable electricity standard, Congress would give Americans three gifts: lower electric bills, cleaner air, and more homegrown energy," said Marchant Wentworth, Washington representative with UCS's Clean Energy Program. "When you combine this renewables requirement with one that would force automakers to produce more fuel-efficient cars, the bill would represent a big step forward in addressing the threat of global warming."
The national renewable electricity standard provision that passed the House would require utilities to supply 15 percent of their power from wind, bioenergy, solar or geothermal power by 2020. States could meet a quarter of their obligation through energy efficiency measures. Currently, about 2.5 percent of the country's power supply comes from non-hydroelectric renewable sources.
The UCS analysis found that a 15-percent-by-2020 national renewable electricity standard would:
--save consumers $13 billion to $18.1 billion on electricity and natural gas bills by 2020 by reducing demand for fossil fuels and increasing competition in the U.S. energy market;
--generate more than a 450 percent increase in the nation's clean energy use over 2005 levels; and
--reduce global warming pollution by 126 million metric tons per year by 2020, equal to taking as many as 21 million cars off the road.
UCS's analysis uses two scenarios—a higher renewable energy case and a lower renewable energy case—to illustrate the range of the 15-percent-by-2020 standard's benefits, depending on how state and federal regulators choose to implement the requirement.
"Under either scenario, the renewable electricity standard would protect the environment and our pocketbooks by making our energy supply cleaner, more reliable and more secure," Wentworth said.
In August, the House passed an energy bill that included the 15-percent-by-2020 national renewables standard. The Senate's energy bill, passed in June, did not include a national standard, but the Senate has supported such a policy three times since 2002, most recently in June 2005. Unlike the House version of the bill, the Senate bill includes the first meaningful increase in vehicle fuel economy standards in more than 30 years. Congress will reconcile the two bills in the coming weeks.
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The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading U.S. science-based nonprofit organization working for a healthy environment and a safer world. Founded in 1969, UCS is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also has offices in Berkeley, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
