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The city of Portland is launching a power project more low-profile than a proposed purchase of Portland General Electric, but just as bold in its own way. Portland wants to become the first major city in the world to cover all its governmental electricity needs with wind power. It's soliciting bids from companies interested in building and running a vast wind farm big enough to power the thousands of computers and light bulbs in city offices.
Those windmills wouldn't literally pump power straight into city offices, says Jeff Cogen, chief of staff for City Commissioner Dan Saltzman. Instead, the city would cut a deal with the winning bidder to add enough new wind power to the electric grid to offset its own use.
While the project doesn't yet have a price tag, city bid rules require that it cost no more in its first year than rates PGE would charge. By making a 15- to 20-year deal, Cogen says, the city could insulate itself against future energy-price hikes.
The most likely location for a city wind farm: rural Oregon, where the wind blows, the electrical infrastructure of the Columbia dams is near at hand, and strapped economies are in desperate need of stimulus. "In Sherman County, which is one of the counties where this might be located, one wind farm makes up 10 percent of the property-tax base," Cogen says. "Our facility would be three times bigger."
An earlier request for preliminary information from potential builders drew responses from eight companies, including PGE and Pacific Power. A committee will evaluate formal bids for the project by June 23, with a City Council vote possible by the end of summer. Source: By Zach Dundas, Willamette Week Online, 5/11/2005.
NativeEnergy, a leading national renewable energy company, is supplying Renewable Energy Credits or "Green Tags" to neutralize all carbon dioxide pollution generated by travel and venue energy use for the 2005 Institutional Investors Summit on Climate Risk, the first "climate neutral" event ever held at U.N. Headquarters. Throughout the day today top institutional investors representing more than $5 Trillion in assets will discuss the financial risks and the investment opportunities posed by global climate change during an invitation-only summit at U.N. Headquarters in New York City. The Summit was organized by Ceres, the coalition of investor and public interest groups, who is co-hosting the event with the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships.
With leading brands Clif Bar, Ben & Jerry's, Stonyfield Farm, and MTV - whose new eco-reality show "Trippin'" recently became television's first "climate neutral" series - already on its client list, NativeEnergy is excited about its role in another historical first that will help build awareness about global warming. "We're very proud to have the opportunity to help Ceres green-up the energy for this extraordinary event at United Nations Headquarters, and we hope this summit fuels greater interest in the potential of new renewable energy projects," says NativeEnergy President and CEO Tom Boucher.
Ceres purchased the equivalent of 180 tons of Green Tags, the Summit's estimated total carbon footprint, from NativeEnergy to help demonstrate how renewable energy, an area of great opportunity, is already being employed by environmentally and socially responsible organizations around the world to meet the growing demand for energy without contributing to global climate change. In April, Ceres neutralized all CO2 from its annual conference with NativeEnergy's Green Tags.
Ceres' Green Tags purchases will help build new renewable energy projects, like the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wind Farm in South Dakota. Once operational, the nation's first and only Native American owned wind farm will generate electricity that would otherwise have to come from a coal burning facility on the regional grid. When polluting energy generators run less, they emit less CO2. By helping build new renewable energy projects, Ceres and the U.N. Fund for International Partnerships have the same global warming impact as powering the Summit and their travel with wind energy. Source: Native Energy Release, 5/10/2005.
Four non-profit suppliers of renewable energy in New England announced that they are combining forces to market a single green power product to residential and small commercial customers in the region. Under the agreement, Mass Energy Consumers Alliance, People's Power & Light, Conservation Services Group and the Center for Ecological Technology will offer 'New England GreenStart,' a 100 percent renewable energy product sourced from New England-based resources and currently consisting of small hydro (75 percent), biomass (19 percent), wind (5 percent), and solar (1 percent). CSG and CET customers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island now purchasing the 'GreenerWatts New England' product will be switched to the new offering.
Going forward, CET will focus on marketing 'New England GreenStart' in western Massachusetts and helping to secure new renewable energy sources from that area. Mass Energy and People's Power & Light will continue to provide overall administration and management of 'New England GreenStart' as well as oversee the development of marketing and outreach campaign to support the retail green power market. CSG will concentrate on its wholesale market activities, including building new PV plants throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island, many of which will be supported by 'New England GreenStart' customers. Source: Green Power Marketing Monthly Update - April 2005.
At an April 12 public hearing, the Los Alamos (NM) County Council adopted an ordinance calling for the Department of Public Utilities to implement a program under which customers can subscribe to purchase 100-kWh blocks of green power at a rate of $1.80 per block (1.8¢/kWh) in addition to the regular electricity rate. Customers may also choose to subscribe to green power for 90 percent of their monthly electric consumption at the same premium rate of 1.8¢/kWh. Public Service of New Mexico will supply the green power for the program from a 204-MW wind project located near Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Source: Green Power Marketing Monthly Update - April 2005.
When you are responsible for the finances of a California city, and are investing its money, one thing is always for certain; investments will have low risk. State and local government codes restrict the type and duration of investments that cities can make, with safety of public funds the priority. However, these limitations usually result in low rates of return. But, investing in the market is not the only way to help cities make the best use of available cash. The Director of Finance for the City of San Carlos, Richard Averett, opted to review a proposal to install an RWE SCHOTT Solar photovoltaic system on the city’s corporation yard as an investment rather than as a purchase with a payback period. The result? The City now has a 60kW system, installed by EMCOR® Energy & Technologies of San Francisco, that returns its cost, plus interest and a little more than $100,000 over the life of the installation, beating out a comparable 25-year cash investment using a 4.5 percent rate of return. In addition, the system has returned some public recognition in the form of an award from The Public Technology Institute at its annual Congress for Technology Leadership event.
Federal- and state-tax incentive programs, coupled with California’s rebate program for reducing the upfront cost of a PV system, have driven the PV market in California for a number of years. However, entities such as public schools or municipalities do not benefit from the tax savings and cannot depreciate capitol expenditures, which for the commercial market helps reduce a PV system’s payback period considerably. Yet, for cities like San Carlos, there are some things they can count on generally not considered in a commercial PV evaluation, being around longer than the investment and banking on its return for at least the next 25 years • and beyond.
“If you look at this PV system from a purely financial, investment point of view, it makes good sense. The rate of return is better than we could get investing in U.S. Treasuries or government-run investment pools, considering the avoided electric usage costs for the buildings fitted with the PV systems,” said Averett. We expect monthly electricity bills to net out to zero. If energy costs continue to rise faster than normal, we’ll see an even greater return on our investment. And, of course, this is just the money side of things. PV systems generate clean, renewable energy. They reduce the amount of green house gases that would have been produced otherwise by our electricity use, helping us protect the environment while we save money, and in this case, earn a return on it.”
About the Installation and Award: The 60kW system consists of two arrays, one rated at 45kW and the other at 15kW. Both systems sit on flat roofs at the City’s corporation yard, using the RWE SCHOTT Solar non-penetrating SunRoof™ FS mounting system. The electricity developed by the two systems is fed into two separate inverters that combine the energy at a netmeter, which sends excess energy back into the grid for use later when the system is not producing electricity. Over the course of a year, the systems are expected to save between $14,000 and $14,500 per year (at today’s utility rates), effectively zeroing-out the electricity bill for the two buildings. PTI recognized the City of San Carlos for its “Photovoltaic Generation Project at the City Corporation Yard” at its 2005 Congress for Technology Leadership, an annual event bringing together local government technology leaders and practitioners. San Carlos received the Honorable Mention award in the small government, energy and environment category. Presentation of the award will be May 9. The City of San Carlos, California is located 23 miles south of San Francisco and 23 miles north of San Jose. The municipality of San Carlos covers 4.83 square miles with a population of more than 28,000. Source: RWE SCHOTT Solar, 5/9/2005.
The Renewable Fuels Association today congratulated Hawkeye Renewables, LLC for beginning construction on its second ethanol plant in Iowa. The new plant, located near Fairbank, Iowa, will process over 35 million bushels of corn into 100 million gallons of ethanol and 320,000 tons of distillers grains annually.
“The RFA congratulates Hawkeye Renewables as it begins construction on its second ethanol plant,” said RFA President Bob Dinneen. “This plant will generate an enormous positive impact on the surrounding economy.”
Fagen, Inc., the Granite Falls, Minnesota design-build contractor, is the general contractor and will incorporate a process design provided by ICM, Inc. of Colwich, Kansas. They are also currently working on expanding the capacity of Hawkeye Renewables’ first plant, near Iowa Falls, to 95 million gallons per year.
“We’re excited about the expansion at Iowa Falls and the new construction in Fairbank,” says Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye Renewables, LLC. “Both plants are in great locations. We’ve already started to see the positive economic impact in Iowa Falls. Likewise, the Fairbank’s plant will have an enormous beneficial impact on the local community and northeast Iowa economy in general.”
Currently, 85 ethanol plants nationwide have the capacity to produce over 3.8 billion gallons annually. There are 17 ethanol plants and three major expansions under construction with a combined annual capacity of over 900 million gallons. Source: RFA Release, 5/12/2005.
U.S. Geothermal, Inc. recently announced it has entered into two additional 10-megawatt power sales agreements with Idaho Power Company for the electrical output from the projected second phase of the Raft River geothermal power project.
Under the terms of the PSAs, U.S. Geothermal said it will receive payments for power generated under a price schedule that starts at $35.90 per MW and increases 2.3 percent annually to a maximum of $85.04 per MW over the 20-year term of the contract. U.S. Geothermal noted that the phase-two power plants are scheduled to begin power generation in December 2008.
"With 30 megawatts of power generation under long term contract, we are making decisive progress in the planned development of the Raft River geothermal reservoir," said U.S. Geothermal president and CEO Daniel Kunz. Contact: Saf Dhillon, U.S. Geothermal, phone 604-484-3031. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today, 5/9/2005.
Allete Inc. is considering a wide variety of projects designed to boost power production, including an Iron Range wind farm. Those plans, unveiled at the corporation's annual shareholder meeting Tuesday, are fueled by possible expansions by companies that purchase large quantities of energy from Allete's Minnesota Power division — primarily those in the mining and forest products industries.
A 50-megawatt wind power facility is planned this year near Square Butte, N.D., said President and CEO Don Shippar, plus a similar-sized Iron Range development during 2006. Each wind farm would feature about 33 large wind turbines.
They would not be owned by Allete. Minnesota Power instead would enter into a long-term purchase agreement, probably in excess of 20 years, for output from the turbines. Much of the turbine equipment is made in Europe and could be transported through the Port of Duluth-Superior.
Already this year, the port is expected to handle wind turbines destined for projects in southern Minnesota and Manitoba, said Ron Johnson, trade development director for theDuluth Seaway Port Authority. "That would be good for the port, good for the terminals, good for trucking companies, good for the construction trades and just plain good for the economy," Johnson said.
"This is shaping up to be a real barn-storm year for wind power," said John Dunlop, manager of the American Wind Energy Association's Great Plains region. In 2005, utilities are forecast to invest between $2.5 billion and $3 billion on new wind power equipment, he said. As a result, the nation's capacity to generate electricity from wind could climb nearly 40 percent — from 6,700 megawatts at the start of 2005 to 9,200 megawatts by year's end.
But wind power will be only part of the solution for Allete, Shippar said. About 70 percent of Allete's power sales are to industrial customers, many of which operate around the clock. The intermittent nature of wind power makes it a poor fit for some of these customers.
During the next 10 years, Allete expects industrial power consumption will grow by about 400 megawatts, Shippar told investors. The company is looking at a variety of options, including the possibility of adding more coal-burning units to its power holdings or buying energy from another source, possibly Manitoba Hydro. Allete also is searching for growth opportunities outside of electricity, he added. "We will not be a plain vanilla utility company," Shippar pledged.
The company already has significant real estate holdings in Florida, where it is ambitiously developing and marketing property. Shippar said the company will continue to be a player in real estate. "Besides Florida, we're looking at other areas in the Southeastern U.S. where we might replenish our existing supply of property," he said.
Allete also will consider pursuing new types of business opportunities. In the past, the publicly held corporation has been active in the auto business, water utilities and papermaking. Shippar projected Allete will increase its annual earnings from continuing operations by 45 to 50 percent during 2005 compared with last year. Source: By Peter Passi, News Tribune Staff Writer, 5/12/2005.
Solar PV systems can repay their energy investment in two years, according to the U.S. government. The payback for multicrystalline PV modules is four years for systems which use current technology, which will drop to two years for technology coming onto the market, says a fact sheet released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. For thin-film solar modules, the payback is three years using current technology and one year for anticipated thin-film technology.
The energy payback is the same for both rooftop and ground-mounted PV systems, depending on the technology and type of framing used. “Based on models and real data, the idea that PV cannot pay back its energy investment is simply a myth,” it says. Researchers found that fabrication of PV systems and fossil fuel production have similar energy payback periods when the costs for mining, transportation, refining and construction are included.
It takes 120 kWh to manufacture every m2 of frameless amorphous-silicon PV modules, according to one analysis, with another 120 kWh/m2 for a frame and support structure for a rooftop-mounted grid-connected system. Assuming a conversion efficiency of 6 percent and 1,700 kWh/m2 per year of sunlight, the payback would be three years for current thin-film PV systems with frames, and one to two-year paybacks for amorphous silicon.
“With assumed life expectancies of 30 years, and taking into account the fossil-fuel-based energy used in manufacture, 87 percent to 97 percent of the energy that PV systems generate won’t be plagued by pollution, greenhouse gases, and depletion of resources,” it states.
Most solar cells and modules sold in the U.S. now are crystalline silicon, and the purification and crystallizing of both single-crystal and multicrystalline silicon is the most energy-intensive part of the manufacturing process for solar cells. Energy is also needed to cut the silicon into wafers, process the wafers into cells, assemble the cells into modules (including encapsulation), as well as the overhead energy needed for the manufacturing facility.
The PV industry recrystallizes several types of off-grade silicon from the microelectronics industry, and estimates for the energy used to purify and crystallize silicon vary widely, making it difficult to calculate energy payback. The electricity used to make frameless PV is 600 kWh/m2 for single-crystal silicon modules and 420 kWh/m2 for multicrystalline silicon which, assuming 12 percent conversion efficiency and 1,700 kWh/m2 per year of sunlight (the U.S. average is 1,800), the payback would be four years for current multicrystalline-silicon PV systems and, assuming solar-grade silicon feedstock and 14 percent efficiency within a decade, the payback would drop to two years.
Elimination of the aluminum frame with thin-film solar would account for much of the energy savings, and the need for ground-mounted support structures such as concrete foundations and heavy framing produces the same energy payback as a roof-mounted PV system.
“PV is clearly a wise energy investment that affords impressive environmental benefits,” the fact sheet concludes. During its 28 remaining years of assumed operation, a PV system that supplies half a home’s electricity would eliminate half a ton of sulfur dioxide, one-third of a ton of nitrogen-oxides and 100 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to avoiding the emission from operating two cars for those 28 years. Source: ReFocus Weekly, 5/11/2005.
AWEA's Wind Power Outlook 2005 color brochure is now available from the AWEA Web site. Wind Power Outlook is a six-page color brochure that provides a annual status report on the U.S. wind energy market and industry. Highlights this year include a focus on wind energy's job generation potential, and rolling back constraints to growth. Please contact Liska Wilkins at (202) 383-2514 if you have any questions or would like hard copies. Copies are free of charge but AWEA will need to bill for shipping and handling of bulk requests. Source: AWEA, 5/11/2005.
The American Public Power Association has an event archive on its Web site. In this archive you can find presentations from several excellent workshops and conferences, including:
ACORE has collaborated with the Renewable Energy Resources Committee of the American Bar Association (Section of Environment, Energy and Resources) to produce what has become a popular series of monthly seminars designed to address renewable energy issues of concern not only to the legal community but also to federal and state government policymakers and representatives from the business, finance and NGO communities. This month's seminar, "Growing Linkages between Renewable Energy and Environmental Goals" was on May 11.
Future multi-site brown bag/teleconferences include:
The teleconference/seminar series is being organized by Committee Vice- Chairs Edna Sussman, Esq. of the New York City law firm of Hoguet Newman & Regal LLP and Robert Faron, Esq. for the ABA Renewable Energy Resources Committee, chaired by Roger Feldman of Bingham McCutchen LLP. The Brownbags are cosponsored by: Sustainable Development, Ecosystems and Climate Change Committee of the SEER Section Center for Economic and Environmental Partnership Inc. Association of the Bar of the City of New York DC Bar Association.
Recent activities and accomplishments of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Programs are featured in the latest issue of Science & Technology Highlights, No 1 2005.
This issue features the following topics, and many more:
For more information, contact Dr. Marilyn
A. Brown, Deputy Director, Engineering Science and Technology Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, at (865) 576-8152. Source: ORNL, 5/4/2005.
Please save the date and make plans to join us for this leading-edge forum in Santa Fe. Conference attendees will choose from policy and technical sessions on developing renewable energy throughout the Southwest. Policy sessions will include Energy Policy Best Practices, Forums for Advancing Clean Energy Policy, Voluntary Green Power Market, Re-Valuing Renewable Energy and more. Technical sessions will offer Case Studies in Integration and Interconnection, Transmission Access in the West, Renewable Energy Technology Costs and Trends, and Project Development Case Studies, to name a few. Plenary sessions will be offered on Climate Change and Western Energy Choices, and Creating Regional Renewable Markets. Historically, the Southwest Renewable Energy Conference has been held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. In an effort to broaden the reach of the Conference, we will convene this year in New Mexico. We will return to Arizona in 2006. A limited number of rooms are available at the Conference Rate. Source: Amanda Ormond, Conference Director.
The Tenth National Green Power Marketing Conference is scheduled for October 24 to 26 in Austin, TX. The purpose of the National Green Power Marketing Conference is to review the status of green power marketing in electricity markets and to explore strategies to increase the development of renewable energy resources through customer choice. Conference organizers include the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Center for Resource Solutions.
This year's conference will celebrate and build on a decade of success by examining the growth of green power markets, with particular emphasis on communicating "best practices" for product design and marketing, and program implementation. Attendees will hear from national and regional experts on important topics such as:
The Fifth Annual Green Power Leadership Awards will be presented in conjunction with the conference. For more information, use the following links:
Source: Green Power Network, 3/15/2005.
The California Energy Commission has announced the Notice of Non-substantive Changes to the Renewable Portfolio Standard Eligibility Guidebook is now available on CEC's Web site.
The changes to the Guidebook consist of minor revisions to the form, CEC-RPS-Track. This form was adopted by the Energy Commission as part of the Guidebook on April 21, 2004. It is used to gather data to verify the RPS procurement claims of Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs). The changes to this form are designed to aid Energy Commission staff in further verifying RPS procurement claims by requiring IOUs to account for their annual procurement of renewable resources monthly and by generating facility. The revised CEC-RPS-Track form is available on CEC's Web site. Revisions to the form will take effect on May 21, 2005. Source: CEC Release, 5/11/2005.
This month's Interstate Renewable Energy Council "Interconnection Newsletter" is available online. Access is also available to IREC's "Connecting to the Grid" Web page, where you can read past e-newsletters in the "Newsletter Archives" area. Source: IREC, 5/12/2005.
On Tuesday, May 24 from 2:30 to 4p.m. at the 485 Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute and Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment USA are hosting a briefing on Agriculture and Climate Change: Threats and Opportunities.
Climate change poses potentially severe threats to the U.S. agriculture sector, an industry heavily dependent on weather and regional climatic factors. Abrupt changes in climate are already impacting ranchers in Arizona who have been forced to abandon their operations when faced with an unanticipated 10-year drought. Greg Garfin, associate staff scientist with the University of Arizona's Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, said, “When we used to talk about climate, eyes would glaze over…Then the drought came. The phone started ringing off the hook.” While the exact impacts of climate change on weather and on agriculture are unknown, many of the methods to address climate change risks – such as carbon sequestration and biomass technologies - present interesting opportunities for the agricultural sector.
According to the U.S. National Assessment of Climate Change performed in 1999-2000, the United States can expect even more climatic disturbance. Predicted impacts include further shifts in precipitation patterns as well as overall increases in average regional temperatures. Predicted outcomes include increased productivity in the Corn Belt due to lengthened growing seasons and a precipitous drop in Southeastern productivity, approximately 60 percent. Also, new studies performed by Dr. Stephen Long of the University of Illinois show that previous research regarding crop productivity had not adequately taken into account effects of increased ozone concentrations on crop yields and may have overestimated effects of CO2 fertilization.
Unfortunately, uncertainty regarding future precipitation levels and temperature regimes within the United States could have severe consequences for farmers’ and ranchers’ abilities to adapt. These changes also could mean bad news for our neighbors, such as Mexico. In Australia, the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Accounting has just released a Communiqué from their 2005 Annual Science Meeting stating climate change is already having an impact on plant growth, farm productivity, and animal habitats. According to CRC’s Chief Executive Dr. Michael Robinson, “Even 50 percent reductions in global emissions of greenhouse gases would see carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise to about three times their natural levels.” As a result, future agricultural productivity levels are uncertain at best; and alternative revenue streams to improve the adaptive capacities of the Nation’s farmers involving renewable energy production and carbon sequestration will be essential for providing “win-win” opportunities for the whole country.
The United States’ extensive land base allows it to sequester 700 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents per year (approximately 10 percent of national GHG emissions). Through a combination of soil carbon sequestration, forest management, afforestation, biofuel production, renewable energy deployment and GHG price incentives, ranging from $5-30/metric ton, the U.S. agriculture sector could potentially sequester 40 percent of all U.S. GHG emissions. These efforts could help invigorate languishing rural economies nationwide and increase the national agricultural adaptive capacity to prepare for the inevitable shifts in climatic conditions that the United States will be facing this century. Panelists include:
Moderators will be Carol Werner, EESI and Will Ferretti, GLOBE USA. This briefing is open to the public and no reservations are required. Please feel free to forward this notice. For more information, please contact Alexandra Morel at 202.662.1885 or Sarah King at 202.328.5040. Source: EESI Release, 5/12/2005.
Senate energy bill negotiators appear to have dug their way into an impasse
on the electricity title, with Republicans refusing to pair repeal of a Depression-era
public utility law with language granting the federal government more oversight
of the power industry.
Industry lobbyists said yesterday that agreements between Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and ranking member
Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) fell apart when Republican committee members refused
to agree that repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act should
be paired with a Democratic attempt to secure more federal oversight of utility
mergers by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Those additional regulatory oversight provisions are intended to ensure that some of PUHCA's consumer and investor protections remain.
Also, sources said, Republicans balked at an attempt to advance the renewable portfolio standard from the 2003 Senate energy bill, which called for utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy by 2025. The Republicans, industry sources said, want the portfolio standard to encompass all "low-emissions" power generation sources, which would include natural gas, clean coal and nuclear power.
The disagreement over electricity policy signals that the draft energy bill to be unveiled in two portions over the next week will reflect only those elements on which committee Republicans and Democrats could agree.
Schedule takes shape as drafting continues: The committee will post on its Web site Friday morning nine titles of the bill: coal, Energy Department management, efficiency, electricity, hydrogen, Indian energy, personnel and training, research and development, and the completed portion of the nuclear title. The markup sessions set for May 17-19 will focus on those titles.
On May 20, the committee plans to post the text for the remaining portion of the nuclear title, which the committee called "provisions related to incentives for innovative clean energy technologies" and the last four titles of the bill -- renewables, fuels and vehicles, oil and gas, and calls for various studies. The markup for those titles will take place the week of May 23.
Domenici yesterday made reference to the tough negotiations with Bingaman and other members of the committee to draft the legislation. "It has sometimes been tough to work through these issues, but we have reached a number of important agreements," he said.
Interest groups react to PUHCA's absence: The fallout from news that Domenici will leave certain provisions on the cutting room floor headed into the markup was mixed.
"I think Chairman Domenici is finding that the difficulty of reaching out to Democrats means you lose Republicans," one industry lobbyist said. "If you try to accommodate on these issues with more regulation, you're going to lose Republicans who believe that part of the energy bill should be about less regulation."
Environmental and consumer groups were buoyed by the news. "This is a huge indication that consumer groups have been successful in showing that PUHCA remains a relevant and important regulatory tool for the utility and natural gas sector," said Tyson Slocum of Public Citizen's energy project. "This is a pretty unbelievable turn of events."
An aide to one Democratic committee member confirmed the chairman's mark may be issued without some provisions where there is not agreement, leaving them to be addressed through subsequent amendments. But the aide said this did not represent any sort of collapse in Domenici's effort to have a more cooperative process.
"People are working hard to preserve this climate," the aide said. Industry lobbyists say the bet is that if PUHCA repeal cannot be amended to the energy bill either in committee or on the Senate floor, they expect that the House energy bill's repeal of the 60-year-old law, which does not grant FERC additional regulatory oversight, will prevail in conference.
Meanwhile, some industry lobbyists are reporting that the energy bill could become an early victim of next week's anticipated Senate floor debate on judicial nominations. The Senate will go ahead with debate on controversial judicial nominees in advance of an expected vote on whether to eliminate the filibuster on nominations. Democrats have threatened to shut down the Senate if the GOP majority succeeds in the filibuster vote.
As the judicial debates will begin at roughly the same time as the scheduled energy bill markup, lobbyists are saying that Democrats are considering trying to hold off on any energy action because of the difficulty of holding their ground against the GOP on what has become a seminal issue, and then turning around and dealing with the GOP on energy policy.
Indeed, one lobbyist reported that Democrats are seeking to push back the energy bill markup, which is expected to start Tuesday, to Thursday. However, the lobbyist added, Republicans are expressing confidence that they can prevail on the energy issue, noting that they can retaliate against Democrats if they try to shut down the Senate by holding up consideration of any Democratic-supported bills. Reporter Ben Geman contributed to this story. Source: Mary O'Driscoll, Greenwire Senior Reporter, 5/12/2005.
Glendale Water & Power recently announced its new Power Sales Agreement with the Southern California Public Power Authority for up to 3 megawatt share of the Ormat Geothermal Energy Projects. This investment will provide GWP with approximately 25 gigawatt hours a year of renewable energy for resale to its customers.
“We are very excited about the Ormat Geothermal Project,” says Ned Bassin, Power Management Administrator. “The Ormat Project will go a long way toward helping us meet our goal of 20 percent renewables as a percent of retail sales by 2017.” Bassin says the 25 gigawatt hours is equal to two percent of last year’s retail energy sales.
With 14 percent of current sales coming from renewable resources, GWP is in line with California’s best performers who are between 10 and 20 percent. To continue towards its renewable generation, GWP proposed the participation in the Ormat Geothermal Energy Project. The Ormat project will provide energy from two geothermal plants located in the geothermal resource areas of Imperial Valley, California. With the addition of the Ormat project, approximately 16 percent of GWP’s electric sales will come from renewable power resources.
GWPs participation in the Ormat project will be a Power Sales Agreement with SCPPA of which GWP is a member. SCPPA will purchase the entire output from the two facilities and sell this output to participating SCPAA members.
Senate Bill 1078, signed into law in 2003, requires specific renewable resource requirements for investor owned utilities and strongly encourages local publicly owned utilities to adopt similar standards. GWP adopted an RPS that encourages renewable resources, while taking into consideration the effect on rates, reliability, financial resources, and the goal of environmental improvement. This is the third renewable energy agreement GWP has signed in the last two years. It will be an important contribution to GWP’s renewable generation goals adopted in December 2003 as part of its Renewables Portfolio Standard.
To meet RPS goals, 20 percent of the power GWP sells must come from cost-effective renewable resources by 2017. The RPS also outlines the strategies for accomplishing the goal through a combination of long-term and short-term projects. GWP is required to report its progress in meeting the 20 percent goal to its customers on an annual basis.
Currently the RPS allows GWP to include Hoover Dam, a large hydroelectric power project, as an eligible renewable resource. GWP has also signed an agreement with the Ameresco Chaquita Canyon Landfill Gas Project. When it’s operational this project would add another 27 gigawatt hours of renewable energy each year for 20 years.
As sales grow, GWP will continue to look for additional renewable generation opportunities as it continues on the road to 20 percent by 2017. Current estimates suggest GWP will need to invest in additional renewable resources capable of providing another 49 gigawatt hours a year to meet its RPS goal.
Glendale Water & Power is the City of Glendale’s utility. Glendale Water & Power generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to 75,341 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Glendale, California. The city-owned utility also provides water to 32,500 customers. Source: Glendale Water & Power, 5/2/2005.
By almost a four to one margin, the customers of the Intermountain Rural Electric Association exempted the cooperative from the requirements of Amendment 37. The Amendment would have required IREA to purchase 10 percent of its energy requirements from renewable resources (excluding large-scale hydro) by the year 2015. The Amendment provides that the customers of a municipal electric utility or a rural electric cooperative may exempt the utility by a majority of the customers, so long as at least 25 percent of the utility’s customers vote in the election. The IREA vote response was overwhelming and the result decisive. IREA received 52,990 (or 43.2 percent) ballots from customers representing 122,679 metered accounts. The vote was 41,842, or 79 percent, in favor of exemption and 11,148, or 21 percent, opposed. For more information contact: Richard Stith, Director of Member Relations & Services, Intermountain Rural Electric Association, 303-688-3100 x147. Source: IREA Release, 5/11/2005.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced the availability of $22.8 million to support investments in renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements by agricultural producers and rural small businesses.
“Enhancing our energy efficiency is a key goal of the Bush administration,” said Johanns. “Renewable energy is an exciting growth frontier for American agriculture. Implementing an innovative energy policy, which the President has proposed, provides an opportunity to strengthen both our national security and the rural economy.”
Section 9006 of the 2002 farm bill established the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements loan and grant program to encourage agricultural producers and small rural businesses to create renewable and energy efficient systems. The funds will be available to support a wide range of technologies encompassing biomass (including anaerobic digesters), geothermal, hydrogen, solar and wind energy, as well as energy efficiency improvements. To date, the Bush administration has invested through this program nearly $45 million in 32 states.
According to State Director of Rural Development Doug Wilson, Illinois’ rural small businesses, cooperatives and farmers have received nearly $3 million in energy grants in the last two years. “We have funded everything from energy efficient lighting and refrigeration to wind turbines, ethanol plants and organic composting,” he said. “These grants can help renewable energy and energy efficient projects of almost any size succeed. We encourage rural businesses to apply,” Wilson added. Questions can be directed to Patrick Lydic, the Illinois energy program coordinator, at (217) 403-6211.
The $22.8 million will be made available in two stages. One-half, $11.4 million, is available immediately for competitive grants. Renewable energy grant applications must be for a minimum of $2,500 and a maximum of $500,000. Energy efficiency grant applications may range from $2,500 to $250,000. The grant request may not exceed 25 percent of the eligible project cost. Applications must be submitted to the appropriate Rural Development State Office postmarked no later than June 27, 2005. Detailed information about application and program requirements can be found in the March 28 publication of the Federal Register.
The remaining $11.4 million will be set aside through Aug. 31, 2005, for renewable energy and energy efficiency guaranteed loans. Final details on how to apply for these funds will be published in the Federal Register later this year. Any funds not obligated under the guarantee loan program by Aug. 31, 2005, will be reallocated to the competitive grant program as of that date. Source: AGRINEWS, 4/11/2005.
This news item comes to you as a service of Western's Renewable Resources Program.
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