Renewable Energy Standards Adjusted in Texas and California

Legislation in Texas has doubled the state's commitment to renewable energy development and a report on California's efforts indicates progress on meet its 20 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) years earlier than required.

Texas

In July 2005, the Texas Legislature boosted the renewable portfolio standard so that it will double the goal for the amount of wind power, solar power and other forms of renewable energy in the state's energy mix [see Senate Bill 20]. The new goal calls for the state to obtain 5,880 MW, or about five percent of the state's electricity, from renewable energy by 2015. Of the total, 500 MW must come from renewable energy sources such as solar and biomass. The law sets a long-range target for the state to get 10 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2025. The legislation also streamlines the ability of the Public Utility Commission to order construction of new transmission lines to meet the state's renewable goal.

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Democrats vs. Republicans - Key Votes on the National Energy Bill

The U.S. House and Senate have passed different versions of a national energy bill. A Conference Committee is trying to work out an agreement on a final bill. We took a look at the votes on various provisions in the bills and created some charts showing the differences based on political party affiliation.

We're more interested on what's going on at the state and local levels but from time to time it is instructive to look at what's coming down from the top in terms of energy policy.

Follow this link to see the charts. - [also in pdf]

Klickitat County's Energy Overlay Zone Streamlines Future Siting of Energy Projects

Over three years, Klickitat County in southern Washington, studied the potential impacts of future energy projects within its borders and came up with a plan to direct those projects to the most appropriate areas. The county's new "Energy Overlay Zone" is a zoning tool aimed at expediting renewable energy development. The Energy Overlay Zone covers more than 1,000 square miles, two-thirds of Klickitat County.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Energy Overlay Zone was released in August 2004. The county spent about $500,000 to assess the potential for energy development, including wind energy/avian impacts, a review of land uses and the economics involved. Using projections of likely energy facility development in the region over the next twenty years, for purposes of analysis the EIS assumed that up to 1,750 megawatts (MW) of new natural gas projects, 100 MW of biomass projects, 1,000 MW of wind projects, and a small number of solar projects might be constructed in the county.

The FEIS had also included a new “Limited Geographic Alternative” that defined a narrower geographic area within the Energy Overlay Zone where gas-fired and biomass energy plants could have been sited. This provision was opposed by citizen groups and environmental organizations including Columbia Riverkeeper, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, and the Klickitat County Stewardship Council. In March 2005, a settlement was reached between the groups and the County and the biomass/natural gas areas were removed from the Energy Overlay Zone. Under the settlement agreement, the new Energy Overlay Zone is only available for wind and solar power projects.

Typically, each energy project would have to have a specific zoning application and approval process. Now, for example, siting wind turbines in the Energy Overlay Zone will be automatically approved at the county level without the need for further investigation or permitting. Energy projects must still meet the requirements of Washington's State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

Developers are happy with the new zoning because much of the upfront environmental analysis has already been done and there are now clear, publicly reviewed boundaries in Klickitat County where wind and solar energy projects are an allowed use. This means much of the risk of selecting sites for development is removed.

Some residents were opposed to the Energy Overlay Zone because of concerns over visual, habitat, and other environmental impacts of energy projects. Other residents wanted to be included in the Energy Overlay Zone because they had already signed land lease agreements with wind developers.

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Connecticut Makes DG Central to Energy Independence Movement

The Connecticut legislature has sent the Governor a bill that calls for on-site distributed generation (DG) to meet a growing portion of the state's electricity supply.

Observers expect the Governor to sign the "energy independence" bill [HB 7501] in the coming days. The legislation requires electricity providers in Connecticut to have an increasing level of combined heat and power (CHP) projects and conservation as part of their portfolio. The bill provides incentives for customers and utilities to install distributed generation projects including capital and operating cost subsidies and a program for long-term financing.

The bill requires the electric companies and competitive suppliers to acquire 1 percent of their supply from energy conservation services and cogeneration projects under 65 MW starting in 2007. This proportion increases to 4 percent by 2010. The Connecticut Department of Utility Control (DPUC) is directed to establish the protocols on how qualifying activities are certified, tracked and reported.

If a company, supplier, or wholesaler does not meet the standard, it must pay up to 5. 5 cents for each kilowatt-hour of its shortfall. Three quarters of the penalty payment goes to a state-managed conservation fund and one quarter to the CT Clean Energy Fund.

According to Daniel Sosland, Executive Director of Environment Northeast, the new portfolio requirements will require 320,000 MWhs in 2007 and go up to 1.28 million MWh in 2010.

The bill requires a program to provide one-time capital subsidies to customers who install customer side distributed generation. The subsidy ranges from $200 to $500 per kilowatt (kW) of generating capacity and depends on how well the project does at reducing Federally mandated congestion charges (FMCC).

The bill requires a program to provide awards to the electric companies to educate, assist, and promote investments in these resources. The one-time award is paid when the resource becomes operational, under the following schedule, $200/kW for resources developed by January 1, 2008, $150/kW by January 1, 2009, $100/kW by January 1, 2010, and $50/kW for resources developed thereafter.

The bill exempts new customer side distributed resources from backup charges if the resource's capacity is less than peak load and the resources are available to the system during peak periods.

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