Archive of Federal Stories

Can residential rooftop solar compete with new utility-scale concentrating solar electric plants? Only if federal and state incentives are amended to level the playing field. This May 2008 report explores the economics of solar PV and concentrating solar and shows how local ownership is hindered unless government solar incentives change.

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A wind turbine can power up to 600 homes, but 600 homeowners can't get together to own a wind turbine. Why? Because federal law makes local ownership virtually impossible. The federal wind-energy incentives -- up for renewal this year -- discriminate against local ownership and favor absentee ownership. They also severely restrict the number of investors who can finance wind-energy generators.

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A debate between advocates of distributed and centralized renewable energy systems is just beginning. It is overdue. Consideration of scale in renewable energy systems has been delayed in part because we first had to bring solar energy in all its forms to market, and in part because the distributed nature of renewable energy resources seemed inexorably to lead to their being harnessed in distributed fashion. Only recently have we begun to realize that a renewable energy future does not inevitably mean a decentralized energy future.

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A typical 2 megawatt wind turbine provides enough electricity for around 600 average American homes. So why is it nearly impossible for those same 600 households to pool their resources and own a wind turbine? A new policy brief by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) shows how removing two barriers to owning and investing in renewable energy projects can pave the way for true energy independence.

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Regulations coming into force in April and May 2008 will bring a wealth of energy and environmental information to homebuyers in the United Kingdom. Potential buyers will get an Energy Performance Certificate and a mandatory comparison of the new home to the requirements contained in the UK's Code for Sustainable Homes as part of home information packets (HIPs) prior to purchasing the home.

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Updating a pathbreaking 2003 report, ILSR's March 2008 report, Driving Our Way to Energy Independence, describes how commercially available technologies today could transform our petroleum powered transportation system into one powered by electricity and biofuels. Provisions in the recently passed Energy Act could accelerate that transformation. With the adoption of complementary policies, the revolution in our transportation sector can generate an equally profound revolution in our electricity sector. Hundreds of thousands of locally owned wind turbines and solar electric arrays supplying flexible fueled, plug-in hybrid vehicles can allow tens of millions of Americans to become energy producers not just energy consumers.

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A new policy brief from Institute for Local Self Reliance criticizes the authors of two recent studies published in Science for advancing a conclusion not supported by their own studies. ILSR's paper notes that the vast majority of today’s ethanol production comes from corn cultivated on land that has been in corn production for generations. Since little new land has come into production, either directly or indirectly, the current use of ethanol clearly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

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A new policy brief from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance concludes that universal dividends are a critically important tool to create the political will and public acceptance for a carbon cap. Universal dividends have the potential to hold harmless a large segment of consumers while we move to a low-carbon economy. Moreover, the universal dividend honors the principle that the sky belongs to all of us equally. Private investment in clean and efficient technologies will be driven by a carbon cap that leads to steady reductions over time of GHG emissions and carbon-based fuels.

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This column by ILSR's John Farrell argues that in their desire to expand renewable-energy production, activists and policymakers focus almost entirely on “more,” rather than “better.” Twenty-seven states have renewable-energy standards, requiring utilities to produce or sell 10, 20, even 30 percent of electricity from renewable sources in the next two decades. The U.S. House just passed an energy bill with a national renewable-energy standard and a drastically higher biofuels mandate. This tunnel vision on “more” overlooks the substantial benefits that local ownership can bring to our energy future.

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Congress and most state legislatures have or are developing renewable energy policies with a single objective: get more renewables. Our new study, Wind and Ethanol: Economies and Diseconomies of Scale, finds that this single minded focus ignores the potential economic benefits from locally owned and more modestly scaled facilities. The focus should on better renewable energy projects not simply more.

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The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently released the results from their Small Wind Turbine Global Market Study, reporting that high up –front costs are preventing small wind systems from reaching their growth potential. The small wind industry has been experiencing annual growth in the range of 14-25% since 1985. AWEA says that Increased federal incentives could double the growth rate.

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The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) has issued the 5th edition of its Connecting to the Grid guide. The report and survey addresses new and lingering interconnection issues relevant to all distributed generation (DG) technologies. The guide hopes to assist state regulators and other government officials, as well as utility representatives, DG stakeholders and consumers interested in the development of state-level interconnection standards.

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On April 2nd, the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice soliciting applicants for the next round of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds allocations. The CREBs program provides governmental entities, municipal and cooperatively owned utilities an incentive to develop renewable energy projects. Ultimately, an interest free financing tool, CREBs are a substitute for renewable energy production tax incentives that these entities are not able to use because of their tax exempt status. Applications must be filed by July 13, 2007.

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Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., recently introduced the Clean Renewable Energy for Public Power Act (H.R. 1821), which would extend and reform the Clean Renewable Energy Bond program authorizing government entities, rural cooperatives and municipally-owned electric systems to issue tax-credit bonds for renewable energy projects, as a counterpart to the production tax credit available to investor-owned utilities and other renewable energy project developers.

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A recent speech by ILSR Vice President, David Morris, focuses on ways to ensure that our nation's move to have 25 percent of our energy consumption come from renewable energy by 2025 will maximize the benefits to the communities in which these fuels are produced and harvested.

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The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required that DOE, in consultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), conduct a study of the potential benefits of cogeneration and small power production. The final report, The Potential Benefits of Distributed Generation and Rate Related Issues that May Impede Their Expansion, is now open for public comment until April 2, 2007.

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This year offers a rare historical opportunity for our nation to marry energy and agricultural policy objectives. The new 110th Congress will be revisiting the 2005 energy bill and reauthorizing the 2002 farm bill, giving congressional leaders the chance to link increased rural prosperity and energy security. Two reports released today will be useful guides.

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A recent column by David Morris published on Alternet provides a review of George Monbiot's new book Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning. The book picks up where Al Gore left off on global warming, offering real solutions without sugar-coating the large personal sacrifices they will require.

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Our January 2007 report looks at ten of the most visible and successful cities involved in global warming solutions and finds that reducing GHG emissions below 1990 levels will be a major challenge. Many cities will likely not meet their goals unless complementary state and federal policies are put in place very soon.

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Biofuels won't single-handedly solve the climate crisis, nor will they deliver energy independence. But a base of widely dispersed, farmer- and citizen-owned biofuel plants can displace significant amounts of fossil fuels -- while also building local economies. ILSR's recent column in Grist Magazine outlines a federal energy and agriculture strategy to move us in the right direction.

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One of the first orders of business for the new Congress should be to eliminate a single sentence in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The language was added in the waning hours of the conference committee negotiations. According to ILSR, if it does not, the commercialization of ethanol made from cellulose could be delayed.

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Last week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that 610 projects have been given the authority to issue Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) to help finance renewable energy development across the country. State and local governments and municipal and cooperative utilities were eligible to apply.

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A new report issued by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance urges the U.S. Department of Energy to change its piecemeal approach to commercializing ethanol from cellulose and develop a comprehensive strategy. "The future of American agriculture may depend on this," says David Morris, Vice President of ILSR and author of Putting the Pieces Together: Commercializing Cellulosic Ethanol.

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ILSR's David Morris believes that U.S. government programs supporting ethanol need to be refocused on farmers and local ownership and be broadened to include other renewable fuels. His opinion piece in today's New York Times is expanded here in a paper titled, The New Ethanol Future Demands a New Public Policy.

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All UK central government departments and their agencies will be carbon neutral within six years in an attempt to model environmentally sustainable behavior to business and consumers. Once carbon neutrality is reached, the government has set an additional target to reduce carbon emissions from government offices by 30 percent by the year 2020.

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Starting in June 2007, home buyers in England will be able to look at an energy performance certificate for the property before they purchase it. The assessment will advise consumers on which energy measures - ranging from insulation to solar panels - could cut carbon emissions from their home and improve their energy rating.

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Under a compromise agreement, legislation was passed into law in May 2006 that requires Minnesota's largest coal-fired power plants to cut mercury emissions by 90 percent by 2015. Utilities were brought on board by allowing immediate recovery from ratepayers the cost of installing the necessary pollution control equipment.

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The carbohydrate economy could transform agriculture as well as energy, reviving producer co-ops, and giving farmers a hedge against voilatile commodity prices. For the first time in 60 years, the carbohydrate economy is back on the public-policy agenda. It is an exciting historical opportunity, but one we should approach with deliberation and foresight.

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Audio from the second in a series of national teleconferences on the Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) program is now available and the IRS has issued additional guidelines. The CREB program authorizes the issuance of up to $800 million in "tax credit" bonds by electric cooperatives, public power authorities, units of state and local government and tribal authorities for financing renewable energy projects.

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The U.S. Department of Energy is seeking public input for a study of the potential benefits of distributed generation. The study was required by a provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

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A December 2005 Energy Saving Trust report concludes that small wind and solar along with residential cogeneration technologies could provide a substantial portion of the UK's domestic energy needs by 2050.

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The Internal Revenue Service is soliciting applications for allocations of the Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) authority. According to the guidelines, Treasury will allocate bonding authority to the smallest qualified projects first until funding authority is used up. Applications for allocations must be filed with the IRS by April 26, 2006.

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Several Senators from midwestern states have introduced the Fuel Security and Consumer Choice Act. The bill would require all U.S. marketed vehicles to be manufactured as Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) within ten years. FFVs can use both regular gasoline and varying blends of renewable fuels like E-85 (motor fuel with 85 percent ethanol content).

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The image of George W. Bush asking Americans to save oil by driving less brings to mind another image, that of Jimmy Carter wearing a cardigan sweater and asking Americans to save oil by turning down our thermostats. This column by my colleague David Morris encourages readers to understand the similarities and the differences of the two approaches.

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More than a dozen states along with New York City have banned together and filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy for falling 6-13 years behind in adopting efficiency standards that were mandated by Congress.

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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.

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has adopted standard rules for interconnecting distributed generation projects of 20 MW or less with the electricity grid.

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A review of the current status of photovoltaics, and a unified vision of photovoltaic technology development for 2030 and beyond in Europe.

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We received a question on the whether or not states like New Jersey have authority to enact more stringent rules on mercury emissions from power plants than what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued recently. Dr. Dave on our staff provides the answer.

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About 70 biodiesel manufacturers and distributors have urged the IRS to allow 100 percent biodiesel to qualify for the recently enacted excise tax exemption for biofuels. The IRS is interpreting the tax incentive law to only apply to biodiesel blends of less than 100 percent vegetable or animal-fat oil.

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The Institute for Local Self-Reliance's vice president David Morris gives the West Wing writers a piece of his mind and gives the rest of us an important lesson on the renewable fuel called ethanol.

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is proposing to amend its regulations to require public utilities to include specific technical provisions for wind energy in their open access transmission tariffs (OATTs). The new rules will allow wind power projects to be integrated more firmly into the existing transmission system.

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A coalition of U.S. and foreign automobile manufacturers and car dealerships in California joined together to file a lawsuit against California's innovative rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles in that state. In a tug of war between federal and state authority, the stage is set for an illuminating public debate on how far a state can go in directing its own energy future.

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Two pieces of legislation have been passed recently by the U.S. Congress contain some provisions that will provide financial incentives for distributed energy technologies including biomass, wind, solar and geothermal. The Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 [H.R. 1380] and the 2004 American Jobs Creation Act [H.R. 4520] have been signed into law by President Bush. Some of these incentives are new, some are extensions of incentives that have lapsed with the inability of Congress to pass a comprehensive energy bill in the past two years.

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On October 14, 2004 the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released a joint statement related to new FCC rules to facilitate the widespread adoption of broadband internet access over electric power lines, known as Access BPL [Action by the Commission, October 14, 2004 by Report and Order (FCC 04-245)]. The BPL ruling will not only provide households with another option in broadband internet service but it is expected to lead utilties to provide more efficient management of their power supply system, and ensure increased operational reliability. The new standards will allow some municipally-owned utilities and cooperatives to eventually provide high speed internet access to remote customer who aren't able to get service at this time.

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Each year's delay in setting three new Department of Energy appliance efficiency standards costs consumers and businesses billions of dollars in higher energy bills, according to a new study by the Appliance Standards Awareness Project [ http://www.standardsasap.org/] Implementing new efficiency standards for residential furnaces and boilers, commercial air conditioners, and distribution transformers could decrease our annual energy use significantly - enough electricity to power about 330,000 typical U.S homes and natural gas to heat about 170,000 homes. Steven Nadel, Executive Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and a principal author of the report noted, "Strong standards for these three products could slash U.S. electricity demand by about 22,000 megawatts, eliminating the need for as many as 70 new power plants in the years ahead."

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California is the only state empowered under federal law to pass stronger air pollution standards than those set by the federal government. Other states can then choose California's standards, but cannot be the first to surpass those set by the federal government. Thus, passage of a California law leading to regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from cars eventually could spark changes in the design of automobiles sold across the country. The Governor signed the bill on July 22, 2002, putting California at the forefront of a worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gases.

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By 1991 a majority of all new power generation was built by non-regulated producers. Led by Enron, they aggressively lobbied Congress for easier access to long distance transmission lines. In 1992 Congress ordered FERC to develop rules to do just that. In 1999 FERC issued Order 2000, which created new regional transmission entities and endowed them with significantly more authority than the existing regional power pools. In July 2001, FERC went a step further by ordering the rapid formation of a small number of very large regional transmission authorities. State regulatory agencies sued. They argued that FERC had far exceeded its authority and in doing so was undermining their ability to exercise their own authority over in-state electricity systems in a credible and workable fashion.

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