During this time, Renewable Energy Payment legislative action has moved forward in 16 states: Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Arkansas: A bill, HB 1851, commonly known as ‘REFIT Arkansas’, was introduced in March in the House of Representatives by Rep. Kathy Webb. It came before the House Insurance and Commerce Committee, where it was defeated by a vote of 8 to 6. Supporters of the bill felt that it lost because there was a great deal of ‘misinformation’ spread about it by the utilities who opposed it. The Governor, the Arkansas Public Service Commission, and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission all strongly supported the bill. Another bill will be introduced in the next session of the legislature in 2011. Proponents feel certain that with more education of the Committee and House members, the bill will pass. Read more: www.refitarkansas.org (Bill Ball, Arkansas RE Association, bill@stellarsun.com, 501 993 0032)
California: There are several FIT bills in the state legislature including a bill from Senator Fran Pavley that would establish a cost-based solar energy feed-in pilot in several municipalities. None of the bills have moved yet, and none offer a ‘full system of feed-in tariffs like those in Germany’. In addition, the CA Public Utility Commission (PUC) is in the midst of an exploration or proceeding to expand CA’s limited existing FIT program. PUC staff recently recommended the FIT to systems 10 MW and below and to 1,000 MW total statewide. (Paul Gipe, pgipe@igc.org, 416 597 2748 ex. 229, http://wind-works.org )
Florida: In the 1st quarter of 2009, the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE) created an overwhelming buzz and understanding of a FIT policy where none existed even 6 months prior. FARE is dedicated to bringing widespread, rapid deployment of renewable energy to Florida through statewide implementation of a feed-in tariff.
In February, FARE hosted a delegation
from the EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association) in conjunction
with their "Effective Renewable Energy Policies" conference.
The EPIA delegation, whose members represent over 80% of the worlds
solar production, participated in a whirlwind tour of the State's capitol,
visiting with over 30 legislators in 2 days. Time and again, the executive
officers of the world's largest solar companies stressed to lawmakers
the direct correlation between the growth of their companies and the
implementation of a feed-in tariff in Germany and other European countries.
Read more: http://www.
Having addressed what the future of Florida's renewable energy industry could look like, FARE next focused on what today's industry was made of. FARE held a lobby day in March, bringing hundreds of renewable energy advocates and small businesses to flood the State's capitol with the message that they too deserve a seat at the table when lawmakers determine the shape of renewable energy legislation.
In addition to their Lobby Day, FARE
launched a Renewable Energy tour, hosting 5 town hall meetings in 5
days all across the state, sharing their message with hundreds of Floridians
and recruiting more and more dedicated advocates to their cause. Read
more: http://www.
Also in early March, FARE hosted Former
CIA Director R. James Woolsey, who testified in front of both the House
and Senate Energy Committees and held private meetings with Commissioner
of Agriculture Charles Bronson, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, and
over a dozen individual legislators. Mr. Woolsey testified to the importance
of a secure and reliable energy grid, and went on to say the distributed
generation that would result from a feed-in tariff policy would help
create energy security as well as energy independence for Florida. Read
more: http://www.
Hawaii: Bills are in the state
legislature, but the important action at the moment is a ongoing Public
Utilities proceeding to implement the Hawaii Clean Energy Agreement
Initiative. Under the Agreement, the Governor, Consumer Advocate, and
the utilities agreed to implement a generation cost-based feed-in tariff
by July of this year . Read more: http://content.usatoday.net/
Indiana: A bill has been introduced in the House and they have had a committee hearing, but no further action.
Iowa: A bill, HF412, was introduced in the House that would have the Utilities Board and State Energy Board set FITs.
Maine: The public hearing on a
feed-in tariff bill in the Maine legislature was held before the Utilities
and Energy Joint Committee on Tuesday, April 14. The meeting ran over
4 hours which is unusual. There was ample support for the bill with more
people prepared to testify in favor than the committee had time to hear,
about 14 of 23 who came to speak. There was a clear majority of support
in the room that was filled to capacity. There were a few who spoke
against the bill, most notably a Central Maine Power lobbyist and a
representative of big industry in Maine. Rep. Herb Adams, is the sponsor
of the bill. Read more at: www.
Michigan: A FIT bill was reintroduced this year into the House, and the Governor announced her intent to implement FITs. A legislative luncheon was held in early April organized by the World Future Council & Paul Gipe with Toby Couture from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) giving a presentation. The luncheon reinvigorated the hope of a positive legislative response to FITs in MI. (Paul Gipe, pgipe@igc.org, 416 597 2748 ex. 229)
Minnesota: For the second year in a row, state legislators in Minnesota proposed a statewide feed-in tariff. The 2009 proposal differed sharply from the prior year's, narrowing technologies down to wind and solar PV, capping the program at 20 percent of the state's renewable energy standard (RES), and creating a rate equalization formula that would share the cost equitably across all state utilities.
Despite the changes, the bill fared no
better in this session. The House Energy Finance and Policy Division
held a hearing on the bill - HF 932 (https://www.revisor.leg.
New Mexico: A bill, HM87, was introduced in the House. It would require a committee to establish a FIT.
New York: A FIT bill has been introduced in the Assembly and the Senate. Discussions are ongoing. Stay tuned.
Oregon: Last fall, Oregonians started looking for policies that were more efficient and effective at promoting the generation of renewable energy than existing tax incentive policies. Citizens contacted ARE for help. ARE steering committee member Jennifer Gleason who works in Oregon with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) helped Oregonians learn about REPs. A loose coalition of Organizations and people have now formed a group called Oregonians for Renewable Energy Payments (OREP).
At the end of the year, Oregon Governor Kulongoski proposed a pilot production-based incentive program for solar energy modeled after European policies such as Germany’s. OREP began working to ensure that the Governor’s pilot project would be strong. Disappointed that the proposed bill was not a true REP, OREP asked Jennifer to draft a strong bill for Oregon. OREP’s bill (HB 3038-1) has been introduced in the house.
Several ARE steering committee members helped in the drafting of the bill and ARE member Bianca Barth spent a week in Oregon educating people about the success of Germany’s program.
The House Sustainability & Economic Development Committee is currently considering three bills that have some form of a REP in them. Each of these bills is stronger than it would have been without the involvement of ARE. (Jennifer Gleason, Staff Attorney, Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), jen@elaw.org, 541 687-8454 ext. 15)
Virginia: Virginia’s Governor’s Climate Change Commission recommended a feasibility study for FITs.
Washington: At least four feed-in tariff bills were introduced in the House and Senate and are moving forward in committees. (Mike Nelson, Director of the Northwest Solar Center, WSU, miknel@seanet.com)
Wisconsin: In January, the Public
Service Commission of Wisconsin opened a docket to investigate what
they are calling, ‘Advanced Renewable Tariffs’ (ARTs). In opening
the document, the Commission listed a series of questions seeking comments
on every facet of ARTs. Comments from RENEW Wisconsin and Clean Wisconsin
were filed on Feb. 17. The groups are awaiting a determination from
the Commission about next steps in this proceeding. Comments filed by
RENEW Wisconsin and Clean Wisconsin can be accessed at the URL below: http://renewwisconsinblog.org/
To review all documents submitted in
response to the Commission's investigation, go to the url below and
type in 05 EI 148 in the docket box: http://psc.wi.gov/apps/erf_
Vermont: On Earth Day the Vermont House of Representatives passed House Bill 446, the Vermont Energy Act of 2009. The bill includes changes to Vermont's Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development Program (SPEED) that would implement a pilot feed-in tariff policy . H 446 Bill As Passed by House, H 446 Bill Status
The proposed standard contract program
is modest even by North American standards. There is a severe restriction
on the extent of the program. Nevertheless, this is the first bill proposing
a system of feed-in tariffs that has both been reported out of committee
and passed one chamber of a bi-cameral legislature in the United States.
Here are several key elements of H. 446 as passed by the House.
- Program cap of 50 MW
- Project size cap of 2.2 MW
- Contract term: 20 years
- Wind energy tariffs
<15 kW: $0.20/kWh
>15 kW: $0.14/kWh
- Landfill and biogas tariff of $0.12/kWh
- Solar tariff of $0.30/kWh
- Future tariffs based on cost of generation plus profit less applicable tax credits and Other Incentives
- Profit set at rate of return of Vermont electric utilities
- Open a regulatory examination of the tariffs by September 15, 2009 and new rates set in January, 2010
The bill was assigned to the Senate
Committee on Natural Resources and Energy April 28, 2009 and passed
the committee April 29. The bill now moves to the Senate Finance Committee.
For more information, and longer histories, of legislative action in the States, please click on this link.
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