2009-10 Feed-in Tariff Report: Moving Forward with FITs in North America

  The following is a list of many of the FIT related activities that ARE Steering Committee members participated in, or were instrumental in bringing about in 2009 and from January through April 2010.

January, February, and March 2009

January 9, 2009  St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN 

Advanced Renewable Tariffs Presentation sponsored by the Institute for Local Self Reliance

Steering Committee members John Farell and Paul Gipe presented at the panel at Institute for Local Self Reliance.  State representative David Bly, who has introduced REP legislation in Minnesota, also attended.  200 people were present.

 

January 22 and February 11, 2009  Amherst and Northampton, MA

ARE co-chair Lois Barber gave presentations on FITs at the Amherst Club in Amherst, MA and the Smith College Renewable Energy Event in Northampton, MA to a combined audience of over 100 people. 

 

February 3, 2009  Tallahassee, FL

Effective Renewable Energy Policies sponsored by the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE)

FARE held its conference on ‘Effective Renewable Energy Policies’ for a standing room only crowd of more than 250 people. The conference focused on which policies were most cost effective to the ratepayer and would result in the most jobs created to keep Florida dollars in state. Seven delegate members from the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) were present, who later went on a whirlwind tour of the State Capitol, explaining the benefits of FITs to over 30 legislators.

 

Feb. 25-27, 2009  Las Vegas, NV

ACORE RETECH CONFERENCE: Session of Feed-in Tariffs, organized and chaired by Lois Barber, Co-chair, Alliance for Renewable Energy. Participants included:

Dr. Murray Cameron, founding member and COO, Phoenix Solar and current vice president of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), the largest solar trade association in the world representing 80% of global production.  

Wilson Rickerson, Senior Vice President at Meister Consultants Group and a leading expert on feed-in tariffs.

R. James Woolsey, Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

John Burges, Managing Director at Knight Capital Markets, the largest market maker in North America, responsible for energy, alternative energy and clean technology.  

John Geeseman, former California Commissioner

Steve Ladd, Professor of Renewable Energy Technology, St. Lawrence College, Kingston, Ontario

Cheri Olf, Director of Education & International Workforce Development at ACORE

and special guest, Mike Eckhart, President of ACORE

 

March 24, 2009  Tallahassee, FL

Lobby Day Sponsored by Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE)

Hundreds of solar and renewable energy advocates walked the halls of Florida’s Capital City and met with each of the state’s legislature and their staff to discuss FITs, or Renewable Energy Dividends as they are called in Florida.  Businesses from Gainesville, Fl., were on hand to testify in person the booming economic effect the policy has had on their city since its passage on March 1^st.

 

April, May and June 2009

April 22-24, 2009  Queens Park, Toronto

Ontario Green Energy Day Sponsored by the Green Energy Act Alliance

European and American renewable energy experts came to Ontario to give advice to the government on how to make the Green Energy Act ‘world-class’.  ARE Steering Committee members Deb Doncaster, Paul Gipe, and ARE advisory board member John Geesman presented at panels and roundtable events throughout the two-day event.

 

July, August, and September 2009

July 15, 2009  Washington, DC

Creating Sustainable Futures: Global Issues-

Local Actions—A day of dialogue at the National Press Club

Co-sponsored by EarthAction and the Heinrich Boell Foundation.

Panel Presentation on Feed-in Tariffs with Mike Eckhart, President, American Council on Renewable Energy; Chris Flavin, President of the World Watch Institute; and Lois Barber, Co-chair, Alliance for Renewable Energy.  Presented to an audience of 200.

 

August 11, 2009  Boulder, CO.

Lois Barber, Co-chair of ARE, gave a presentation on FITs at the monthly meeting of Clean Energy Action held at the Boulder Public Library. About 50 people were in attendance.

 

August 20, 2009  Denver, CO

The Colorado Public Utility Commission held a public meeting to present the findings of the report they commissioned, The Application of Feed-in Tariffs and Other Incentives to Promote Renewable Energy in Colorado. The report was written by Brent Burgie & Kelly Crandall, staff of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Lois Barber and Nancy LaPlaca attended.  Following the PUC public meeting, Lois met privately with two of the Commissioners, Matt Baker and Ron Binz to provide them with additional information on FITs and discuss next steps in Colorado.

 

August 25, 2009  Denver, CO

Lois Barber gave a talk on FITs at a monthly gathering focused on Renewable Energy held at the Mercury Café in downtown Denver. About 60 people were in the audience.

 

Summer 2009

Fact Finding Mission to Spain sponsored by the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and the World Future Council (WFC)

A group of 20 U.S. utility executives and managers visited Spain to see solar installations and meet with Spanish utilities, the government, and solar industry and research institutions.  ARE ex-officio Steering Committee member Bianca Barth helped organize. 

 

Summer 2009  Buffalo, NY

Forum at the American Solar Energy Society Meeting

Steering Committee Co-chair Paul Gipe organized a forum on FITs at the American Solar Energy Society meeting.  Senator Antoine Thompson from New York was present and presented a FIT friendly bill at the forum, to an audience of more than 75 people.

 

September 3, 2009  Denver, CO

Lois Barber gave a presentation on FITs at the Colorado Sierra Club's Energy Committee meeting. 15 people attended including 2 state legislators.

 

September 2009

Paul Gipe, ARE Co-chair, made a trip through Canada’s Eastern Provinces giving many presentations on FITs.

 

October, November and December 2009

November 19, 2009  Washington, DC

ACORE Phase II Conference

FITs were mentioned in 5 presentations and referred to as the best instrument to deploy RE at the lowest cost. GE Finance recommended moving away from tax based policies to long-term investment strategies. A key outcome was the recognition of the need for huge investments from all sectors and good policy. Speakers included Herman Scheer (ARE Advisor), Ed Markey, and Kevin Parker, Global Head, Deutsche Bank Asset Management who announced a major new institutional climate change arm and research reports on FITs.

December 8, 2009  Denver, CO

Lois Barber gave a presentation on FITs at the South Denver Chamber of Commerce office at their monthly meeting to an audience of 30 people.

 

December 16, 2009  Denver, CO.

Christoph H. Stefes, professor of Comparative European & Post-Soviet Studies at the University of Colorado Denver, gave a talk at The University Club in Denver on, “Germany’s Road towards Renewable Energy Leadership and what the United States Can Learn from It.” The meeting was hosted by MiNE (Meetings International Natural Resources Enterprise) LLC as part of their new energy finance series. About 75 people attended the luncheon and talk.

In addition, Lois Barber and Robert Youngberg, a new member of ARE’s Steering Committee, met with several people active in renewable energy issues for discussions on Feed-in Tariffs: John Powers, President, Alliance for Sustainable Colorado; Paul Sheldon, Senior Consultant, Natural Capital Solutions; and several others.

 

January, February and March 2010

January 29, 2010  Toronto, ON

MaRs event, co-sponsored by MaRS and The Community Power Fund

Meetings and panels with 200 senior political and financial leaders of Canada regarding investment opportunities with FITs and renewable energy.  ARE Steering Committee members Paul Gipe, Deb Doncaster and John Burges presented.

 

February 4, 2010  Washington, DC

ACORE RETECH Conference,

Lois Barber gave a presentation as part of a panel on FITs & Municipal Utilities.  Craig Lewis also presented on FITs.

 

February 4, 2010  Cooper Union Hall, New York City, NY

Members of the New York State Legislature joined a prestigious panel of policy experts (including ARE Steering Committee members John Burges and Deb Doncaster), financiers, and clean energy investors to discuss the case for a New York State Feed-In Tariff. ARE Steering Committee member Chris Neidl organized this event.

 

Feb. 23, 2010  Lansing, MI, and Feb. 26, 2010  Boston, MA 

Bernard Chabot Tariff Setting Workshop

Co-sponsored by World Future Council in cooperation with Meister Consultants and the Sierra Club's Michigan Chapter.

Bernard Chabot led price-setting technical workshops featuring an extensive technical discussion of the Profitability Index Method for calculating specific tariffs for solar and wind energy.  50 people attended the Lansing workshop, including Michigan Department of Energy Staff and state activists. 15 people attended the Boston workshop, including reps from ConEd, the largest utility company in New York.

 

March 10, 2010  Fort Collins, CO

ARE Steering-Committee member Robert Youngberg attended a meeting in Poudre Valley with Poudre Valley Power Authorities and presented information on FITs.

 

March 11, 2010  Boulder, CO

Lois Barber gave a presentation on FITs to the Clean Tech Meet-up group in Boulder. About 200 people were in the audience.

 

March 15, 2010  Aspen, CO 

Forum on Feed-in Tariffs.  Co-sponsored by the Alliance for Renewable Energy and organizer Katie Hoffner. 

The Mayor of Gainesville was the featured speaker along with Craig Lewis, a member of ARE’s Steering Committee, and several others. About 50 people attended and there was much interest in Aspen, which has its own municipal utility, for exploring a FIT.

 

February & March  2010  Colorado

In individual meetings Robert Youngberg and Lois Barber met with the following people engaged in renewable energy in Colorado:

Carol Barbietto, President, Earth Protect

Steven D. Catanach, Light & Power Manager, City of Fort Collins Utilities

Chip Comins, Director, AREDAY, Aspen

Mark Forsyth, Chief Executive Director, Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative

Katie Hoffner, organizer based in Ft. Collins

Frank N. Laird, Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, who teaches about FITs at the University of Denver

Hunter Lovins, President, Natural Capitalism Solutions

Yvonne Lynott, & Greg Lynott, Public Relations and Marketing Services

Jan Peterson, candidate for Board of Poudre Valley REA

GJ Pierman, President, and Angelina Primatrova, Manager of Business Development, Wirsol, a solar integrator based in Ft. Collins

John Steiner, friend, connector, philanthropist based in Boulder

 

March 26, 2010  Kissimmee, FL.

FARE 2010 Annual Conference & Golf Tournament sponsored by the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy—FARE.

This conference served as an important opportunity for active participants in the renewable energy industry, service providers and advocates to come together, show unity and speak as one collective voice supporting FITs during the 2010 Legislative Session.  150-200 people attended.

Discussions featured renewable energy experts and speakers from around Florida, the country and the globe. Topics covered technologies including biomass, solar, wind & more as well as policy and legislative topics, and renewable energy relevant to agricultural, retail, commercial, industrial and government applications.  ARE Co-chair Paul Gipe and ARE Steering Committee member Mike Antheil presented.

 

 

Reports and Books (Publications on FITs)

-FITness Testing: Exploring the Myths and Answers of FIT Policy authored by Wilson Rickerson, an advisor to ARE.

-Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-In Tariff Handbook by Miguel Mendonca.  Book launch on Capital Hill, Washington, DC, Jan 23, 2010 coordinated by Randy Hayes and the World Future Council

-Janet Sawin, ARE Steering Committee member is a Coordinating Lead Author (CLA) for the policy chapter in the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy and Climate Change Mitigation. The report, due out in spring 2011, provides a review of existing peer-reviewed literature on the current status of renewable energy technologies and their potential for mitigating climate change. The policy chapter discusses FITs, along with all other policies used to date to advance the development and deployment of renewable energy technnologies.

 

-US Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Vision Study Plan. Craig Lewis, ARE Steering Committee member, was the Co-Lead for the Policies Chapter of this plan, which is a report that will detail how the US can achieve 20% of its delivered energy from solar by 2030. Craig submitted the section on the Gainesville FIT, which is now deploying solar at a record pace, outstripping California’s best performance.