The Alliance for Renewable Energy

2,100 Miles Later, "Rocket Trike" Nearing Washington, DC

The Alliance for Renewable Energy is sponsoring one man's ride to Washington, DC. Learn more:

And check out his blog for beautiful photos and updates from his trek across the United States!

Los Angeles Solar FIT Proposed

From Wind-Works.org:

The Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) today released a report calling for a modest solar photovoltaic (PV) feed-in tariff program in the City of Angels.

The second of two reports by UCLA's Luskin Center lays out a detailed economic proposal for creating a multi-tiered system of feed-in tariffs (FIT) for solar PV that would result in 600 MW of solar PV within ten years.

The proposal's limited objective will contribute to only 3% the city's electricity supply in 2020. Further, LABC's proposal considers only solar PV and not any other form of renewable energy.

However, the study itself, Bringing Solar Energy to Los Angeles: An Assessment of the Feasibility and Impacts of an In-basin Solar Feed-in Tariff Program weighs the costs and benefits of a program installing up to 1,000 MW of solar PV by 2020, the equivalent of 5% of electricity supply under conditions in southern California.

Read more.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user tiarescott, shared under a Creative Commons license.)

Italy Surpasses US in Solar PV

 

From Wind-Works.org:

In a dramatic display of the power feed-in tariffs have in driving markets, Italy installed more solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2009 than the entire US. Moreover, within the first quarter of 2010, Italy's total installed solar PV capacity was expected to exceed that of the US.

Italy installed 720 MW of solar PV in 2009, nearly all of that on rooftops. In contrast, the US installed 435 MW during the same period, according to a draft report by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC).

Italy introduced a system of feed-in tariffs for solar PV in February, 2007 after concluding that the previous program of Tradable Green Certificates was not delivering the results desired.

By the end of 2007, Italy had installed five times more solar PV than in the previous year. Despite numerous bureaucratic roadblocks, the solar industry took off in 2008 and installed nearly 350 MW, then a record-breaking number. Solar PV installations have been doubling since then and are expected to reach 1,500 MW in 2010.

Read more.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user francesco sgroi, shared under a Creative Commons license.)

Ontario Promotes its FITs in New Yorker

This full-page ad appeared in the New Yorker's June issue:

Grading Feed-in Tariffs

From Wind-Works.org:

The World Future Council has issued a report grading North American feed-in tariffs for renewable energy. Only Ontario and Vermont make a passing grade. All other programs in the US and Canada failed to pass.

Gipe evaluated the programs using ten criteria that have been found critical in creating successful renewable energy policy. He then devised a weighting system to reflect the relative importance of each criterion. Most criteria received 10 points, some less. Tariff differentiation by size or application, a hallmark of successful programs, received 20 points.

• Program caps, 10 points
• Project size caps, 10 points
• Contract terms, 10 points
• Technologies included, 10 points
• Tariffs based on cost of generation, 10 points
• Tariffs differentiated by technology, 10 points
• Tariffs differentiated by size or application for each technology, 20 points
• Tariffs differentiated by resource intensity for wind energy, 10 points
• Inflation indexing, 6 points
• Bonus or social adders, 5 points

Read more.

If you would like a hard copy of the full report, please email us at contact(at)earthaction.org.

Oregon’s New Solar Law Not a Good FIT

Sad news from Oregon:

Contrary to what some commentators are saying, Oregon did not just adopt a feed-in tariff (FIT).  ELAW has been working diligently to ensure that Oregon adopts a FIT because FITs have been proven to be the most effective and efficient means of moving renewables onto the grid. Sadly, Oregon’s program falls far short of the mark.

Read more.

Wisconsin: A Cruel Month for Clean Energy

By Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin

Renewable energy businesses and activists entered the month of April with high hopes of seeing the State Legislature pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), a comprehensive bill designed to propel Wisconsin toward energy independence, along the way creating thousands of new jobs and strengthening the sustainable energy marketplace.  This comprehensive bill would have raised the renewable energy content of electricity sold in Wisconsin, while stepping up ratepayer support for smaller-scale renewable energy installations throughout the state.

Unfortunately, on April 22, the State Senate adjourned for the year without taking action on the Clean Energy Jobs Act bill, effectively killing the measure and leaving hundreds of businesses and individuals who campaigned for the bill empty-handed.  

If life imitates poetry, then the line that opens T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land—“April is the cruelest month”—aptly encapsulates the evolution of a campaign that overcame many obstacles in the final weeks only to be undermined by the unwillingness of Senate leaders to schedule a vote on the bill.

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.

Dow Corning Sees Bright Future for Solar - If FITs are Adopted

From The Energy Collective:

The first objective is to establish “a broad federal legislative and regulatory package” to accelerate the growth of the solar industry and encourage consumer adoption of solar technologies. This includes specific incentives for U.S.-based clean energy manufacturing – the company recommends a permanent extension of the Section 48c advanced manufacturing tax credit – and a package of policies to clear hurdles to market adoption and provide strong, consistent domestic demand for solar power.

This package of incentives includes a broad and robust national renewable electricity standard (RES) to “get the whole country marching in the right direction,” Mr. Peeters said, as well as targeted and robust production incentives in the form of feed-in tariffs or other “renewable energy payment” policies.

These targeted incentives are particularly important, Mr. Peeters said, “because solar is an infant industry really. It's young. There is a lot to learn. Technology development is very very fast. Solar will get to a cost where it is competing with traditional sources of energy … We will see it in the next ten years the technology will evolve fast enough so that in many places, those incentives will go way way down, maybe down to zero. But right now, today,” Peeters noted, “[production incentives] are an important tool to bring some people over this initial barrier, to give the activation energy to make this happen."

Read the full article.

Nova Scotia To Launch Community-Based Feed-in Tariffs

From Wind-Works.org:

As part of Nova Scotia's Renewable Electricity Plan announced today, the province in Eastern Canada will implement a series of feed-in tariffs for locally-owned projects.

Nova Scotia, one of Canada's Maritime Provinces, announced the Community-Based Feed-in Tariffs or COMFIT program to "encourage the development of local renewable energy projects by municipalities, First Nations, co-operatives, and non-profit groups."

If implemented as proposed, Nova Scotia will be the third province to use feed-in tariffs to develop renewable energy. Prince Edward Island, also a Maritime Province, has had a simple feed-in tariff for several years, and Ontario, Canada's most populous province launched its successful program last fall.

The government's Renewable Electricity Plan proposes building 300 MW of new renewable capacity by 2015 in three equal tranches: one for the provincial utility, one for independent power producers, and one for community-owned projects. Significantly, the plan proposes reducing coal-fired generation from 75% of supply to 40% of supply by 2020.

Read more.