The Alliance for Renewable Energy

State Level Feed in Tariff and Federal Preemption Papers released

Jennifer Gleason of ELAW (Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide), and the Alliance for Renewable Energy has finished two exceptional papers on the issues of state level Feed-in Tariffs.

The first paper, Adopting State Feed-in Tariff Laws without Federal Preemption  is intended to help renewable energy advocates understand the concerns about federal preemption and understand possible paths forward for states to adopt robust FITs that are not preempted.

The second, accompanying paper Available Paths for Designing Strong State Feed in Tariffs is intended to provide sample language that could be used by states to implement a Feed-in Tariff that should not be preempted by federal law.  This language only addresses how the rates would be set.

What Feed-in Tariffs Could Do for Japan's Electricity Shortage

 

What Japan Could Do if It Followed Germany's Lead on Renewable Energy

Within one Decade Japan Could Halve its Dependence on Nuclear Power

April 14, 2011

By Paul Gipe

If Japan adopted an aggressive renewable energy policy like that of Germany, it could, within ten years, generate more than four times the electricity lost at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant, cutting the country's reliance on nuclear power by one-half or more.

As Japan expands the evacuation zone around the damaged Fukushima 1 nuclear plant from 20 km to 30 km and Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) skirts the edge of bankruptcy, the country confronts a stark choice: undertake a massive construction program to replace the nuclear reactors with more of the same, or, instead, follow a new, less risky, and potentially more strategic path toward rapid renewable energy development. The stakes are high and the fight is already intense as Japanese elites debate the future of their electricity system, and literally, the future of their country.

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.

Feed-in Tariffs in Lebanon: A Master's Thesis

Hamed Beheshti, a Master's student at the American University of Beirut, has just published his Master's Thesis, "Exploring Renewable Energy Policy in Lebanon: Feed-in Tariff as a Policy Tool in the Electricity Sector." This in-depth paper utilized the research and reports available on the ARE website.

We highly encourage you to read this paper if you are interested in learning how Lebanon or other Middle Eastern countries could adopt a FIT policy; the paper deftly outlines the challenges involved in enacting Lebanese FIT legislation.

The author has graciously given us permission to publish his thesis on the ARE website. Download it here:  Exploring Renewable Energy Policy in Lebanon: Feed-in Tariff as a Policy Tool in the Electricity Sector

(Photo shared by Flickr user austinevan under a Creative Commons license.)

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.

Fascinating, Simple Explanation of How FITs (a.k.a REPs) Work

Feed-in Tariffs are also referred to as "Renewable Energy Payments," or "REPs." This video from the non-profit Solar One explains how FITs work:
How Renewable Energy Payments (REPs) Work. from Chris Neidl on Vimeo.

Also, please take a moment to become a fan of Feed-in Tariffs on Facebook!

What's New with Feed-In Tariffs?

From Paul Gipe (Wind-Works.org):

• We Actually Can?! by Miguel Mendonça--When first writing on this site a few years ago, and advocating the feed-in tariff policy for market development of renewables, there were no such laws in Britain or North America. They are now coming into being, and this is in part due to the fact that initially small, but ever-snowballing groups of people, made it their business to push for legislative progress. . .
• South Africa's Nersa makes Refit phase two decision; contracts expected in November by Christy van der Merwe--The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on Friday published it’s decision on the second phase of the Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (Refit), and stated that the power purchase agreement could be expected in November. . .
• What solar will cost in Germany by Craig Morris--The RWI study is therefore roughly 50 percent off the mark according to her calculation, i.e. solar is not that expensive. . .
• Michael Eckhart, ACORE, on the RWI "study" of German FITs--So, they figure, if they are to justify coal and nuclear, they must first discredit the FIT. . .
• Craig Morris German PV Investment Summary
• Germany Installs 2.34GW, FIT to Decline 9-11% by Ucilia Wang, Greentech Media--Demand in Germany has picked up since mid-year. The new ruling coalition seeks to calm fears of a cut to the country’s solar incentives. . .
• Globe & Mail: New rules could fuel green bonanza--Ontario's new Green Energy Act could pump as much as $4.5-billion into the hands of the province's renewable energy companies, utilities and power distribution firms. . .
• German coalition steers away from solar tariff cuts--The recently elected German coalition government has dropped plans for major cuts to solar photovoltaic (PV) feed-in tariffs. . .
• New York Times: Worldwide Feed-in Tariffs Best for Investors By John Lorinc--Countries that adopt policies obliging utilities to purchase a percentage of their power from renewable sources at above-market prices ­ also known as a “feed-in tariff” ­ represent the safest harbors for investors looking to finance clean-energy ventures, according to a broad-ranging risk analysis released Monday by Deutsche Bank’s global asset management group and Columbia University’s Earth Institute. . .
• Grist: Why solar won’t topple in Germany by Craig Morris--Since the new center-right coalition won the elections a few weeks ago in Germany, onlookers from the U.S. have been expecting the country to drastically cut its support for solar. . .
• Reuters: New German government won't slash solar power rates--Germany's conservatives and their Free Democrat allies will reform the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) but cuts for solar power rates will be modest to prevent harming the fast-growing industry, a coalition source said on Sunday. .

Climate Change Policy and Safe Investing

From the New York Times Green Inc. blog:

"Countries that adopt policies obliging utilities to purchase a percentage of their power from renewable sources at above-market prices — also known as a “feed-in tariff” — represent the safest harbors for investors looking to finance clean-energy ventures, according to a broad-ranging risk analysis released Monday by Deutsche Bank’s global asset management group and Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

In an accompanying ranking of 109 countries and regions, Deutsche Bank found that those with such clean-energy-friendly regulatory regimes included Australia, France, China and Germany.

By contrast, North America presents a higher-risk environment that is considered less attractive to investors, although a growing number of states and provinces are adopting feed-in tariff strategies."

Read more.

Report on FITs Commissioned by Colorado Public Utility Commission

 
This report on "The Application of Feed-in Tariffs and Other Incentives to Promote Renewable Energy in Colorado," was prepared by the staff of the Colorado PUC for its use in analyzing the pros and cons of Feed-in Tariffs for Colorado. Read more.

(Image shared under a Creative Commons by Flickr user Wolfgang Staudt.)

US Legislative Action, January - April 2009

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.