Wildfires Burning in California’s Ballot Box

At times of presidential elections—particularly groundbreaking elections like the most recent one—we can lose sight of the hundreds of initiatives that gain enough support to be admitted onto state ballot papers.  But the significance of ballot initiatives should not be underestimated:  they often turn into state law, and even when they fail can act as a measure of popular opinion on a number of issues.  In Massachusetts this year, for example, voters rejected the opportunity to end state income tax while voting to ban greyhound racing in the Bay State.  Californian voters agreed with a proposition not to allow gay marriage and—surprisingly, on the surface—rejected another that would have required state utilities to obtain 50% of their power from renewables by 2025.

Yes, that last one is surprising, considering the leading role California plays in promoting the use of renewables, particularly solar power.  But given its good intent, Proposition 7 attracted a surprising number of opponents, including the League of Conservation Voters, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Sierra Club, both major political parties and dozens of clean energy companies.  It was also opposed by area utilities, who are not usually to be found making common cause with environmentally focused groups.  Supporting the proposition were the Community Environmental Council (CEC) of Santa Barbara, city and state officials and individual members of other environmental/energy groups like the Rainforest Action Network and the International Solar Energy Society. (more…)

Renewable Energy Ass’n Leaders Outline Key Policies for Growth

In a joint news conference last week, the leaders of four renewable energy (RE) trade associations affirmed their support for the incoming Administration’s position that renewable energies are the key to reinvigorating the economy, and their belief that the industries they represent are ready to lead the recovery.

The news conference featured the president of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the executive directors of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) and the National Hydropower Association (NHA).  In their joint statement the Association heads declared that:

“The fast-growing renewable energy sector is poised to help lead the U.S. economic recovery with millions of new jobs and billions of private investment dollars.  However, the new Administration and Congress need to take action to ensure that the renewable industries’ growth continues, given the current economic realities.” (more…)

Times that Try Men’s Souls, but Shouldn’t

The case can be made that all times are times that try men’s souls.  Thomas Paine saw the revolutionary period in America as a particularly noteworthy—or quote-worthy—example of the effect, but we think a competent historian could label any period as a trying time for some, if not all, of a population.

Of course, compared to what we’ve been through in the last year in the name of renewable energy, we feel churlish in considering this politically transitional period as ‘trying’.  The candidate who described the most forward-looking and comprehensive renewable energy plan is the one who will move into the White House in January, a change of address that will encourage most clean energy advocates.  And his holding fast to that plan throughout the primary and general election seasons gives us reason to hope that his positions were true positions, not just seines for catching and releasing environmental voters. (more…)

Giving with One Hand, and…

Hard on the heels of Congress extending investment tax credits for solar power and lifting the cap on residential installations, some states and utilities are cutting back, commensurately, on their own incentive and rebate programs.

The State of Connecticut is the first to do so, although New Jersey is also considering lowering the value of its incentives, and Xcel Energy in Colorado has already announced a shifting of its incentives from residential to large-scale renewable projects.

Well over half of states in the country offer some sort of program to help homeowners with solar installations, and many may look to reduce their costs as the federal incentives come into play.  It’s probable, however, that the money saved by states in this way will go into other renewable energy or energy efficiency programs.

It would be worthwhile, at this point, for solar citizens to check whether their state energy administration or their utility is planning adjustments to its rebate/incentive program.

What a Difference a Year Makes—Or Does It?

Last year at this time we were just getting our knees back under the desk after a trip to the Solar Power Conference and Expo in Long Beach, CA.  The renewable energy industry was gearing up to intensify its lobbying of Congress for extensions to clean energy tax credits into 2009 and beyond, and the general mood at the solar show was that prospects were good for the industry, so long as the tax credits were extended in the hugely important upcoming Congressional Energy Bill vote.

That was in October 2007.  And sure enough, in December of that year the all-important tax credits were dropped from the energy bill signed by President Bush…

As 2008 ground on, the above phrase—the all-important tax credits were dropped—was summoned again and again from the clipboard whenever tax credit extensions appeared on the Congressional block.  It turned out to be not an auctioneer’s block but an executioner’s, and at times you’d have thought we were reliving the French Revolution, so frequently was it used.

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Part II of Tax Credit Extension Study Gets Legislators’ Attention

The conclusions of a six-month-old report on the damage to the PV and wind industries expected to be caused by expiration of tax credits in 2009 have recently been updated to show the other side of the coin.

The initial study, Economic Impacts of the Tax Credit Expiration, was commissioned by the American Wind Energy Association and the Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, and performed by Navigant Consulting of Burlington, MA.  In summary, the study found that expiration of the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy and the federal investment tax credit for PV could lead to some 116,000 lost job opportunities and $19 billion in lost investment in 2009.  These figures have been widely publicized since the report’s publication, and have been used by some Congressional legislators to gather support for their repeated attempts to extend the tax credits into 2009 and beyond.

Both types of tax credit are intended to act as incentives: in the case of the PTC for developers to create large-scale facilities such as wind and ocean energy farms, and in the case of the ITC for businesses and individuals to invest in solar power, energy efficiency, etc. (more…)

When is an Energy Bill not an Energy Bill?

when it’s election year theatrics, that’s when.

For those of us with short memories, here’s a reminder of a time—not so very long ago—when legislators introduced energy bills with the actual idea of passing them and implementing good policy.  Perhaps they tried too hard and too many times last year and this, so that—as when you bang your head against a wall over a long period of time—it felt good just to stop.

And what a simple thing it was, that they were trying to do: extend and improve the investment tax credits (ITC) that were successful in helping ordinary people get their power from the sun instead of from coal and gas.  Many of them in Congress tried, eight or more times over twelve to eighteen months, just to keep a good idea going.  Many others blocked the bills, claiming that if these credits led to significant savings then there was no need to fund them through taxes;  some of them actually meant it.  (more…)

Oil—A Reason Not to Drill

Arewethereyet? Arewethereyet? Arewethereyet?

At peak oil, that is—that dread juncture at which the amount of oil being pumped worldwide finally stops increasing year-on-year and starts decreasing, as a result of mankind having already extracted half the planet’s supply of easily recoverable oil.

We might well be there; it’s been widely predicted for many years that we would reach peak oil at about this date, which allows us to speculate on the Saudi Government’s rebuff of President Bush’s recent plea for more oil production. At what business school did the Saudis learn that this was a good way to treat your best customer? Unless, of course, they had left themselves no choice, having reached the point at which they could no longer fudge the production figures from the supergiant Al Ghawar field; rather than admit to the world that the creaky old lady had finally succumbed to hardening of the arteries, the Saudis may have cloaked the truth by saying “won’t” rather than “can’t” to a request for increased output.

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North Carolina—A Case Study in Grass Roots

North Carolina is providing a positive lesson in how grass roots activism can affect energy policy and business opportunities at the state level. Clean energy businesses are being attracted to the Tar Heel State in part because of imaginative energy policy there, and numerous citizens’ groups have had a role in steering that policy in the right direction.

Some of the milestones in the state’s road to renewables include:

• 12.5% Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (2007/2008)
• 35% State renewable energy tax credits
• Improvements to State interconnection standards (2008)
• Solar access law (2007)
• State Green Business Fund

It’s this kind of legislative and regulatory climate that has helped make North Carolina attractive to clean energy businesses. Last month Sencera International Corporation of Charlotte announced it would construct a $36 million facility in Mecklenburg County for production of solar cells and assembly of PV modules. The State’s forward-looking energy policy, as well as a $62,000 One North Carolina Fund grant and other incentives, were instrumental in the company’s decision. (more…)