Renewable Energy Law News - Week of January 16, 2012

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 Vermont Statehouse 2012: A legislative preview

On Tuesday, 180 lawmakers will converge on the Statehouse after a seven month hiatus for Round 2 of the 2011-2012 biennium. Judging from interviews with committee chairs, the upcoming session will be fast and furious. Lawmakers have an impressive array of complicated issues to address in four short months, and there is little expectation that the session will drag past the first week in May (this is an election year after all).

Long-term recovery plans post-Irene will figure prominently on the docket. Expect to see lively debate on proposals for the new state psychiatric hospital, the state office complex, a reordering of transportation priorities, and legislation to address property losses, flood insurance issues, municipal borrowing and tax abatements. (The latter is already in motion; lawmakers are expected to forgive about $2 million to $4 million in property taxes to the state Education Fund in the first few weeks of the session.)

There are a number of old business items that must pass through the belly of the snake no matter what. The biggie here is the budget (the 2013 gap between revenues and expenditures is $75 million, plus $25 million worth of budget adjustments for fiscal year 2012); closely followed by the miscellaneous tax bill, the fee bill and the capital bill. The latter will earmark how much money the state will borrow to pay for new state offices and the replacement for the Vermont State Hospital.

Gabrielle Stebbins: "Renewable Energy Vermont will push for a tax on the dry-cask storage of nuclear waste to keep the Clean Energy Development Fund going."

Free Press: Gov. Peter Shumlin and the Legislature have put renewable energy very, very high on their agendas. How is Vermont doing at encouraging and implementing renewable electrical energy sources?

Stebbins: Vermont is one of the national leaders in transforming how we use energy. Renewable sources already supply 50 percent of our electricity, so we're on a great path, but of course we have much more to do.

Free Press: But much of the energy we use isn't electrical energy, it is fuel to heat our homes and power our cars ...

Stebbins: Certainly that's true. Electricity is only one-third of our energy demand. The other two-thirds are for heating our buildings and travel purposes. Both of these sectors require multi-steps to address. We need to keep up the great work that our efficiency utilities and weatherization agencies provide, which can save considerably and helps us meet the remaining heating needs with Vermont's wood resources. We are ready to lead in this direction. One study recently estimated that if only one-fifth of Vermont buildings transferred from traditional fuel to biomass fuels used in modern, efficient boilers, it could create about 7,000 stable local energy jobs.

Vermont considers renewable energy law

The Vermont Legislature is considering a proposal to enact a renewable portfolio standard, a law requiring utilities to source a specified percentage of their electricity from eligible renewable resources. If enacted, Bill S-170 (72-page PDF) could change Vermont's energy landscape.

Today, Vermont is the only New England state not to have a statutory renewable portfolio standard, or RPS. Instead, Vermont's approach to renewable energy has focused on SPEED, or the Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development Program. SPEED's goal is that by 2012, at least 10% of the state's 2005-era electric load be served by new sources of renewable energy, or 20% of total load by 2017. To further that goal, SPEED created incentives such as a feed-in tariff designed to encourage new renewable development. Unlike true RPS programs in other states, the Vermont program's targets are not strictly binding.

Bill S-170 would take Vermont away from the goal-based model and toward a firm renewable energy mandate. The bill would create a two-tiered RPS, with a "tier one" for projects coming into service during 2005-2012 and a "tier two" for projects coming online in 2013 and later. The bill would require utilities to source power from new renewable resources in each of these categories, plus additional power from existing renewable facilities. In 2013, utilities would have to source 40% of their power from existing renewable resources, plus 10% more from "tier one" new resources. Over time, the requirement would grow; by 2025, utilities would have to add in 40% from "tier two" resources, adding up to environmental attributes representing 90% of total annual retail sales.

Renewable Energy Law News Week of 12/1

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 What Will Become Of The Kyoto Climate Treaty?

As diplomats from around the world gather in Durban, South Africa, for talks about climate change, a big question looms: What will become of the Kyoto climate treaty, which was negotiated with much fanfare in 1997. The treaty was supposed to be a first step toward much more ambitious actions on climate change, but it is now on the brink of fading into irrelevance. That could have major implications for the future of United Nations climate talks.

Even under the best of circumstances, the Kyoto protocol would have made a barely measurable dent in the amount of greenhouse gases flowing into the Earth's atmosphere.

First, the United States decided not to ratify the treaty, so our emissions aren't covered by the pact. Then China leapfrogged the U.S. to become the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. But China is treated like a developing country under the Kyoto treaty, which means it has no obligations. Even so, Europe and a few other nations have been soldiering on.


23 Governors, 369 orgs throw support behind four-year PTC extension bill

Most recently, a broad, nonpartisan coalition of 369 members, including manufacturing, farm and business interests, issued a letter endorsing a four-year extension to the Production Tax Credit (PTC), wind energy's key federal tax incentive. Legislation recently introduced by Representatives Dave Reichert (R, WA-08) and Earl Blumenauer (D, OR-03) seeks to grant a four-year extension to the existing PTC for wind energy (H.R. 3307, the "American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act").

Signatories to the letter include the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Edison Electric Institute (the trade group for investor-owned utilities), the Western Governors’ Association, the United Steelworkers and many members of the environmental community.

“Farmers and business people know a good deal when they see one, and that is exactly what clean, affordable, homegrown wind energy provides for the American people,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “With the support of a key federal tax incentive, wind energy is powering one of America’s fastest-growing manufacturing sectors. Over the last six years, U.S. domestic production of wind turbine components has grown 12-fold to more than 400 facilities in 43 states, shifting manufacturing jobs from overseas back to the U.S. By extending the PTC we will be able to continue growing U.S. wind energy manufacturing jobs rather than lose them to other countries.”

Renewable Energy Law News from week of 11/17

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Extending the Renewable Energy PTC

Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have introduced legislation aimed at extending the Production Tax Credit, or PTC.

First conceived in 1992 as part of the Energy Policy Act (H.R. 776), the PTC has been renewed year after year and also incorporated into the Energy Policy Act of 2005 as part of that Act’s Renewable Energy Production Incentives. The PTC currently provides a 2.2-cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on wind, closed-loop biomass, and geothermal resources for the first decade of a renewable energy facility’s life. Other renewable forms of energy receive a tax credit of 1 cent per kWh.

New German Solar PV Tariffs the Price to Beat Worldwide

Germany has announced lower solar photovoltaic (solar PV) tariffs for 2012 and the industry has taken the expected step in stride.

The German network agency, the Bundesnetzagentur, announced the new feed-in tariffs for solar PV as part of automatic adjustment of the tariffs based on the amount of solar capacity being installed. Because of continued strong growth in solar PV installations, the new tariffs are 15 percent less than those in 2011.

The German solar industry association, the Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW), applauded the much anticipated action. "The solar industry has delivered on its promise of delivering more and cheaper solar electricity," said Carsten Körnig, the association's executive director.
 

Wind Rush: Wind, Not Solar, Wins In 1603 Program

How the renewable energy industry copes with the loss of incentives this year will test its maturity and the success of the stimulus funding.

In many ways, the renewable energy industry is facing a pivotal moment as the 1603 grant program is set to expire this year, the $2.3 billion for the 48C advanced manufacturing tax credit has already been allocated and the Department of Energy has completed its work of handing out more than $36 billion in its loan guarantee program.

Solar projects taking stimulus funding may have grabbed the headlines, but wind has been the real winner from the Obama administration's flagship grant program meant to fill the void in tax equity that usually funds the renewables industry.

Renewable Energy Law News from week of November 9

Photo via Jasmic

Bill to extend U.S. wind energy tax credit goes to committee 

U.S. Representatives Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), members of the tax-writing House Committee on Ways and Means, on Nov. 2 introduced the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act (H.R. 3307). This bipartisan bill extends the tax incentive for the production of wind power, geothermal power, hydropower, and other forms of renewable energy through 2016. The bill is currently in the House Ways and Means Committee.

H.R. 3307 provides a clean, 4-year extension of the existing production tax credit for wind, biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, landfill gas, trash, and hydropower. It was created in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and has frequently been extended in year-end packages of expiring tax provisions, as well as in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The current incentive is set to expire next year for wind and in 2013 for other renewable energy forms. Advocates note that historically, at least six to eight months before the tax credit expires, financial lenders hesitate in providing capital for projects because of the uncertainty created by the pending expiration of the credit, stalling projects from coming online. The rush to complete projects as the PTC nears expiration also reduces projects and adds costs, resulting in higher electricity prices. 

Virginia considers net metering and utility standby charges

Virginia, like many states, allows grid-connected electricity customers to use customer-sited generation to offset its electric bill. This practice is called net metering.

Virginia regulators are now considering a proposal by utility Dominion Virginia Power to impose two “standby” charges on net-metered solar photovoltaic systems larger than 10 kW. The policy questions raised by this case appear in other contexts where incentives for clean, distributed generation run up against utility ratemaking considerations. Utilities typically argue that they need to allocate costs fairly among their customers, while customer-sited generation advocates point to both the value of distributed generation and the array of incentives promoting customer-sited generation.

Ontario’s FIT Being Reviewed

Ontario’s Ministry of Energy has launched a comprehensive review of its renewable energy Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program. The review is mandated by the province’s Green Energy Act, the two year old legislation which originally established the FIT subsidy.

Project developers expect Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government to cut the subsidy, but questions remain as to the extent of the cut. Currently the FIT subsidy for large-scale solar power plants is priced at around C$443 ($435) a megawatt/hour.

The declining cost of solar and wind power generation and anger from Ontario residents over rising electricity bills may influence the review. During last month’s provincial elections Progressive Conservative candidate Tim Hudak tried to harness ratepayers’ anger by blaming the rising cost of electricity on the FIT program. Hudak promised to kill large portions of the Green Energy Act if elected.

Dunkiel Saunders Celebrates Opening of First Wind’s Sheffield Wind Project

In the distance, the Sheffield turbines
salute the project's completion.

A unique celebration took place last Wednesday on the top of Granby Mountain and Libby Hill in Sheffield, Vermont as the Sheffield Wind Project, developed by First Wind, was inaugurated with a ceremonial ribbon cutting attended by the Governor, state legislators, utility representatives, Sheffield residents and numerous others.  The project, which began officially operating at full power in mid-October, has a capacity of 40 megawatts and is expected to generate about 115,000 megawatt hours a year – that's the equivalent of meeting the needs of all 15,000 homes in Caledonia County.

 

Dunkiel Saunders has been involved in the project for more than six years, providing legal counsel and strategic advice to First Wind since the project's earliest development stages in 2005.  Over the course of the project, our attorneys assisted First Wind on a wide range of regulatory, litigation, permitting and finance-related issues, including obtaining the project's overall state approval -- Certificate of Public Good (CPG) -- from the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB), as well as state and federal environmental permits, municipal approvals, and host town agreements. The PSB's original order approving the project is available here.

 

Dunkiel Saunders also successfully represented First Wind before the Vermont Supreme Court in defending against an appeal of the Public Service Board’s CPG; in federal court in appeals related to FAA lighting and NEPA compliance; before the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and the Vermont Environmental Court to obtain stormwater permits for the project; and in a final appeal of the construction stormwater permit to the Vermont Supreme Court.  Litigation over the project ended last week when opponents formally withdrew their final appeal at the Vermont Supreme Court, after construction of the Project was completed and Dunkiel Saunders moved to dismiss the case on the basis of mootness.

 

For First Wind and Dunkiel Saunders, as well as the many other individuals who contributed to the completion of the project, the ceremony marked the culmination of several years of hard work and the recognition of their success.

 

First Wind has put together a nice video on the development of the project and its contribution to the local economy:



More news on the ribbon-cutting is also available here and here.

Renewable Energy Law News for Week of 10/17

Department of Energy Finalizes $4.8bn in Solar Loan Guarantees

 On the last day of its 1705 loan guarantees program, the US Department of Energy finalized support packages for four major solar projects on Friday, totaling almost $4.8 billion.

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu confirmed awards for three huge solar power plants in California, and a “transformational” project installing solar panels on 750 warehouse rooftops.

$1.46 billion in partial guarantees when to the 550MW Desert Sunlight project, a $1.237 billion guarantee for the 250MW California Valley Solar Ranch project, and a $646 million for the 230MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch project.

Read more here. 

State’s New Energy Department Taking Shape 

The plan to turn Connecticut into a leader in clean energy technology, renewable resources and lower cost electricity is beginning to take form.

“We are at that transformational moment,” said Kevin DelGobbo, chairman of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

When Gov. Dannel Malloy signed a comprehensive energy policy reform law in June, the legislation was high on concepts and big-picture moves but low on the details of how Connecticut could become an energy leader while also lowering its overall costs. 

Read more here. 

US Military to Invest $10 Billion a Year in Renewable Energy

Congress may be dithering over green energy, but the US military has no qualms about its value.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) - one of the largest energy consumers in the world at 300,000 barrels of oil a day - is quickly moving toward energy efficiency and renewables to reduce risks to soldiers, enhance national energy security, and save money. 

DOD is committed to getting 25% of its energy from renewables by 2025, the Air Force plans to use biofuels for 50% of domestic aviation by 2016 and the Navy will reduce fuel consumption on ships 15% by 2020. 

Read more here. 

Hawaiian Electric Files Draft Renewable Energy RFP

Last Friday, Hawaiian Electric Company submitted to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for at least 200 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy projects.

The draft RFP, which is targeted to be finalized and issued by March 31, 2012, proposes the parameters for projects to deliver renewable energy to the Oahu grid no later than December 31, 2018.  The 200 MW draft renewable RFP will now be reviewed by the PUC, the state consumer advocate, prospective bidders, and other parties wishing to comment. The PUC is expected to appoint an independent observer to oversee the competitive bidding process.

Read more here.

Photo via Michael Rael.

Renewable Energy Law News for Week of 10/10

Vermont Aims for 90% Renewable Energy by 2050

The Vermont Department of Public Service released a draft Comprehensive Energy Plan, calling for 90% of the state's energy to come from renewables by 2050.

It replaces a 2008 plan that called for 25% renewable energy by 2050. The new plan addresses Vermont's electricity, thermal energy, transportation, and land use. 

Vermont is the first state in the Northeast to implement a feed-in tariff to promote renewable energy development, and last year, its legislature voted to retire the aging Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in 2012.

Read more here.

Good for Wind: Administration Fast-tracks Transmission Projects

In a move that stands to enable more wind development sooner, this week Obama administration officials announced seven transmission priority projects that will be placed on a regulatory fast track, under the "Rapid Response Transmission Team" (RRTT) coordinated inter-agency approach to accelerate the permitting process for transmission projects.
 
The news marks another phase in a federal transmission siting and coordination effort stemming from a 2009 memorandum of understanding entered into by the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Commerce, Defense, and the Interior. Five of the projects are in the Western U.S.; two are in the East. Six of the seven are interstate projects. In total, the projects will have a capacity of nearly 5,000 MW.

Read more here.

SolarBridge Gets DOE ARPA-E Grant

SolarBridge Technologies, an Austin, Texas-based manufacturer of PV microinverters, has secured a $1.75 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program.
 
ARPA-E, is a DOE investment platform that provides funding for companies that are developing groundbreaking green technologies but are not yet ready to attract significant private investment.

SolarBridge says the government funds will help it develop a new electronic technique, dubbed Differential Power Processing (DPP), that seeks to enhance the output of solar panels. SolarBridge is working on the DPP initiative with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Read more here.

 
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untitled (Scott Bedard) / CC BY 2.0