Author Archives Laura Arnold

Ohio Governor Kasich expected to sign two bills to negatively impact renewable energy sector

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 10, 2014 / Posted in Uncategorized, wind / No Comments

Only 12 of the 152 wind turbines in the wind farm in Van Wert and Paulding counties would have been built if House Bill 483 was in place three years ago.COLUMBUS DISPATCH/STEVE STEPHENS
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2014/06/08/Pair-of-bills-could-sour-businesses-on-Ohio.html#bA0mZAZIAFAuxLhr.99

Pair of bills could sour businesses on Ohio

Firms say they’ll expand elsewhere

BY TOM HENRY
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2014/06/08/Pair-of-bills-could-sour-businesses-on-Ohio.html#QkUtAqy7MOLd2kte.99

Two bills that Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign into law this week have major ramifications for how future electricity will be generated in Ohio.

Both will deflate Ohio job markets in the renewable energy sector — especially in northwest Ohio because of how it has embraced that technology, critics predict.

The governor’‍s decisions will have a ripple effect on the national debate over renewable energy, they said, although adding that they are uncertain if it will set the stage for widening the debate in other states or simply shift business that Ohio could have had to them. Either way, they said, the latter is a given.

Senate Bill 310 calls for a two-year freeze on Ohio’‍s renewable energy law that was created by a near-unanimous vote of the Ohio General Assembly in 2008. It requires utilities doing business in Ohio to get at least 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025, whether they develop them on their own or invest in them. It also calls for more energy efficiency.

Freezing that law, even for a short time, sends out a message that Ohio is no longer receptive to renewable energy investments — a reputation that will be hard to shake even if the freeze is lifted in 2016, advocates said.

“A lot of us assume it won’‍t be restarted,” said Bill Spratley, Green Energy Ohio executive director and former Ohio Office of Consumer Counsel director.

Enlarge

Wind power

House Bill 483 is seen as a bigger attack on one of the fastest-growing sources of renewable energy, wind power.

It calls for unprecedented setbacks for massive, commercial-scale wind turbines.

Only 12 of the 152 wind turbines in the Blue Creek Wind Farm in Van Wert and Paulding counties — which cost $600 million and was the largest single business investment in Ohio when it was erected in 2011 — would have been built if those setback requirements were in place three years ago, said Dan Litchfield, Chicago business developer for Iberdrola Renewables, an international company in Spain which did that project. (A setback is the distance required between the property line and the turbine.)

Mr. Litchfield, who grew up in Ohio, said he persuaded his bosses at Iberdrola to invest in the Buckeye State because of incentives offered under Ohio’s renewable energy law.

The company had been considering Indiana.

Now, Iberdrola will have to strongly consider taking its plans for two more major wind projects in northwest Ohio to another state if Mr. Kasich signs those pieces of legislation into law, Mr. Litchfield said.

One plan calls for an additional 50 turbines in Van Wert County; the other calls for 75 turbines in Putnam County, he said.

The existing turbines would be grandfathered in under the setback legislation.

According to the Washington-based American Wind Energy Association, Ohio now has 62 factories manufacturing parts for the wind energy.

That’‍s No. 1 in America, Peter Kelley, association spokesman, said.

“We wanted to keep growing in Ohio,” Mr. Kelley said. “Clearly, there’s a lost opportunity there.”

Eric Thumma, Iberdrola director of policy and regulatory affairs in Boston, said House Bill 483 “puts us out of business.”

“We rushed enthusiastically into Ohio,” Mr. Thumma said. “We would be more cautious [if it is signed into law].”

The Blue Creek Wind Farm generates approximately $1.1 million in lease payments for northwest Ohio farmers, as well as money for local school districts in the form of additional property tax revenue.

Many farmers see the proposed setback requirements as an affront to their private property rights, Dale Arnold, Ohio Farm Bureau energy policy director, said.

“What science, what evaluation, what discussion has gone into this?” he asked. “We’‍re concerned many of those [setback requirements] are arbitrary.”

Other effects

The two laws on Mr. Kasich’s desk aren’‍t just about wind turbines, nor do they just affect rural areas.

One of metro Toledo’‍s oldest and largest businesses, Rudolph/Libbe, has remade itself because of the nation’‍s budding interest in solar power.

Rudolph/Libbe went from virtually no involvement in solar projects to generating 10 percent of its revenue from them within five years after Ohio’s renewable energy law took effect in early 2009.

The company came from nowhere to be ranked by a trade journal, Solar Power World, one of America’s Top 50 commercial solar contractors for 2013.

Jason Slattery, Rudolph/Libbe director of solar, said costs have come down rapidly because economies of scale have improved.

Solar-installation projects cost Rudolph/Libbe only 25 percent of what they cost the company five years ago, he said.

A freeze will force the company to seek more installation contracts in other states, resulting in fewer Ohio jobs and more elsewhere, Mr. Slattery said.

“We think that will take projects from Ohio and will move them to states that embrace them,” Mr. Slattery said. “Investors want stability and confidence. That’s the challenge we have with S.B. 310. It doesn’‍t give them either.”

He said Rudolph/Libbe is “bullish on Michigan,” where investments in renewable power remain strong.

“We’re going to continue to grow,” Mr. Slattery said. “Unfortunately, it’ll probably not be in Ohio. It’‍ll be in states that continue to have stable [renewable energy] laws.”

Ohio is one of 29 states, along with the District of Columbia, that have renewable energy portfolio standards.

Those are laws that require utilities doing business within their boundaries to invest in or develop renewable energy to varying degrees.

According to U.S. Department of Energy data, Ohio has some of the softer requirements.

It will become the first state to freeze its requirements if Mr. Kasich signs Senate Bill 310 into law.

“I don’‍t expect other states to follow, but I expect it to hurt the development of green energy in Ohio,” Mr. Spratley said.

The governor has stated his intent to sign that bill and the one pertaining to setbacks for wind turbines.

A ‘‍timeout’

The main push for the freeze has come from utilities, especially FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, which is heavily invested in coal-fired power and has said that Ohio’‍s renewable energy law has been too restrictive.

“We’ve been fairly clear and consistent in our position,” Doug Colafella, FirstEnergy spokesman, said.

He said the utility does not expect lingering effects of Mr. Kasich’‍s decision. He said Senate Bill 310 allows Ohio to pick up where it left off in 2016, unless more legislation is passed to repeal, slow down, or further delay the state’‍s renewable energy law.

“We see this more as a two-year timeout,” he said.

FirstEnergy believes Ohio customers will be socked with higher monthly electric bills — as much as 350 percent more in 2025 over current levels — if the state continues of its current path, Mr. Colafella said.

But Ohio utilities have filed reports with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio showing mandated energy-efficiency programs will yield more than $4.1 billion in savings over the program’s life, according to Ohio Advanced Energy Economy.

Ted Ford, Ohio Advanced Energy Economy president and chief executive officer, has said numbers generated by utilities themselves “demonstrate that on average, every dollar that has been spent on energy-efficiency programs has resulted in two dollars in savings for Ohio consumers.”

Utilities maintain their support for a freeze even after President Obama dropped a policy bombshell on Monday, an announcement that he will seek up to a 30 percent reduction in emissions from coal-fired power plants by 2030 to help combat climate change.

That is expected to open up new markets for natural gas, renewable energy, and energy-efficiency programs nationally.

Critics of the freeze claim Ohio will be left on the sidelines for all but natural gas if Mr. Kasich signs Senate Bill 310.

Ray Evans, FirstEnergy vice president of environmental and technologies, has said he does not see major compliance challenges with the Obama plan.

The opposition

Those voicing objections to a freeze go beyond predictable environmental groups.

They include members of Ohio’s faith community, as well as some of Ohio’s largest businesses.

Fifty-one companies urged Mr. Kasich to veto Senate Bill 310 in a letter last week.

They include Toledo’‍s Owens Corning and other major employers, such as Whirlpool, Honda, Campbell Soup Co., Johnson Controls Inc., First Solar, Honeywell, Nissin Brake Ohio, and Husky Energy.

Whirlpool said Ohio’s renewable energy law “has proven to be a cost-effective policy that not only helps Ohio businesses and consumers with energy-efficiency projects but also helps reduce wholesale energy prices for all Ohio customers,” said Kristine Vernier, Whirlpool senior manager for global public relations.

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce sides with utilities and supports a two-year freeze.

The Ohio Manufacturers Association agrees with companies calling for a veto.

Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com or 419-724-6079.
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2014/06/08/Pair-of-bills-could-sour-businesses-on-Ohio.html#QkUtAqy7MOLd2kte.99

IndyStar: Indiana needs to reduce its dependence on coal; Diversify energy resources

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 08, 2014 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

Editorial: Indiana needs to reduce its dependence on coal

Take a deep breath. Despite proposed new EPA regulations, and despite the fears of business and political leaders and the hopes of environmentalists, coal-fired power plants almost certainly will not disappear in Indiana or elsewhere any time soon.

Here’s why: In a nation as energy dependent as the United States, 68 percent of electricity still is generated by burning fossil fuels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

And the fossil fuel most often used to keep the lights on in factories, homes and businesses is coal. It’s the source of 37 percent of the nation’s electricity; wind and solar, in contrast, account for less than 4 percent combined.

The advent of fracking, used to unlock natural gas deposits, has put a dent in coal’s dominance in recent years and now is the source of 30 percent of electricity production. But, energy analysts argue, the frequent use of gas to heat homes and other buildings in the winter limits its feasibility as the dominant source for electricity.

Aggressive steps toward better energy efficiency can help, and should be encouraged, but as the economy and population grow, the need to produce more electricity will remain. Nuclear energy, for a variety of economic and environmental reasons, is a non-starter. And while wind and solar generation are growing, they’re likely to remain relatively minor pieces of the overall energy picture for many years to come.

All of which means that while King Coal’s reign is being challenged, it still hasn’t been dethroned.

Mike Pence:EPA’s anti-coal plan will devastate Indiana economy

Jesse Kharbanda: Innovation can help Indiana meet its energy challenges

So, can Indiana keep on digging and burning without concern, despite the EPA’s most recent move against the use of coal? Not at all.

For starters, there’s good reason to believe that Indiana’s current energy mix is tilted too far in favor of coal.

West Virginia (95 percent), Kentucky (90 percent) and Wyoming (85 percent) are the only states that are more dependent than Indiana (84 percent) on burning coal to generate electricity.

Neighboring states such as Illinois, Michigan and Ohio — which, like Indiana, are manufacturing hubs — rely significantly less on coal to power their industries and homes.

So diversification of energy sources can be accomplished, even in the industrial Midwest. That’s important to note because Indiana’s heavy reliance on coal may well hurt the state’s economy as the cost of coal-generated electricity rises and gives states with a better mix of energy sources a competitive advantage.

In addition, there are important health and environmental reasons to move away from such a heavy dependence on coal. Indiana’s air quality, while substantially better than in the past, remains among the worst in the nation. Mercury, a byproduct of burning coal, pollutes many of the state’s waterways. And a strong majority of scientists are pushing for reductions in CO2 emissions in order to slow climate change.

It was economic concerns this past week that prompted Gov. Mike Pence and other state leaders to raise strong objections to the EPA’s proposal to cut carbon emissions by 30 percent in the next 16 years.

But while federal government’s time frame may well be too aggressive to avoid inflicting severe hardships on ratepayers, Pence and others need to accept that the national trend away from coal is real and likely irreversible. Indiana can’t afford to get left behind in that transition.

That means making a strong push for heightened energy efficiency, a move Pence said his team embraces. The smart use of solar and wind, and continued advancement in the technology needed to develop both, should get a fresh look. And a systematic shift from coal to more reliance on natural gas needs to be a priority.

It’s not a question of abandoning coal. It likely will remain an important energy source for many years. Yet, for multiple environmental and economic reasons, there’s a need to wean the state from an over-reliance on an energy source that offers strong benefits but also poses deep risks.

HEC Jesse Kharbanda: “Innovation can help Indiana meet its energy challenges”

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 08, 2014 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

By Jesse Kharbanda, 11:53 a.m. EDT June 6, 2014

America’s – and Indiana’s -- history has been marked by a continual rising to great challenges, from the heroism of Normandy 70 years ago to our victories in our entry into space. That same dynamism must be our legacy on climate change.

Unequivocally, the Earth is warming and the climate is changing. And the world’s leading climate scientists believe with at least 95 percent certainty that man-made activity -- especially fossil fuel use and deforestation -- is the dominant cause of this warming since the mid-1950s. Indiana will not be immune to climate change. The Midwest section of the National Climate Assessment, whose lead author is an Indiana University professor, predicts more frequent heat waves, more algae blooms, degraded air and water quality, and increased flooding in the Midwest – all of which will affect our economy and health.

IndianaDG Editor's Note:

Climate Change Impacts in the United States, Chapter 18 Midwest

Dr. Sara C. Pryor is one of the convening lead authors of this report. Sara C. Pryor is Provost Professor of Atmospheric Science in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University-Bloomington.

Download NCA3_Full_Report_18_Midwest_HighRes

Climate change will take decades to tackle and will require significant international coordination. And in that backdrop, America – the world’s preeminent innovator and historically its largest producer of heat-trapping gases -- must lead.

This past week, our country took an unprecedented step by unveiling a policy that calls for a 30 percent reduction of heat-trapping gases by 2030 in Indiana’s electricity sector. This goal should not daunt us.We know that we can tackle this issue through a variety of strategies – installers from Ivy Tech retrofitting our buildings and factories, graduates from Indiana Tech improving the efficiency of our power plants and transmission lines, and building trades talents constructing cleaner, low-carbon power plants. Rather than being intimidated by the array of work ahead, we embrace the challenge – business aces coming out of Butler, Kelley and Notre Dame figuring out ways to speed up the deployment of energy-saving technologies, and brilliant minds at Purdue and Rose-Hulman achieving breakthroughs in energy storage from solar power. We embrace the promise of alumni from Ball State, DePauw, Earlham, Franklin, Goshen, Hanover, Marian, Wabash, and other fine colleges enabling hundreds of our schools and congregations to affordably generate their own clean power.

To those Hoosiers who seek to tackle climate change, the opportunities ahead abound. Clean energy job growth nationally outpaced overall job growth by four times in recent years, and Indiana has the second highest job potential, per capita, in clean energy component manufacturing.

Yet, like the challenges that Hoosiers before us confronted, we will face a tough road ahead. Those challenges will require a willingness to relentlessly problem solve, brave the caustic words of others, shrug off indifference, elect leaders who take seriously Indiana’s deep well of scientists, and develop a deep patience to collaboratively address this multi-generational challenge.

I know that significantly reducing climate-harming emissions can happen in Indiana – and in a way that will spark new dynamism in our economy. Seventy Hoosier WW II veterans just visited the National World War II Memorial during this historic anniversary of D-Day; 30 astronauts can call themselves Hoosiers. We are part of the American legacy of taking on great challenges.

Kharbanda is executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council.

Governor Mike Pence: EPA’s anti-coal plan will devastate Indiana economy; What do you think?

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 07, 2014 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

Mike Pence: EPA's anti-coal plan will devastate Indiana economy

Mike Pence 5:01 p.m. EDT June 6, 2014

Too often, Washington, D.C., behaves as if it does not want states like Indiana to succeed. A thriving economy requires energy, and Indiana's historically low electricity prices are a major reason employers choose to create jobs here. Through its proposed anti-coal regulations mandating reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, the Obama administration has taken a clear shot at Indiana, the nation's top manufacturing state and a national leader in private sector job growth.

Not that this should come as any surprise. The president has made it clear in past public comments that he is anti-coal and believes that skyrocketing energy prices are a sacrifice Americans should make in the interest of his agenda.

We all want cleaner air and sensible environmental policies for our power plants. In Indiana my administration is putting together an energy plan aimed at the dual goals of long-term sustainability and cost-efficiency, while promoting economic vitality. We could achieve all of these if the federal government would stop piling on costly regulations.

The Obama administration's latest proposed rule continues a disturbing trend and would be devastating for Indiana's economy.

Not long ago, Indiana ranked in the top five for low cost of electricity. Now, thanks to an onslaught of regulations from Washington, Indiana ranks somewhere firmly in the middle of the pack.

Since 2011, the U.S. EPA has finalized the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. According to the Indiana State Utility Forecasting Group's (SUFG) 2013 Forecast, these two regulations alone will push Indiana's electricity prices 30 percent higher from 2012 to 2023. Not included in this estimate are pending regulations for cooling water, coal ash, and, as of this week, carbon dioxide emissions, all of which will push electricity rates higher still.

The impact of these regulations will reverberate throughout Indiana's economy. Higher energy prices will discourage investment and job creation. The proposed regulations will force a shift away from coal as a fuel source for electricity generation, clouding the future of the 28,000 Hoosiers employed in the coal industry. Hoosier families will feel the pinch of higher electricity prices on their family budgets, especially lower-income families and older people on fixed incomes.

Advocates have tried to justify the proposed regulations on the basis of improved human health and air quality. These are both noble objectives. Regarding clean air, all 92 Indiana counties met clean air standards for the first time in 2009, and we continue to make progress on this front. Regarding health outcomes, the EPA has concluded that reducing U.S. carbon dioxide emissions will not slow the growth of global carbon dioxide emissions.

These proposed carbon dioxide emissions regulations are bad for Indiana. They will cost Hoosier workers and families in higher electricity rates, lost jobs, and lost business growth due to a lack of affordable, reliable electricity. I will continue to fight against any regulation from Washington that makes it more difficult for Indiana to continue to be the state that works.

Pence is governor of Indiana.

Editor's Note: Please check out this new report which gives a different perspective than Governor Pence due to the cost of severe weather from climate change on manufacturers.

The report is entitled:

SEVERE WEATHER AND MANUFACTURING IN AMERICA:
COMPARING THE COST OF DROUGHTS, STORMS
AND EXTREME TEMPERATURES
WITH THE COST OF NEW EPA STANDARDS

http://www.businessfwd.org/SevereWeatherAndManafacturingInAmerica.pdf

After you read this report from Business Forward, share your thoughts with IndianaDG about whether you agree with Governor Pence or not.

Just in case you think that Business Forward is just a bunch of crazy environmentalists, check this out:

Business Forward Members

Many of America’s largest and most respected firms – from America's software, telecommunications, media, hospitality, financial services, manufacturing, apparel, defense and pharmaceutical industries – have already joined Business Forward.

Members include Aetna, American Airlines, AT&T, Comcast, Cheniere Energy, Dow, eBay Inc., Fidelity Investments, Ford, Google, Hilton Worldwide, Intuit, Lockheed Martin, McDonald's, McGraw Hill Financial, Microsoft, the National Restaurant Association, Nestle, Pacific Gas & Electric, POET, Public Service Enterprise Group, Pricewaterhouse Cooper, Qualcomm, SAS, T-Mobile, Time Warner, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Viacom, Visa, and Walmart.

Business Forward Report: Climate Change Disruptions Costing Indiana Manufacturers Millions

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 07, 2014 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

Mary Kuhlman, Public News Service-IN

(06/05/14) INDIANAPOLIS – A new report finds Indiana manufacturers have more to lose from disruptions caused by climate change than the costs associated with new Environmental Protection Agency carbon standards.

It's estimated the proposed standards will raise electricity prices by 6 percent, and that increase will impact manufacturers.

But the Business Forward Foundation crunched the numbers for the auto industry, measuring the cost of the standards against the cost of the problem the standards are trying to address.

Report author Jim Doyle says severe weather spurred by climate change is having a massive impact on manufacturing.

"Severe weather has closed bridges, flooded factories, warped train tracks, threatened ports, and slowed shipping,” he explains. “Auto plants are losing days of production to severe weather, some are losing weeks. And by comparison the cost of these standards is minute."

According to the report, the increase in electricity rates will cost manufacturers just $7 more per vehicle produced.

But Doyle says because the auto industry operates a very sophisticated and global supply chain, a plant loses more than $1.25 million for each hour lost when severe weather forces a shut down.

Doyle says with 516,000 automotive jobs in Indiana, the implications of inaction on carbon pollution are enormous.

"There are 430 major suppliers across the state, 3,000 different dealerships,” he says. “Chrysler, Ford, GM, and Toyota each have major facilities, and every one of those suppliers and every one of those major automakers, depends on the supply chain we've been talking about."

David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance, says as the nation transitions to cleaner energy, there are lessons already learned from when the U.S. instituted new fuel economy rules.

He maintains those standards revived the collapsed auto industry.

"A million jobs as a result of embracing higher environmental standards and innovation as the driver of the 21st century economy,” he states. “We need to do for the energy sector exactly what we did for the automotive sector."

Foster adds that disruptions caused by climate change threaten other industries as well, resulting in lost business opportunities, jobs, income for workers and revenue for communities.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2014-06-05/climate-change-air-quality/report-climate-change-disruptions-costing-indiana-manufacturers-millions/a39778-1

Join the discussion: facebook.com/PublicNewsService Twitter: @pns_news @pns_IN Google+: plus.to/publicnewsservice