Author Archives Laura Arnold

Campaign corner: Dwight Fish wants the state to encourage new energy

Posted by Laura Arnold / July 07, 2010 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

Campaign corner: Dwight Fish wants the state to encourage new energy.

The state needs to encourage northern Indiana companies that sell wind turbines, anaerobic gas-powered electric resources and other energy sources to expand, according to Dwight Fish, Democratic candidate for state representative District 21.

Those energy sources can bring jobs to the area, he said.

Fish recently attended an information-gathering session of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission recently in South Bend and came to the conclusion that "we need to encourage distributed energy production to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels."

Fish said that current commission rules restrict the ability to feed electricity back to the grid and utilities discourage doing so by tacking on unreasonable fees and capping the amount that can be produced. A more vibrant market in electricity production can result in more economic growth in northern Indiana, he said, because cheaper electricity makes it easier for our native industries to thrive.

Elkhart Truth Staff

GO FISH!

Obama to Host Bipartisan Senate Meeting on Energy; Sen. Lugar Invited

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 28, 2010 / Posted in Federal energy legislation, Uncategorized / No Comments

June 25, 2010, 1:34 p.m.
By Jennifer Bendery
Roll Call Staff

Updated: 4:16 p.m.

President Barack Obama will meet with a bipartisan group of Senators on Tuesday to discuss the path forward for comprehensive energy legislation, the White House announced Friday.

The meeting was originally scheduled for last Wednesday but was postponed. Lawmakers invited to the meeting include Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Obama has been trying to jump-start stalled energy legislation in the wake of the Gulf Coast oil spill, which he has referred to as “a wake-up call” on the need for reform. He has been personally reaching out to a number of GOP Senators, including Scott Brown (Mass.) and George LeMieux (Fla.), to try to build momentum on the issue.

CRS Comparison of Selected Energy and Climate Change Bills

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 27, 2010 / Posted in Federal energy legislation / No Comments

This report was sent to us from Lane Ralph in U.S. Senator Dick Lugar's office.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has prepared a memorandum that provides a short summary and comparison of four legislative proposals that may receive attention in the U.S. Senate during the next few months. While all four proposals fall within the broad category of energy and climate change policy, the specifics of the proposals vary significantly, and their approaches vary in many ways. The four proposals analyzed are as follows:

S. 1462, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA) of 2009, was introduced by Senator Bingaman and reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on July 16, 2009 (S.Rept. 111-48). S. 1462 is a broad energy bill aimed at promoting the development of clean energy technologies, increasing energy efficiency, and promoting domestic energy resources.1 Incentives for new technology include a renewable energy standard (RES) for electric utilities. The bill does not directly address greenhouse gas emissions: provisions for a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system were instead included in S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, sponsored by Senators Kerry and Boxer, and reported by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on February 2, 2010.

S. 2877, the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal (CLEAR) Act, was introduced by Senators Cantwell and Collins on December 11, 2009 and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance. S. 2877 would establish a program to control only carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (covering 80% of U.S. GHG emissions), requiring fossil fuel producers (e.g., coal mines, gas wellheads) and importers to submit “carbon shares” for the CO2 emissions related to the fossil fuels they produce or import. The President would limit (or cap) the quantity of carbon shares available for submission each year, and the Department of Treasury would distribute all of the carbon shares through monthly auctions.

S. 3464, the Practical Energy and Climate Plan Act of 2010, was introduced by Senators Lugar, Graham, and Murkowski on June 9, 2010 and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance. S. 3464 is a broad energy bill aimed at promoting thedevelopment of clean energy technologies, increasing energy efficiency, and promoting domestic energy resources. Instead of a renewable energy standard (RES) like that contained in S. 1462, S. 3464 contains a “Diverse Energy Standard” which would permit the use of a broad range of electric generation technologies including renewables, but also including nuclear energy and advanced coal generation with carbon capture and storage. Other provisions include building and vehicle efficiency standards and nuclear energy loan guarantees. The bill does not contain a mandatory scheme to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

A discussion draft of the American Power Act (APA) was released on May 12, 2010 by Senators Kerry and Lieberman. A comprehensive energy and climate change policy proposal, the draft would set GHG reduction goals similar to those in H.R. 2454 (the bill most comparable to the APA draft),3 which passed the House in June 2009. The APA employs a market-based cap-and-trade scheme for electric generators and industry with a separate price mechanism to cover emissions from transportation fuels. The draft proposal would allocate a significant amount of allowance value to energy consumers, low-income households, and the promotion of low-carbon energy technologies. In addition, the draft would provide incentives for the expansion of nuclear power, carbon capture and storage technology, and advanced vehicles.

To read the complete comparison and analysis of these four energy and climate change bills by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) please see the document posted below.

CRS Comparison of Energy & Climate Change Bills June 24[1]

Let’s put our energy into becoming more efficient | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 20, 2010 / Posted in Uncategorized / 1 Comments

Let's put our energy into becoming more efficient | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star.

In a time when money is tight and natural resources are precious, Hoosiers continue to waste significant amounts of both because energy conservation has gained so little traction in Indiana.
Take net metering, the process by which property owners who generate their own electricity through windmills, solar panels or other means receive credits for the excess energy they ship back to utilities. Indiana has one of the weakest net-metering standards in the nation, limiting homes and schools to only 10 kilowatts a month. By comparison, Kentucky has set a limit of 30 kilowatts, Illinois 40 kilowatts and Ohio has no specified limit.

And, unlike in most states, utilities in Indiana can exclude businesses, which potentially could generate considerable amounts of power, from net-metering programs.

Although both the Indiana House and Senate passed bills this year that would have strengthened net-metering requirements, the legislation died in conference committee.

Such setbacks are common in Indiana, which has been slow to embrace everything from energy-efficient buildings to mass transit. Environmental leaders use the word glacial to describe the state's pace on conservation measures.

Yet, given their fiscal, environmental and even security benefits, steps that promote better energy efficiency should bridge most political and philosophical divides.

On the federal level, Indiana Republican Sen. Richard Lugar has made conservation one of the pillars of his newly introduced energy legislation. Although some Democrats and environmental groups have criticized Lugar's overall approach as too weak, they've applauded the energy-efficiency provisions of the bill. As a result, with Congress seemingly deadlocked over a comprehensive energy bill, Lugar's plan has gained traction because he included elements both Democrats and Republicans can support.

That approach -- find common ground and act on it -- makes sense on the state and local levels as well.
In Indianapolis, common ground would mean finally building a functional bus system, expanding trails, adding bike lanes, and building and fixing sidewalks. The assumption that residents are forever wed to their cars has not been tested here because few people have a functional alternative to driving.

On the state level, it would mean giving Central Indiana leaders permission to stage a referendum on creation of a regional transit authority, the first step to establishing rail and bus lines that would connect the suburbs and the urban core.

And it would mean finally approving the net-metering legislation, which died in the Statehouse this year and last year, during the 2011 session.

Debates over how much and what types of coal to burn, where and whether to drill for oil, and how to set limits on greenhouse gases likely will continue unabated, all while vast amounts of energy are wasted unnecessarily.

The pursuit of greater energy efficiency won't end those arguments, but it could move the nation, state and city closer to the goals of a cleaner environment and a healthier population.

Ellettsville hearing on net metering; State agency reviewing power rules

Posted by Laura Arnold / June 17, 2010 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

HeraldTimesOnline.com

State agency reviewing power rules

By Dawn Hewitt 331-4377 | dhewitt@heraldt.com

June 11, 2010

Those who generate their own electricity with solar panels or wind turbines but are still “on the

grid” sell their power to investor-owned electric companies. Net metering is an agreement that

allows consumers to offset the cost of the electricity they buy from a utility by selling homegrown

power back to the utility.

But state regulations limit how much power small-scale generators may produce to 10 kilowatt

hours.

The regulations were established in 2005, but with the increased emphasis on alternative energy,

interest in net metering is soaring.

Now, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is holding public meetings to hear from

consumers and other interested parties on existing net metering rules. One will be 6 p.m.

Wednesday at Edgewood Junior High School, 851 Edgewood Drive, in Ellettsville.

The commission hopes to gauge the effectiveness of the existing rules and determine whether the

state could benefit by updating them. In 2005, 16 consumers had signed up for net metering. In

2009, 133 had, generating a capacity of 504 kilowatts of electricity, according to an Indiana

Utilities Regulatory Commission report.

Indiana’s existing net metering rules spell out the requirements for both customers and utilities.

Currently, the rules apply only to investor-owned utility companies, such as Duke Energy, but

not rural electric cooperatives. As defined by state law, an eligible net metering customer means

an electricity customer who owns and operates a solar, wind or hydroelectric generating facility

with a capacity of less than or equal to 10 kilowatts. The utility company must offer net metering

to residential customers and public primary and secondary schools that have installed such

renewable energy systems.

“Anyone interested in clean, renewable energy production in Indiana should attend this

meeting,” said Terry Usrey, who is involved with Southern Indiana Renewable Energy Network.

“Those who own or plan to own solar or wind systems have a financial stake as the IURC rules

allow utilities like Duke to pay the small system producer much less for electricity they send to

the utility grid than the utility charges for electricity it sells to the system producer. This is a

clear disincentive for homeowners to install a renewable energy system.

“Ultimately, anyone who wants to see a shift from utility-owned coal burning power plants to

clean, renewable, citizen-owned and distributed power generation should attend this meeting and

urge the IURC to amend its rules to require the utilities to offer net metering to all customers and

to pay the small producer for electricity at the same rate it sells electricity.”

An Indiana Senate bill introduced but not passed this year would have allowed small-scale power

generators to produce up to 100 kW. Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey limit

consumer-generated renewable power to 2,000 kW, and Ohio has no upper limit on home-grown

energy, according to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s “Connecting to the Grid” report

and the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy.

Read the 2009 net metering reports filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission at

www.in.gov/iurc/files/2009_Net_Metering_Required_Reporting_Summary.pdf.