Author Archives Laura Arnold

Adapts Rates from Ontario for a "Made In Indiana" Policy

January 8, 2010

By Paul Gipe

Representative Matt Pierce (D-61st, Bloomington) introduced HB 1190 into the Indiana General Assembly January 7, 2010. The bill is the first comprehensive proposal for a system of feed-in tariffs in the current legislative sessions that have begun in states across the US.

The bill to create a system of what Representative Pierce calls Advanced Renewable Energy Contracts was referred to the House Committee on Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities. Representative Pierce is vice chair of the committee.

Representative Pierce had introduced a previous bill on feed-in tariffs in the 2009 session. HB 1190 has been extensively rewritten and has incorporated the feed-in tariffs, or renewable energy rates as they will be called in Indiana, recently introduced in the Canadian province of Ontario.

The proposed rates in HB 1190 have been adapted to the Indiana context by incorporating two tracks: one track with US federal subsidies, one track without. Unlike Ontario, where there are no federal subsidies for renewable energy, some Indiana projects could qualify for US federal subsidies. However, not all potential renewable energy generators in Indiana may be able to use the federal subsidies. For those who may not be able to use the federal subsidies, Representative Pierce has proposed the second track where the feed-in rates are proportionally higher.

Republican Governor Mitch Daniels and the legislature have liked to characterize Indiana as a potential renewable energy hub of the Midwest.

HB 1190 tries to go Ontario one better as competition for renewable energy heats up in North America's heartland. Representative Pierce has proposed a sophisticated system of rates for wind energy that is based on the intensity of the wind resource. Both Germany and France successfully use a similar policy and the concept has been raised frequently in Ontario. However, the Canadian province has yet to adopt such a program.

Differentiating the rates for wind energy based on the wind resource is used by Germany and France both to spread development opportunity to more farmers and rural landowners than one, single rate for wind energy, but also to avoid the concentration of wind turbines in only the windiest regions. Such a proposal in Indiana would give farmers in central Indiana as much opportunity to develop their wind resource as farmers in northern Indiana where it is windier.

And in another departure from Ontario, Representative Pierce has proposed specific tariffs for small wind turbines like those that would be used by individual households. While HB 1190's proposed rates for small wind turbines are less than those that will likely go into effect this April in Great Britain, they are the first of their kind in North America.

In other provisions, the bill requires the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to review the renewable energy rates paid to new generators beginning in 2012. HB 1190 directs the IURC's review to ensure the rates are sufficient for the rapid development of renewable energy without resulting in excessive profits for generators or excessive costs to ratepayers.

The bill establishes an equalization program to spread the costs of the policy across all ratepayers so that no one utility or its ratepayers absorb more than their fair share of the costs of the program.

HB 1190 creates a statewide registry of generators and requires the IURC to issue annual reports on the robustness of the program in meeting the bill's objective of encouraging the rapid and sustainable development of renewable energy in Indiana.

Before it becomes law, the bill must pass the House, controlled by Democrats, and the Senate, controlled by Republicans, and be signed by Republican Governor Daniels.

Summary of HB 1190's renewable energy "rates".

Project size cap: None, 10 MW for solar PV only
Contract terms: 20 years, 40 years for hydro
Technologies: most, excluding biomass from forestry, excluding coal-bed methane
Inflation indexing: 60%

Wind without and with tax credits:

• Small
• Small
• Offshore: $0.180,$0.126
• Onshore low wind: $0.140,$0.098
• Onshore high wind: $0.104,$0.073

Solar PV without and with tax credits:

• Any Type
• Rooftop >10 kW
• Rooftop >250 kW
• Rooftop >500 kW: $0.500,$0.350,
• Groundmounted <10 MW: $0.400,$0.280

  Interestingly, Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) has proposed a pilot feed-in tariff program to the IURC. The IURC has yet to rule on IPL's proposal, yet IPL's proposed wind enegy tariff is quite similar to that in Representative Pierce's HB 1190.

  At a site with an average yield of 1,200 kWh/m²/yr, the average or equivalent 20-year tariff for onshore wind energy in HB 1190 is $0.104/kWh without tax credits and $0.073/kWh with federal tax credits. The latter "rate" is nearly identical with that proposed by to the IURC for wind turbines larger than 1 MW by IPL of $0.075/kWh.

  HB 1190 Status

  HB 1190 Latest version

  HB 1190 Fiscal Impact

This article brought to you by the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?SectionID=50&SubSectionID=72&ArticleID=27911

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Net-metering
Renewable energy ready for boost

Editorial

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Our Opinion:

The Issue:

The Indiana General Assembly appears likely to relax limits on selling power back to utilities.

Our Opinion:

The Legislature should increase the amount of electricity utilities must buy from renewable sources.

It's heartening to hear that Indiana lawmakers think a new "net-metering" law will pass in the 2010 session of the General Assembly. It's especially good to know that power companies seem to be willing to accept expansion of the amount of power that utilities would have to accept.

Under net-metering, utility customers who generate some of their electricity from renewable sources are allowed to sell their excess capacity to the power companies, offsetting their electric bills.

Indiana law now applies only to homeowners and schools, and limits the amount of electricity a utility has to accept to 10 kilowatts. Legislation that is expected to be given serious consideration next year would up that figure to 100 kilowatts and expand it to businesses and municipalities. Meanwhile other lawmakers favor an even higher level of 1,000 kilowatts.

In an age when the nation desperately needs to encourage the development of power from renewable sources, the Indiana Legislature should change the law and expand net-metering. Similar legislation stalled in the previous session because lawmakers couldn't find a ceiling they could agree upon - 100 kilowatts favored by some, and 1,000 by others.

It's important that both Republican and Democratic legislators favor expanding net-metering, and as long as the power companies don't fight it, certainly the lawmakers can find a compromise figure, and Indiana can move a small step forward in encouraging the production of electricity from wind and solar generators.

Indiana lags behind its neighboring states in net-metering policy, according to an advocacy group for renewable energy. Lawmakers should move quickly on this change when the legislative session begins Jan. 5.

Brought to you by the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.

January 3, 2010

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100103/OPINION08/1030330/1291/OPINION08/5-top-priorities-for-our-state

Our opinion

5 top priorities for our state

Short on money, legislators can still accomplish much during abbreviated session.

The Indiana General Assembly opens its 2010 session this week with virtually no money to spend and little time to act before lawmakers stop work in March. Yet, even while operating under such restrictions, legislators have an opportunity to adopt several important proposals, including ethics reform.

Here is The Star Editorial Board's legislative agenda for 2010:

More ethical government: Even House Speaker Pat Bauer, a longtime opponent of restrictions on lobbyists' influence over legislators, now acknowledges that the Statehouse has been compromised.

"It was apparent the level of pressure exerted by special interests put a cloud over the legislature's ability to respond to the concerns of Hoosiers,'' Bauer wrote concerning last year's session in an op-ed published in The Star in November.

The General Assembly should adopt five common-sense reforms to reduce the level of influence that special interests hold over lawmakers:

Legislators may not accept any gift worth more than $50 in value from registered lobbyists.

Lobbyists must disclose the value of goods and services offered to individual legislators or groups of lawmakers, including meals, tickets to sporting and entertainment events, or other gifts.

Legislators may not accept gifts, including payment of travel-related expenses, from businesses, organizations or individuals that do business with the state.

Legislators may not accept meals, tickets to athletic games or other events, or any other gift valued at more than $50 from state universities or colleges.

Former legislators may not work as registered lobbyists until one year after they leave office.

Better representation for voters: Lawmakers have a prime opportunity to end the discredited practice of gerrymandering ahead of redistricting in 2011. The best means to ensure fairness and impartiality in drawing district maps is to assign the job to an independent commission. It may be possible, according to research by the Brennan Center for Justice, to create such a commission without having to pursue a constitutional amendment. Legislators should create a system for drawing district maps that fosters competitive elections, encourages qualified candidates to seek elected office and protects voters' ability to make a difference on Election Day.

More efficient local government: Indiana taxpayers continue to pay for far more government than they need. In a year when state and local budgets are squeezed tight, townships are still sitting on more than $200 million in reserves. If they were ready to put the public's best interests ahead of their political allies' concerns, lawmakers would finally eliminate township government this year. That's not likely to happen, however.

Instead, legislators at least need to trim around the edges by adopting three modest reforms:

Township advisory boards should be abolished. It's a step that would save taxpayers money without sacrificing oversight or transparency.

Poor relief, now dispensed inefficiently and unevenly by 1,008 township trustees, should be consolidated on the county level, a move that likely would improve service and reduce costs.

School board elections should be shifted from the May primary to the general election in November to assure better voter turnout and raise the profile of these important races.

A cleaner environment: In a state where air and water quality rank among the worst in the nation, environmental initiatives deserve far more attention than they have received from the General Assembly and the governor. One measure that could help promote use of wind and solar power involves so-called net metering, which allows consumers to send excess power that they generate back onto the electrical grid. Legislators should increase the current 10-kilowatt cap on net metering to 1,000 kilowatts.

Better schools: Modest steps are again the most likely avenues for progress, in this instance because of a lack of money. One proposal that deserves strong bipartisan support centers on closing loopholes that allow abusive teachers to escape accountability. Lawmakers should ensure that school districts have access to all the information they need about a prospective employee's background before they make a hire. The legislature also should eliminate off-the-record agreements that allow districts to remove substantiated reports of misconduct from employees' files without conducting a formal hearing.

Safer children: The General Assembly achieved a welcome advancement last year when it set up an office of ombudsman to make the Department of Child Services more accountable to the public. Now, legislators should give the ombudsman the necessary resources, including sufficient legal authority, to make a real difference.

This article brought to you by the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.