Author Archives Laura Arnold

Indiana renewable energy businesses are encouraged that state lawmakers are addressing incentives to promote renewable energy usage. Two bills moving through the Indiana General Assembly will revise and improve the rules to allow consumers to net meter and provide needed tax incentives.

When consumers install a wind turbine or solar energy system to reduce their electric bill, they need their electric utility to credit them for any excess power they generate or net meter. Allowing a customer’s meter to run backwards or net metering is an important policy to promote distributed generation. Wide adoption of renewable distributed generation will help to clean the air, reduce carbon emissions, create jobs, and support economic growth. Currently in Indiana only residential customers and K-12 schools are allowed to net meter.

The 2008 Edition of Freeing the Grid, a national report on the status of net metering across the Unites States identifies Indiana among the worst in the U.S. The report states that in Indiana “businesses and other commercial or industrial customers are excluded from net metering. Indiana is now the only state in the nation with this limitation.”

“Not requiring utilities to net meter business and industrial customers is counter productive and just crazy,” said Terry Black, Co-owner of Green Way Supply in Indianapolis. “Why are we are the only state that does not have this incentive to attract new industry?” Duke Energy exceeds the rules established by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and does allow small commercial customers but the other Investor Owned Utilities do not permit net metering for businesses.

“Both proposed net metering laws need further improvement,” said Eric Cotton with ECI Wind and Solar in Fairmount. “Neither net metering bill applies to the REMC’s. 22 other states require net metering for rural electric cooperatives.”

“Not including Indiana’s REMC’s in net metering is a travesty for rural Hoosiers,” says Eric Cotton. “Some of the best opportunities for renewable energy are small wind turbines for farmers. Not including REMC’s creates a disincentive for renewable energy systems in rural areas. For an agricultural state like Indiana this just doesn’t make sense.”

SB 300 and HB 1347, if enacted by the Indiana General Assembly would change the net metering rules to permit all customer classes to net meter including business and industrial customers. The bills do differ in the maximum system size for net metering. SB 300 would permit systems up to 100 kW but HB 1347 would allow for systems up to 1 MW. Currently state rules only permit net metering for systems up to 10 kW.

The past two federal Economic Stimulus bills provide incentives for businesses to install solar and renewable energy systems, a 30% investment tax credit or grants covering 30% of the costs of a system. HB 1347 was amended in the Indiana House of Representatives to add a 15% tax credit for renewable energy manufacturing and a 10% tax credit for businesses investing in renewable energy systems.

“Federal incentives encourage long term investment in clean energy technologies, they help reduce operating costs in businesses willing to invest in them and they will improve our air quality which right now stinks,” added Terry Black. “Congress has taken action and now Indiana needs to do the same.”

Green Way Supply and ECI Wind and Solar are both founding members of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association formed last year. For more information about these companies and other Indiana renewable energy companies see www.indianarenew.org.

The federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) bill introduced in the U.S. Senate is likely to be amended to include 'smart grid' language. The committee hears testimony tomorrow morning.

Watch the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Wed., Mar 3 beginning at 10:00 AM.

Full Committee Oversight Hearing: to receive testimony on the process of smart grid initiatives and technologies (SD-106). PLEASE NOTE ROOM CHANGE. The purpose of this oversight hearing is to examine the progress on smart grid initiatives authorized in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and funded in the stimulus bill, and to learn of opportunities and impediments to timely installation of smart grid technologies.

Witnesses

Panel 1

The Honorable Suedeen Kelly , Commissioner , Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Ms. Patricia Hoffman , Department of Energy

Dr. Patrick Gallagher , National Institute of Standards and Technology

Panel 2

The Honorable Frederick Butler , National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners

Ms. Katherine Hamilton , GridWise Alliance

Mr. Edward Lu , Google Inc.

Mr. Evan Gaddis , National Electrical Manufacturers Association

March 2, 2009

Senate panel to study details of setting up electric 'smart grid'

By KATHERINE LING, Greenwire

Lawmakers, regulators and industry officials have declared that a "smart grid" is necessary for the nation's energy security and clean energy future, but the technology has yet to be adopted nationwide.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will examine the smart grid dilemma in a hearing tomorrow with discussion on what exactly a smart grid is made up of, the benefits -- including jobs -- it creates and what barriers restrict its implementation.

"Clearly, everyone agrees we should do more," Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said in an interview. "But we know we have to get down to the details of what does that mean." Bingaman said there is likely to be a smart grid component in upcoming energy legislation that he hopes to introduce and mark up in the next four to five weeks.

Despite including $11 billion for smart grid initiatives in the economic stimulus bill, lawmakers, businesses and the public alike are still absorbing what a digitized, intelligent grid could do for renewable energy, consumption behavior and information, and grid operation and efficiency.

Advocates for smart grid technology have been trying to get their voice heard for more than seven years and have welcomed the recent exposure and attention it has received as an enabler of renewable energy. But there is some worry about more near-term applications of smart grid technology getting lost within the transmission and renewable energy discussion.

"Smart grid is much more down on the distribution level that is much easier and cheaper to get to," said Steve Hauser, head of market development at GridPoint, an intelligent energy management company, and a president emeritus at the GridWise Alliance.

In a smart grid hearing last week in the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Tom Casey, CEO of Current Group LLC -- a smart grid software and analysis company -- took more than five minutes to explain to lawmakers that the smart grid is more than meters seen in residences or devices in appliances.

"A smart grid, in many ways is like an Internet for electricity, a network of devices that are monitored and managed with real-time communications and computer intelligence," Casey said.

Frederick Butler, who is president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and will testify at tomorrow's hearing, is a strong advocate for the smart grid, especially for improving the communication system and other components on the distribution system before pushing smart meters into houses and buildings.

Within the $11 billion allotted for smart grid technology in the stimulus package is $4.5 billion for smart-technology matching grants. A majority of the grants, however, will likely go to smart metering programs since many of those projects are already before public utility commissions and can put the stimulus money to work and create jobs faster.

Barriers

Regulators and utilities have been hesitant to adopt smart grid technology since it is evolving and, like any computer software, can often require costly upgrades. It also currently lacks standards and industry-wide consistency -- all of which could be quite costly to consumers if companies choose technology that becomes obsolete.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently told a Center for American Progress clean energy forum that it is policies and standards, and not technology, that is holding up wider implementation of smart grid technology.

Bingaman is likely to ask representatives of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the National Institute of Standards and Technology the status of creating smart grid standards for protocols and information management to achieve integration of different smart grid devices and systems as mandated in the 2007 energy bill.

NARUC and FERC also formed a "smart grid collaborative" one year ago to facilitate the implementation of the smart grid. The collaborative -- led by Butler and FERC Commissioner Suedeen Kelly -- aims to inform federal and state regulators about technological developments and other issues regarding the smart grid and what impacts there could be on consumers.

Smart grid technology also carries significant upfront costs that may end up saving companies and consumers in the long run but can create some barriers at the beginning of the project. Advocates of smart grid technology say Congress should consider more incentives for smart grid investment, including accelerated depreciation.

Copyright 2009 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

For more news on energy and the environment, visit www.greenwire.com.

WaterFurnace is a founding member of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.

Fort Wayne, IN. – President Obama has signed the Economic Stimulus Package and WaterFurnace International can contribute to the nation’s economic recovery with a plan that will create jobs and save energy.

The stimulus package is intended to create and save 3.6 million jobs and jumpstart the economy with economic recovery tax cuts and targeted investments. In addition to putting money back in the pockets of consumers and businesses, the package also includes provisions that will help achieve long-term goals, such as improving energy efficiency in both the public and private sectors.

Among those provisions, the plan calls for a disbursement of $6.9 billion to state and local governments for energy efficiency upgrades and the reduction of carbon emissions. “This could amount to as much as $100 million in the state of Indiana,” said Bruce Ritchey, CEO of Indiana-based WaterFurnace Renewable Energy, Inc., a leading manufacturer of residential, commercial, industrial and institutional geothermal and water source heat pumps.

By investing a portion of this $100 million in rebates or low interest loans to homeowners who replace their old fossil fuel or straight electric furnaces with geothermal heat pumps the country would definitely make progress toward the goals of the stimulus package. WaterFurnace notes that Indiana and other states in the country that have invested in similar programs were able to create hundreds of “green collar jobs” while significantly increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.

According to Ritchey, a $2,000 rebate on the purchase of a geothermal heat pump or availability of low interest loans, would generate 200 heat pump sales every month in Indiana, or 2,400 unit sales at the end of the first year. “At the same time, every 18 installations would create one new job. At the end of the first year that means we will have created 133 new green collar jobs (2,400 units divided by 18 installations per job). At $2,000 per unit, the total cost of a job creation/energy efficiency rebate program in the state of Indiana would be $4.8 million over the course of a year.”

In addition to creating jobs, the rebate program and the ensuing installation of geothermal heat pumps would cut an average four metric tons of carbon emissions per year per unit.“If you multiply those reductions by the average unit life of 24.4 years, that means that 97.6 metric tons of emissions could be eliminated over the lifetime of each unit, and 234,240 tons over the lifetime of the 2,400 units sold through the rebate program,” said Ritchey.

Looking beyond Indiana to a national rebate program, Ritchey added, “If every state would take just five percent of the funding available through the energy efficiency portion of the stimulus package and invest it in a geothermal incentive, I can’t think of a faster, more cost effective, greener way to put people back to work, save fossil fuel, reduce carbon emissions and save homeowners thousands of dollars per year for the next 24.4 years. It’s the stimulus that keeps on stimulating.”

The heating and air conditioning industry has been hit hard by the recession, the collapse of the new construction market and the lack of consumer financing have slammed the industry over the past two years. Sales of heating systems were down to the levels not seen since 1970. The stimulus package is vital to this industry.

All geothermal heat pumps are built right here in the United States, (Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Texas, Florida and New York). Geothermal systems are installed and saving energy and the environment in all 50 states and are being exported around the globe. Every unit requires 24 hours of good paying manufacturing labor and 32 hours of installation labor for the small businesses across the country that install the systems (heating and air conditioning contractors, electricians, plumbers, excavators and drilling machine operators). All of those businesses are hurting right now and are available and able to start installing this green technology in homes across the US immediately.

WaterFurnace International, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of residential, commercial, industrial and institutional geothermal and water source heat pumps. Products from WaterFurnace include energy-efficient and environmentally friendly geothermal comfort systems, indoor air quality products and pool heaters. WaterFurnace (TSX:WFI) was founded in 1983, the company is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Ind.

See http://www.waterfurnace.com/.

Congragulations to InREA member Bill Keith with SunRise Solar for his participation in Vice President Joe Biden's Task Force.

Online Map Unveiled at Vice Presidential Task Force Profiles 1,200 Companies in Manufacturing States, Demonstrates Potential for Massive Jobs Expansion to Build Climate Solutions

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Environmental Defense Fund today released a groundbreaking online map that identifies and profiles more than 1,200 companies in key manufacturing states poised to grow their business and create new jobs when Congress passes a cap on global warming pollution.

The interactive map, online at LessCarbonMoreJobs.org, was released at the first meeting of Vice President Joe Biden's task force on middle class jobs in Philadelphia. It highlights hundreds of companies and communities in coal country, the rust belt and other manufacturing regions poised to benefit from demand for clean energy technologies created by a cap on carbon.

Vice President Biden hosted EDF President Fred Krupp and a range of experts to highlight new ways to increase renewable energy jobs and improve America's energy efficiency. Krupp said EDF's map shows that a carbon cap will create new markets and new customers for companies in the supply chain for low-carbon energy technologies and services.

"Our nation is rich with a skilled and dedicated workforce waiting for the economic opportunity that comes with a cap on carbon, especially in the current economy," said Krupp. "A cap creates customers for U.S. manufacturers, and new customers mean new jobs. If there was ever a time we needed new customers at home and abroad, that time is now."

LessCarbonMoreJobs.org identifies the locations, products, and services as well as select case studies and worker profiles for companies in 12 states: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Tennessee, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, Virginia and Florida.

Jackie Roberts, Director of Sustainable Technologies for EDF, spearheaded the research behind the website. "These maps tell the story of how a cap can fuel economic growth in the heartland while reducing America's global warming pollution," Roberts said. "There is a manufacturing boom ready to happen, and a cap will help ignite that spark."

LessCarbonMoreJobs.org allows visitors to search by state, Congressional district and media market to find companies manufacturing windmill components, shipping solar panel equipment and installing energy efficient building materials. The site also provides business details and contact information for companies in each profiled state.

Among the business leaders highlighted is Jeff Metts, owner and president of Dowding Industries, a Michigan-based manufacturer of large-scale machinery and parts that is hiring laid-off auto workers to build wind turbine components.

"This business is growing exponentially," Metts said. "I don't come here as the owner of a company that last year employed 250 people, I come here excited about being the owner of a company that will create hundreds of jobs for our community and the possibility of thousands of jobs for our state in this new energy market. We've tapped into a workforce eager to apply their skills from previous jobs to our new ventures, and the result has been incredible. We're ready to do much more."

Abe Breehey, Director of Legislative Affairs for the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, said, "The demand for climate solutions will create job opportunities across the economy. We can put American ingenuity and skills to work to reduce emissions, with all the necessary labor and materials to make it happen. With the right market signals, we can turn the jobs union members do everyday into the environmental solutions our nation needs to meet this enormous challenge."

Bill Keith, president of the St. John, Indiana-based Sunrise Solar, Inc., echoed Breehey's comments.

"We're producing solar-powered attic fans, trying to keep up with a demand that's skyrocketing," Keith said. "We saw a market for energy efficient products and technologies that help consumers reduce their energy consumption, and we've been greeted with overwhelming support and demand. But we know there's much more to do. We are hoping that Congress finally puts the economy on a path to embrace these technologies. My operation is ready to grow, and I know others companies like mine are ready too."

Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org.

Bill Keith, President of SunRise Solar Inc., is a founding member of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association. See www.sunrisesolar.net.

Members of the House Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities Committee will hear testimony on HB 1305 establishing a state Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) today (2/10/09) upon adjournment in the House Chambers. What's "upon adjournment"? The Indiana House of Representatives is scheduled to go into session on the floor at 1:00 pm today. Here is a link to their calendar http://www.in.gov/legislative/reports/2009/BCALH.PDF. So how much of this calendar will they attempt to address before the committee hearing on HB 1305 "upon adjournment"? Who knows for sure but I would tune in around 3:00 pm to see where they are on their calendar.

To watch HB 1305 this afternoon visit http://www.in.gov/legislative/session/video.html

The hearing on the federal Senate RES bill starts this morning at 10 AM.
For details on this federal committee hearing see: http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=3de47fcb-99e4-e0fd-c5e6-52532f60f256

To watch the committee hearing click the link above and then . or http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.LiveStream

News Release

U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE’S PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD IS “DOWNRIGHT WIMPY” – GOAL SHOULD BE MUCH HIGHER

For Immediate Release: Monday - February 9, 2009
Contact: Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.23

Washington DC – The proposed Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) to be considered by the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources at a hearing on February 10 falls far short of what is doable and needed according to the SUN DAY Campaign.

The Senate committee will meet on Tuesday morning at 10:00 am (in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building) to take testimony on the Democratic staff draft for Chairman Jeff Bingaman’s Renewable Electricity Standard. The amendment requires sellers of electricity to retail consumers to obtain certain percentages of their electric supply from new renewable energy resources.

Calendar Year: .......................... Minimum annual %:
2011 through 2012 .................................... 4.0
2013 through 2015 .................................... 8.0
2016 through 2018 ................................... 12.0
2019 through 2020 ................................... 16.0
2021 through 2039 ................................... 20.0

Qualifying renewables (including distributed generators) are wind, solar, ocean, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas and incremental hydropower. Existing hydropower generators and municipal solid waste generators are excluded from the base amount from which the percentage requirements are calculated.

However, according to statistics compiled in its “Electric Power Monthly” the Energy Information Administration reports that renewables (excluding large hydro and municipal waste) already account for almost 3% of U.S. electricity production. Moreover, in recent years, solar and wind have been expanding by more than 30% annually while geothermal is poised to double its current contribution within the next several years. Biomass and incremental hydropower are also expanding. In fact, in 2008, renewable energy accounted for the largest share of new electricity capacity additions.

Consequently, at current growth rates, renewables could - and probably will - easily surpass the committee’s proposed 4.0% target well before 2011-2012. Furthermore, President Barack Obama has proposed a goal of doubling renewable energy within the next three years, which would yield a renewable share of roughly 6% of U.S. electricity supply by the end of 2011.

“In light of present trends, the Senate committee’s proposed standard is well below what is realistically doable and likely over the next several years - even at only very modest ‘business-as-usual’ growth rates,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “Assuming there is a significantly more aggressive national commitment to developing sustainable energy technologies, then the Senate proposal is downright wimpy.”

Longer-term, dozens of recent studies suggest that the Senate committee’s proposal for renewable energy’s share of the nation’s electricity supply falls far short of what is technically and economically feasible and likely. (A compilation of 2008 news stories that discuss the findings of these studies is available upon request from the SUN DAY Campaign.)

At a minimum, a target of 25% of U.S. electricity supply from renewable energy sources (excluding large hydro and municipal waste) by 2025 is achievable. This is roughly equal to the goal set by the European Union for its member nations. It is also consistent with a resolution unanimously adopted by the Members of the U.S. Senate in June 2007.

However, if matched by an aggressive campaign to substantially improve energy efficiency and reduce total electric demand - particularly in light of the threat of climate change, renewable energy’s share could be significantly higher. Given the right mix of tax policy, access to financial credit, R&D funding, government procurement, transmission grid development, interconnection standards, and other forms of public sector support, renewable energy sources conceivably could account for at least half - and maybe significantly more - of the nation’s electricity supply within the next quarter-century.

“The Senate committee should be designing a renewable electricity standard that envisions near-term targets at least twice as high as now proposed,” concluded Ken Bossong. “If the United States fully committed itself to sustainable energy development and discontinued squandering resources on dead-end nuclear and fossil fuel options, a national electricity generating system based 100% on renewable energy sources could become a reality.”

The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1993 to promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels.

SUN DAY CAMPAIGN, Ken Bossong, 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite #340; Takoma Park, MD 20912, 301-270-6477 x.23 sun-day-campaign@hotmail.com