Author Archives Laura Arnold

HOOSIER ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL & INDIANA BUSINESSES PUSH FOR ‘GREEN JOBS DEVELOPMENT ACT’

(Indianapolis, Ind.) – The Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) today (1/26/09) pushed for the passage of the “Green Jobs Development Act,” legislation that could help jumpstart Indiana’s economy.

HEC, the state’s largest environmental policy alliance, is working to educate the public and the Indiana General Assembly about the economic benefits of the Act, which is made up of HB 1349, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend), and SB 283, sponsored by Sens. Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn) and Sue Errington (D-Muncie).

“Indiana needs a package of carefully designed policy initiatives to encourage investment and job growth,” said Jesse Kharbanda, HEC’s executive director. “This legislation not only meets that need, it also improves the quality of our environment.”

The Green Jobs Development Act would establish a renewable electricity standard (RES) that requires utilities have a portion of the electricity they sell come from renewable energy sources within the state. It also would ensure Indiana receives at least 20 percent of its energy from renewable or energy-efficient resources by 2020.

These initiatives would lead to new Hoosier jobs through new investments by renewable and clean electricity companies. According to a 2008 manufacturing report by the Renewable Energy Policy Project, more than 1,300 Hoosier manufacturing businesses could be re-tooled to produce renewable energy components, giving Indiana the second highest potential in the country for such jobs.

Even more positions stand to be created through the re-tooling of existing businesses to produce renewable energy components, as well as through maintaining, installing and marketing clean energy technologies.

“Indiana is the only state in the Upper Midwest without an RES, and we’re losing out to significant national investment as a result,” said Tom Kanczuzewski, president of Inovateus Solar, a distributor of solar thin film in South Bend. “At a time when our state is facing incredible challenges, the Green Jobs Development Act will go a long way toward spurring job growth and rebuilding our economy.”

“Net metering” – where consumers and businesses are able to generate their own electricity and roll their meters back when they return any excess power to the electric grid – is also included in the Green Jobs Development Act.

“Adopting the Green Jobs Development Act will create jobs, help moderate Indiana’s energy prices, and attract ‘green technology’ and investment to our state,” said Brad Morton, president of Evansville’s Morton Energy, which markets and sells alternative energy technologies. “Nearly everyone – from businesses and homeowners to investors and farmers – stands to gain from this legislation.”

“Improving the quality of our environment and improving our state’s business climate don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” said Kharbanda. “We look forward to sharing this message with our state’s legislature in the coming months, and working with them and our supporters to move our initiatives forward.”

To learn more about the HEC and its legislative agenda for 2009, please go to www.hecweb.org.

For more information contact:
Jesse Kharbanda, Executive Director, HEC, 317.685.8800 ext. 103
jkharbanda@hecweb.org

US House Panel Clears Energy Portion Of Stimulus Package
1-22-09 5:51 PM EST By Siobhan Hughes Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A Democratic effort to include more than $50 billion in energy-project spending in a U.S. economic stimulus package advanced rapidly through Congress as companies jockeyed to reshape the plan to their own advantage.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee cleared the energy portion of the stimulus package by 34-17, putting it on course for a vote next week in the full House of Representatives. Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) emerged as a winner in its bid for a new electricity-pricing system. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who just months ago was advising Democrats on a financial bailout, went unheard as lawmakers speeded through a vote.

Power companies were just one of the groups that racked up wins and losses. The nuclear-power industry tried to qualify for loan-guarantees earmarked for renewable energy projects, but failed with the defeat of an amendment from Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. Ethanol makers carved $500 million out of a proposed $8 billion loan-guarantee program to develop a cleaner biofuel under an amendment from Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

The biggest winner was Duke, the power company that has been leading the charge for decoupling, which breaks the link between energy usage and utility profits. Under the plan, utilities are guaranteed enough revenue to make a profit, no matter how much electricity customers use. If demand comes up short, customers would pay a higher rate to cover the shortfall. In a conventional rate scheme, the utility takes a loss when demand falls short.

"The last thing in the world I would think we want to do is do all these great energy-efficiency ideas and actually get people consuming less electricity and then not have their costs go down," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who failed to kill a measure that would give extra grant money to states that seek to implement a decoupling program.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., said that the public ultimately benefits if utilities no longer have to worry about whether energy efficiency will cause a drop in profits. In California, where decoupling has already been implemented, " they avoided having to build six to 10 new coal-fired plants in California, with the attendant costs of those new plants," he said.

Congress turned a deaf ear to utilities that worry that some $3.25 billion in government loans for the construction of new power lines in the Midwest and the West will shut out private investments. Edison International (EIX) and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a unit of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. ( BRKA BRKB), were among companies that had complained about the terms of funding for the Western Area Power Administration, or WAPA, whose power they fear would be significantly expanding.

The federal agency, which serves a 15-state area, has the power to seize private land - giving it a significant advantage over private companies that have to clear regulatory hurdles before they can site new power lines. Because it relies on federal appropriations, it has been strapped for money. The $3.25 billion in loans would ease its funding problems, freeing the agency up to speed ahead.

That angers private companies, who are getting no sympathy from Democrats, least of all House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. On Thursday, she appeared to bat down requests to ensure that private companies would have a role in transmission construction.

"The suggested change would allow private groups to indefinitely delay construction of transmission lines by WAPA by simply stating their intention to finance new construction, without providing a clear timeline," said a spokesman for Pelosi, Nadeam Elshami. "This would be detrimental to an economic boost intended by this provision, and would hinder the development of renewable energy resources."

By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654; Siobhan.Hughes@dowjones.com
(Brian Baskin contributed to this report.)

Agenda for : House Small Business and Economic Development January 21, 1:30 PM, Room 156D State House, Indianapolis

Chairman : Reske
Vice-Chair : Sullivan
Members :
(D) Blanton, Cheatham, Michael, Robertson, VanDenburgh.
(R) Murphy R.M.M., Clere, Dermody, Messmer, Yarde.

Hearing Agenda:
HB 1415 Tax deduction for solar powered roof vents and fans. (VanDenburgh)
HB 1271 Consignment of art. (Pelath)
HB 1397 Buy American tax credit. (Niezgodski)
HB 1025 Child and dependent care tax credit. (Day)

_____________________________________________________________________

Agenda for : House Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities January 22, 8:30 AM, Room 156C State House, Indianapolis

Chairman : Moses
Vice-Chair : Pierce
Members :
(D) Battles, Blanton, Dvorak, Reske, Stevenson.
(R) Lutz R.M.M., Behning, Frizzell, Koch, Soliday.

Hearing Agenda:
HB 1254 Energy savings contracts. (Thompson)
HB 1669 Geothermal conversion loans. (Michael)
______________________________________________________________________________

Agenda for : House Agriculture and Rural Development January 27, 8:30 AM, Room 156C State House, Indianapolis

Chairman : Pflum
Vice-Chair : Pearson
Members :
(D) Battles, Bischoff, Goodin, Grubb, Michael.
(R) Lehe R.M.M., Clements, Friend, Knollman, Lehman.

Hearing Agenda:
HB 1033 Livestock waste anaerobic digestion systems. (Grubb)
HB 1217 Corn market development council. (Pearson)
HB 1218 Grain indemnity fund. (Pearson)

Indiana Representative Pierce Introduces Feed Law Bill

January 16, 2009

By Paul Gipe , pgipe@igc.org

Representative Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) has introduced HB 1622, the Advanced Renewable Energy Tariffs Act, into the Indiana General Assembly. The bill received first reading January 16, 2009 and was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities. Representative Pierce is Vice Chair of the committee.

The Midwest has become a hot bed of activity around feed-in tariffs since the introduction of HB 5218, the Michigan Renewable Energy Sources Act, in the fall of 2007 by Representative Kathleen Law.

Following a presentation by Representative Law to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators in early 2008, bills were introduced into the Illinois and the Minnesota state assemblies. Representative David Bly has announced that he plans to reintroduce his bill into Minnesota's new legislative session. Illinois representatives have been preoccupied with the impeachment of Governor Blagojevich and it is uncertain whether the Illinois bill will be reintroduced.

Representative Pierce announced on September 10, 2008 at DePauw University that he intended to introduce a bill calling for a full system of Advanced Renewable Tariffs like those in Germany, France, and Spain into the next legislative session. Since that time Pierce was named Vice Chair of the relevant committee.

Indiana has effectively no renewable energy policy and only a fledgling renewable energy industry. Nevertheless, there is some wind energy development in the north of the state, all for export, and an Italian manufacturer of gearboxes for wind turbines plans to open a factory near Muncie, Indiana.

HB 1622 is patterned after the Michigan bill and like the Michigan bill is intended to spur job creation in a state suffering from the collapse of the auto industry, long a major employer.

• HB 1622
• Status HB 1622

Paul Gipe is an author and reknowned expert on wind energy. His biography and resume can be found at http://www.wind-works.org/bio.html.

Additional information on Feed Laws including Tables of Feed-In Tariffs Worldwide can be found at http://www.wind-works.org/articles/feed_laws.html

Contact Information: Paul Gipe, 208 South Green Street, #5, Tehachapi, CA 93561-1741, USA Phone: +1 661 325 9590 pgipe@igc.org