Bingaman Renewables Bill Needs Strengthening to Realize Clean Energy Development Potential, Science Group Says

Stronger Bill Would Create Jobs and Lay Foundation for an Affordable, Cleaner, More Reliable Energy System

February 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) today will hold the first in a series of hearings on a proposed renewable electricity standard. According to a preliminary analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Sen. Bingaman's proposed standard, which would require utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2021, does not go far enough to realize the nation's potential for renewable energy generation.

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"Senator Bingaman has been a great champion of renewable energy," said Alan Nogee, UCS Clean Energy Program director. "But this bill has not kept pace with the rising demand by the public and states for renewable energy, and with the ability of the renewable energy industries to deliver more of the clean, low-cost renewable energy that America needs."

Since 2007, the last time the Senate considered a renewable electricity standard, new state laws have increased the amount of renewable energy required by state standards by more than 25 percent, Nogee noted. "With all the bill's exceptions and opt-outs, it could take until 2019 before there is more renewable energy generation than what the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts would happen under business as usual," he said.

The Bingaman bill, for example, would exempt small- and medium-sized electric utilities from meeting the standard. In addition, the bill would allow utilities to meet as much as 25 percent of their requirement through potentially meaningless energy efficiency credits.

"While increasing energy efficiency is critical for meeting our energy needs and reducing the effects of global warming, this bill could result in absolutely no additional renewable energy or energy efficiency," said Nogee. "Renewable energy and energy efficiency deserve separate policies that support their deployment."

Meanwhile, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Todd Platts (R-Penn.) last week introduced a 25-percent-by-2025 renewable electricity standard that would add 135 percent more clean, renewable power in the United States above and beyond current state and federal policies, according to a preliminary UCS analysis. UCS calculates that the Markey-Platts standard would create enough clean electricity to power some 150 million typical homes by 2025. President Obama endorsed a 25-percent-by-2025 standard during his campaign.

"Studies by both the Department of Energy and UCS show that the 25 percent target is not only achievable, but can lower consumers' energy bills and create jobs," Nogee said. A 2007 study by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) concluded that consumers would save $2 billion on cumulative electricity and natural gas bills from 2009 to 2030 under a 25-percent-by-2025 standard, which would reduce power plant global warming pollution by 22 percent—or 724 million metric tons—by 2030. UCS studies using EIA's computer model project even greater savings, and the creation of 120,000 new green collar jobs.

Excluding existing hydroelectric power, renewable energy currently accounts for only 2.5 percent of the nation's electricity output. But the potential is there: The Department of Energy concluded last year that wind power alone could generate 20 percent of the nation's electricity by 2030.

"EIA and UCS studies have found that consumers in every region—including the Southeast—would save money with a national standard," said Nogee. "Southeast utilities have been misleading the public by claiming that a national standard would hurt their region."

According to a UCS analysis, an aggressive national requirement would bolster the Southeast's economy by encouraging the region to develop its local energy sources and reduce the amount of money it spends on importing coal and nuclear fuel from elsewhere. In 2006 alone, Southeastern states spent $10.7 billion on coal imports, up 47 percent from 2005. The region sent 10 percent, or a little more than $1 billion, of those dollars to buy coal from Venezuela, Colombia, Indonesia and Poland. A national renewable standard would keep money in the local economy by generating revenue for Southeastern landowners who produce switchgrass, forestry residues or other bioenergy sources. Additionally, EIA and UCS studies have found that a national standard would reduce the price of natural gas for utilities and consumers in the Southeast and nationally.

In the coming weeks, UCS will release a more comprehensive analysis of a 25-by-2025 requirement that will include additional data on the effects of the national standard on consumer energy bills, job creation, economic development, and global warming emissions. Since the 1990s, the organization has been a leader in designing state and federal renewable energy standards and analyzing their benefits. UCS' RES Toolkit, for example, provides comprehensive information on each state renewable electricity standard. For the RES Toolkit, go to: www.ucsusa.org/res.

Source: UCS