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SEDONA, Arizona, US, June 21, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
Governors from the western U.S. states want a
ten-year production tax credit for all renewable energy
technologies, with complementary polices for consumer-owned
utilities and native tribes.
The Western Governors Association adopted recommendations during
their annual meeting which originated with their Clean & Diversified
Energy Advisory Committee, which had recommended that 30,000 MW of
clean energy be developed by 2015. Other suggestions were that
energy efficiency be increased 20% by 2020.
The governors identified a number of federal policies and
legislation that were needed, including a long-term ten-year
extension of the production tax credit for all renewable energy
technologies, with complementary polices for consumer-owned
utilities and tribes. They want the cap raised on the residential
investment tax credit to US$10,000 for renewable energy or
distributed generation systems, and tax credits for energy
efficiency investments, improvements in national appliance
efficiency standards and adequate funding for state programs on
clean power generation.
The resolution was based on a 18-month consultation that involved
250 officials, and was brought forward by governors Janet Napolitano
of Arizona, Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Dave Freudenthal of
Wyoming, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Arnold Schwarzenegger of
California, who proposed the initiative two years ago.
“We are grateful to all those who dedicated so much time to this
remarkable effort and worked hard to find common ground,” says
Napolitano, chair of the WGA. “The western governors believe the
actions identified will help protect our region from energy
shortages and price spikes, improve the balance of energy resources
used to produce electricity, encourage more energy-efficient
practices, and mitigate the environmental impacts of power
generation.”
On green fuels, the governors said the U.S. must reverse its
“over-dependence on volatile foreign oil supplies” and called for an
expansion of economic opportunities through the production and
distribution of domestic renewable fuels to all regions of the west,
and promotion of higher renewable content blends in existing
transportation fuels.
The CDEAC committee “believes this report offers the Western
Governors a host of viable options for increasing the amount of
energy efficiency and the construction of clean energy facilities in
the west.” It was created in 2004 when the governors and directed to
assess “promising new resources and technologies” and the obstacles
to access for clean energy resources.
“While future energy demand is dependent on many factors, it is
certain that the west will require more capacity in 2015; an
examination of utility integrated resource plans and state
requirements for renewable portfolio standards (without accounting
for all the potential gains in energy efficiency) shows nameplate
capacity may increase from 319,500 MW in 2004 to 363,000 MW in 2015
and to 400,000 MW in 2020,” and the increase over 15 years could be
as high as 80,000 MW. “The magnitude of projected increases
underscores the need to simultaneously pursue aggressive
implementation of energy efficiency measures and to develop cleaner,
more efficient energy generation.”
States should consider establishment of “state-based incentive
programs to promote the development of energy efficiency,
conservation and clean energy technologies including, but not
limited to, production incentives and clean energy bonds,” and
consider the provision of property and sales tax incentives and
credits for clean energy developments. They should facilitate
investments in clean distributed generation by developing net
metering, interconnection standards and time-of-use rate structures,
and “develop a methodology that fairly and fully evaluates the net
non-energy benefits of all clean energy technologies, particularly
bioenergy projects.”
Governments should support “well-designed comprehensive integrated
resource planning and procurement rules that weigh the full costs,
benefits and risks (including environmental) of various resource
options for public and investor-owned utilities,” and provide
regulatory incentives such as full and accelerated cost-recovery for
emerging clean energy technologies. They should also “evaluate and
develop appropriate incentives/policies that recognize the
non-energy benefits of renewable energy projects” and, if utilities
provide supplemental support to a renewables project, they should
receive full cost recovery for such activities.
The Western Governors’ Association represents the governors of 19
states and three U.S. islands in the Pacific.
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