Washington (Platts)--29May2007

About 200 trade associations, businesses, utilities and environmental groups
are urging the Senate to pass this year a national renewable portfolio
standard that would require electric utilities to obtain a minimum percentage
of their power from low-emission domestic resources.

If Congress approves a new fuels standard that is significantly higher than
current usage, coal-fired utilities 9 and their suppliers 9 would face the
biggest impact. According to the Energy Information Administration, year to
date, coal accounted for 50.2% of electric power in the US; nuclear, 20.6%;
natural gas, 17.4%; petroleum, 2.2%; hydroelectric, 6.7%; and all others,
including renewables, 3.0%. 

In a letter to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff
Bingaman, the companies and advocates said that substantially increasing
renewable energy generation would enhance national security, help stabilize
energy prices and reduce pollution. Bingaman's office released a copy of the
letter Friday.

The letter, which was signed by Alliant Energy, BP America, GE, Google, Sempra
Energy, United Steelworkers and Wisconsin Power and Light among others, was
also sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Senate Republican
Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Senator Pete Domenici, the senior
Republican on the energy committee.

"We believe the time has come for Congress to move quickly to enact national
RPS legislation," the letter said. "The costs of inaction for our environment,
national security and economy are too high."

Bingaman earlier this week said he will offer RPS legislation as an amendment
to a massive energy efficiency bill Reid plans to bring before the full Senate
in early June. Bingaman's proposal would call for utilities to generate at
least 15% of their electricity sold at the retail level from renewable sources
by 2020. In 2005, a 10% RPS cleared the Senate but failed in the House. 

Already about 22 states have adopted their own renewable energy standards to
require electric utilities to generate a specific amount of power from wind,
solar, biomass and geothermal resources. But the group told lawmakers that the
US "will not realize the full potential for renewable electricity without the
adoption of a federal program to enhance the states' efforts."

--Cathy Cash, cathy_cash@platts.com