Kirkpatrick introduces renewable energy bill

Kirkpatrick introduces renewable energy bill for Arizona

By: Mike Leiby, The Independent
10/16/2009

SHOW LOW - Arizona's District 1 Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick has introduced a bill she says will help renewable energy grow in the state.

Her announcement came on the heels of the dedication of the Dry Lake Wind Power Project last Monday. Kirkpatrick said her bill, The Renewable Energy Capital Initiative (H.R. 3722) would free up access to investment capital so more renewable energy efforts in the state will be able to get through red tape in a more timely manner than in the past.
She noted a situation in 2001 involving Arizona's Southwest Development Fund. Although the company filed paperwork to become a new market venture capital company before the deadline and received conditional approval that year, final approval did not come until after the agency's deadline and the company never took off, meaning a loss of revenue and jobs for the state.
In an Oct. 14 press release from Kirkpatrick's office, staff said the congresswoman "is working hard to help (small businesses) during the downturn and has introduced a bill to make it easier for them to access investment capital."
H.R. 3722 would reform two critical Small Business Administration programs to more efficiently serve entrepreneurs.
In an interview with The Independent, Kirkpatrick explained how the bill would work and why she introduced it. She said the bill does not really translate to the smaller "mom and pop" businesses. Rather, it is geared more towards companies interested in Arizona for its renewable wind and solar energy potential. The bill would make it a little easier for those companies to access investment capital and get up and running.
"What we are trying to do is provide incentives for clean renewable energy technology businesses and what this (H.R. 3722) does is it just streamlines the application process," Kirkpatrick said.
By streamlining that process and hopefully attracting more renewable energy technology businesses to the state, she hopes it will benefit low-income areas through both added revenue and jobs. She referenced the example of the company that in 2001 could not get final approval before it was too late as a prime example of lost potential for the economy and renewable energy in Arizona. That particular incident is what spurred her to introduce the bill.
"When I heard about that, I said, 'How do we streamline this? How do we cut the red tape, the bureaucracy so that we can get these grants to private small businesses in low-income areas and encourage the development where we need it the most?'
"That is it. It is not very glamorous, it is pretty practical," Kirkpatrick noted.
"You know my top priority is bringing jobs to the area, one of my core values is a diversified, sustainable economy in rural Arizona," she said.
"Small businesses are the economic engine, and I really think that it is going to be the small businesses that pull us out of this recession, not government."

*Reach the reporter at mleiby@wmicentral.com