Washington — Gov. Bill Ritter urged Congress today to follow Colorado’s example and require utilities to produce a chunk of their electricity from wind power and other renewable sources, despite opposition to the idea from many outside the West.
The Colorado Democrat testified on Capitol Hill in support of legislation co-sponsored by Reps. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, and Diana DeGette, D-Denver, that would mandate electricity companies to produce 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.
The bill passed the House 220-190 this summer, but its fate remains uncertain after it was left out of a Senate energy package.
“There is great frustration among governors that there is not a federal policy that supports what states are doing,” Ritter told the House Select Committee on Renewable Energy and Global Warming. “A federal (standard) provides a more responsible energy future for our nation.”
Colorado was the first state to pass a renewable electricity standard, or RES, by voter initiative. State law now requires utilities to produce 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020, raising the question of how Colorado would benefit from a nearly identical federal mandate.
Ritter said a national standard would help the creation of regional grids to transport energy, as well as generate hundreds of jobs for researchers in the state searching for ways to maximize solar, geothermal, wind and other alternative sources of power.
Opponents of a federal mandate, however, contend that many states in the South and other regions of the country do not have enough renewable energy to get anywhere close to a 15 percent standard.
A senior vice president from the Southern Co., which operates utilities in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, testified after Ritter that the bill would increase costs for consumers dramatically and unfairly exempt government-owned utilities and rural cooperatives.
“The ‘one-size-fits-all’ renewable energy standard would penalize resource-poor regions and require the payment of billions of dollars to companies in other regions or more likely to the federal government,” said Chris M. Hobson of the Southern Co.
Hobson said this was true even though utilities in his region produce 15 percent of their electricity from nuclear power, which is not considered a form of renewable energy under the federal bill. He added that the legislation conflicts with existing standards in 24 states and the District of Columbia.
Environmental groups and other supporters of the bill counter that a national standard would combat global warming and save Americans thousands of dollars on their electricity bills by moving the country away from dependence on foreign oil.
The executive director of the Blue Green Alliance, Dave Foster, told the committee that the RES bill would create 185,000 new jobs in the renewable energy industry, based on a study from the environmental group the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Ritter also emphasized that Colorado’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, initially opposed standards in the state but became a supporter after reaching the renewable energy requirements faster than anticipated.
After his testimony, the governor participated in a panel on green energy, arguing that the federal government should step up efforts to invest in clean coal technology and slow down oil and gas drilling in the West.
Meanwhile, Congress geared up today to prepare negotiations on different energy bills in the House and Senate. Intense lobbying is expected from both sides.
Udall said he would push to ensure the electricity standard remained in any bill sent to President Bush’s desk. And Bill Wicker, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he was optimistic the provision would come out of a conference committee.
