Washington – Gov. Bill Ritter urged Congress on Thursday to follow Colorado’s lead and require utilities to produce a chunk of their electricity from renewable sources, despite opposition to the idea from many outside the West.
The Colorado Democrat testified in support of legislation co- sponsored by Democratic Reps. Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs and Diana DeGette of Denver that would mandate that electricity companies produce at least 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.
The bill, which supporters say would help combat global warming, 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.
Ritter said a national standard would help the creation of regional grids to transport energy, as well as generate jobs in Colorado for researchers searching for ways to maximize solar, geothermal and other alternative sources of power.
Opponents of a federal mandate, however, contend that many states in the coal-rich South and elsewhere do not have enough renewable energy to meet a national 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 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 to the federal government,” said Chris 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 renewable under the federal bill.
Supporters of the bill counter that a national standard would save Americans thousands of dollars on their electricity bills by moving the country away from dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gases.
“Right now, the combustion of fossil fuels like coal produce the majority of U.S. electricity,” said Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, chairman of the committee. “Adopting a national renewable electricity standard would be a critical step forward in reducing our global warming pollution.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers are readying for negotiations on different energy bills in the House and Senate.
Udall said he would push to ensure the electricity standard remained in any bill sent to President Bush. And Bill Wicker, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he was optimistic the provision would come out of a conference committee.
