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Archive for the ‘Renewables’ Category

Renewable Energy Bill Passes Senate

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2009 |

Yesterday afternoon the Texas Senate passed through SB 541, a bill authored by Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) to create a non-wind renewable portfolio standard.  If passed through the House, SB 541 would put Texas on course to have 1500 MW of renewable energy from non-wind sources such as solar, geothermal, and biomass.

If you follow us on Twitter, of course this is old news to you.  Public Citizen Texas has been using our Twitter feed to keep folks updated on breaking legislative news and votes, as well as to share interesting news articles and blog posts. Check it out:sb541twitter

If this sounds appealing to you, why not give us a follow?  We promise not to tweet your ear off.

Thanks to Senator Watson’s SB 541, Texas could become a national leader in solar energy just as are in the wind industry. Along with Senator Fraser’s 545, which will provide $500 million in solar incentives over the next 5 years, SB 541 will ensure that incentives are provided for both the large, utility scale solar and small-scale distributed solar that Texas needs.

While we would have preferred a larger renewable portfolio standard, Public Citizen is delighted that this bill has passed the Texas Senate.  This is a major step forward for Texans that will create tens of thousands of new clean green jobs within the state and lead to lower electric bills by hedging against the price of natural gas.

Hopefully the Texas House will see the light on solar power and pass an even stronger set of renewable energy goals that will make the grass grow greener, our air cleaner, and the green economy stronger.

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Go Solar: Make Utilities Give Consumers a Fair Price for Surplus Electricity

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 11, 2009 |

Sun MoneyThanks to Luke Metzger at the Environment Texas blog for this take on pending net metering legislation (read: making sure folks with solar panels get paid back for the excess energy they produce):

On Monday, the Texas House will decide whether to promote solar energy by requiring utilities to pay consumers fair prices for surplus solar power or to codify anti-consumer practices in order to benefit big utilities like TXU. Here’s the story.

Sick of riding the rollercoaster of high electric rates and concerned over pollution and dependence on foreign oil, many Texans are turning to solar power to get more choices than their electric company provides. More than 40 states help consumers do this by requiring electric companies to pay a fair price for the surplus electricity solar panels put back on the grid (known as net metering). In return, the electric grid benefits from a supply of pollution-free electricity during peak-demand time periods, such as hot summer afternoons, avoiding congestion costs and dampening real-time on-peak wholesale energy prices. The more renewable generation that is located at customer’s houses and businesses, the less will need to be charged in the future to all customers’ electric bills for wires, fuel and pollution costs. Incentivizing solar will also help create jobs and attract manufacturers to the state.

In addition to consumer rebates and tax credits, net metering is a key financial driver making solar power a cost-effective investment for consumers. Texas had such a policy in place in the 1980s, but with the restructuring of the electric market, old definitions of electric utilities no longer applied and net metering was inadvertently ended. (more…)

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ReEnergize Texas Interviews Texas US Senate Front Runners

Posted in Global Warming, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 5, 2009 |

Looks like our friends over at ReEnergize Texas have scored a couple interviews with two 2010 Senate race hopefuls, Democratic Mayor of Houston Bill White and Republican Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams.

Trevor Lovell, Statewide Director for ReEnergize Texas, reports:

We are not joining the throng of cable news reporters more concerned with the 2010 election than with fixing the country in the meantime. But we did score big with two interviews that could help shape the midterm US Senate race here in Texas.

The US Senate race in Texas has a slightly funny story. Longtime US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is expected to step down and throw her hat in the ring to become the next Texas Governor. The spot she may vacate (but has not yet vacated) is already being contested by a number of potential candidates, the most notable being John Sharp and Bill White on the Democratic side, and Michael Williams and Florence Shapiro on the Republican side.

Check ’em out:

[vimeo 4482130]

[vimeo 4127055]

[vimeo 4124878]

Read on for Lovell’s analysis of the interviews! (more…)

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Texas Observer’s Rundown of “the Chosen” Environmental Bills

Posted in Coal, Efficiency, Energy, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2009 |

I’m going to cross-post the following article from the Texas Observer’s Floor Pass blog whole hog, because it is just that good.  Look for Smitty’s quote in bold, and hold on to your hat 🙂

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Chosen Ones

posted by Susan Peterson at 03:12 PM

There’s a lot to celebrate this Earth Day when it comes to the Texas Legislature. Republicans in both chambers are carrying environmental legislation – if for no other reason than to stick it to the feds before the feds, under President Obama and a Democratic Congress, begin regulating the environment themselves. And Speaker Joe Straus has been a boon to environmental bills, as well, since he’s actually letting the legislators run the show in the House, unlike his predecessor.

The upshot? More good environmental bills and fewer bad ones.

Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, says there are just two main bad bills this session. Both would both speed up the permitting process for power plants. Rep. Dan Flynn’s HB 2721, which is being heard today in Environmental Regulation, would speed it up for nuclear plants. The other bad bill, Rep. Randy Weber’s HB 4012, would fast-track permitting for coal power plants.

And I know it’s unlike us to report good news, but Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen in Texas, says he is “suffering from a crisis of abundance” when it comes to all the worthwhile environmental bills this session.

“There are more good bills in the lege session than I can keep up with,” Smitty says. “It is reminiscent of the 1991 legislative session when Ann Richards was elected and there was a wave of reform. This is the best session I’ve had in 18 years.”

Hot damn!

But which of these good bills actually have a chance? Read about them after the jump.

(more…)

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Happy Earth Day Op-Ed

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2009 |

earthdayFor your Earth Day enjoyment, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, and Environmental Defense have written a joint Op-Ed that has been published in both the Austin American Statesman & the Houston Chronicle.  So on this day of celebration, Let’s Begin a Better Future Now and Enact Energy Laws to Clear Air, Create Jobs!

Check it out:

Texas citizens get it.

More of us than ever are mindful of switching off lights, weatherizing our homes and doing all that we can to save energy. State legislators can get it too. This session, they have an opportunity and responsibility to save us even more money on our electricity bills, create thousands of green jobs and reduce pollution across the state. Our representatives now have less than six weeks to pass the best of nearly 100 bills that have been introduced on clean power and green jobs. These energy efficiency and renewable energy bills set the stage for rebuilding, repowering and renewing our state’s economy during tough times. They will build a sustainable future for Texas.

The energy efficiency bills contain plans for helping Texas families by creating jobs while reducing consumption of electricity in our homes and buildings. When our homes and buildings are well-insulated and our appliances more efficient, we don’t need to burn wasteful and damaging amounts of dirty fossil fuels for electricity.

An additional benefit to creating Texas’ new clean energy economy is that we can clean up our air and address climate change at the same time. As we provide new jobs installing clean energy technologies, we can decrease the public health risks and costs associated with the impacts of burning coal. (more…)

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We’ve got our first solar bill!

Posted in Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , on April 21, 2009 |

creepy-baby-sunFraser’s solar bill, SB 545, just passed out of the Senate floor with a vote of 26 to 4.

SB 545 will:

  • Build our emerging renewable technologies
  • Create jobs
  • Lower electric costs in the long term
  • Reduce pollution
  • Assure fair prices for excess electricity generated by distributive renewable energy sources; and
  • Allow new home buyers to have a solar option.

More specifically, the bill provides $500 million over the next 5 years in solar incentives.  The PUC will also have an option of extending the program.

A few good amendments also got tacked on at the 11th hour, so now the bill also contains:

  • net metering language, so that folks with solar panels on their homes will be able to sell power back into the grid at a fair rate
  • an amendment so that Home Owner’s Associations won’t be able to prevent people from putting solar panels on their homes unless the HOA can prove it is dangerous
  • a website requirement so that PUC will have to provide information to the public on solar incentives and subsidies available
  • a requirement that electrical coops and munis have to adopt a similar solar program and report back to the lege in 3 years to prove they’ve done their homework

Now all we need to get solar panels on your house… is to get a companion bill through the House 🙂

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Texas Solar is Famous

Posted in Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2009 |

Texas solar is all kinds of famous.  Whether it is in print papers, the New York Times green blog, classified ads, the nightly news, Mic SoL-o’s sweet rhymes, or Public Citizen staffers with too much time on their hands and a taste for the spotlight… solar is all over the place!

But wait, there’s more.  Along with Environmental Defense Fund and Environment Texas, we’ve just launched an ad campaign aimed at getting the Texas Legislature to support measures to make Texas a world solar leader. The commercials will run for a week in the Abilene, Dallas/Fort Worth, Tyler/Longview, and Wichita Falls viewing areas and call on the Legislature to support incentives to install solar panels on the equivalent of a half-million Texas rooftops by 2020.

Check it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynmERFZzHLg]

So far more than 80 bills have been filed by a bi-partisan group of legislators to promote solar power and other renewable energy technologies, including:

  • SB 545 (Fraser), which creates a statewide rebate program which would fund the installation of up to 500 megawatts of solar by 2015.  SB 5454 has passed the Senate Business and Commerce committee and is expected to be voted on by the full Senate next week.
  • SB 541 (Watson), which requires the development of 3000 megawatts of solar, geothermal and biomass energy by 2020.  SB 541 is pending in the Senate Business and Commerce committee.
  • HB 3405 (Swinford), which creates a statewide rebate program that would fund the installation of 3000 megawatts of solar by 2020.  HB 3405 is pending in the House Energy Resources committee.

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Solar Ads on TV! Stay tuned…

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , on April 16, 2009 |

Coming soon, more information about our TV commercials that will air soon to promote solar (there are lots of good solar bills at the Lege) brought to you by Public Citizen, Environment Texas, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

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Pedernales Public Hearing Tomorrow at Noon: Let ‘Em Hear from Ya

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Good Government, Renewables, tagged , , , , , on April 3, 2009 |

Do you, Pedernales Electric Coop member, want to save money on your electric bills?  World class energy efficiency programs? Solar Panels on your roof? Shape the future of PEC?

Let your voice be heard!

A public hearing on a proposal to adopt energy efficiency and smart grid policies will be held tomorrow in Johnson City.  If you’re a PEC member, this is your chance to weigh in on the standards PEC will adopt that will guide their energy efficiency and conservation policy in the future.

When: Noon, April 4, 2009

Where: Pedernales E. Babe Smith Headquarters, 201 South Avenue F, Johnson City, TX

What’s all this about anyway:

Congress passed a bill in 2007 (the Energy Independence and Security Security Act, or EISA) that included a requirement for all electric coops to consider adopting standards that would make information sharing, energy efficiency and conservation coop priorities.

If adopted, these standards would make it easier for Pedernales to offer energy efficiency programs and develop a “smart grid” which is crucial to develop small-scale renewables like solar panels on your rooftop.

PEC has a draft proposal on the table which modifies the federal standard. They want the public to comment on it and offer suggestions. So…

Now’s your chance! Show up to the meeting or submit written comments.  Tell PEC you want them to:

  • Develop a plan for meeting the PEC’s 30% renewable and 20% efficiency goals by 2020.
  • Create a sweries of innovative retrofit programs that have a goal of saving 20% or more of the energy used in each structure by 2020.
  • Give builders incentives to make new buildings as efficient as possible, and to add on site renewable energy.
  • Create solar and small wind incentives to help the coop and their customers meet 30% of the energy they consume with renewables by 2020.
  • Create a loan or lease program to help members afford these retrofits.
  • Give members information on the pollution produced by the power they consume.

To find out more visit www.cleanenergyfortexas.org.  There you will find a bunch of information, including our initial comments on all the good stuff above. Here is the link to PEC’s draft proposal too.

A group of like-minded folks will gather outside the building around 11:30.

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We’ve hit the big Times

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2009 |

imagesGood mooooooorning Texas!  Just woke up, haven’t even gotten out of my pajamas or had my coffee (okay, I’m running a little late), but I couldn’t wait a moment longer to spread the good news.  We’ve hit the big Times.

Yes, that Times.  The New York Times.

Check out the following post from Kate Galbraith at the New York Times Green, Inc blog.  Look for cameos by our very own David Power, Rep. Mark Strama, and the Austin Solar Plant.

TEXAS AIMS FOR SOLAR DOMINANCE

The Lone Star State leads the country in wind-power. Now Texas aims to ramp up its solar production too.

This week the state senate is considering an avalanche of bills that would boost state incentives for solar power, and the entire legislative session has become known as the “solar session.”

Altogether, according to David Power, the deputy director of Public Citizen Texas, a consumer and environmental advocacy group, there are 69 renewable energy bills before the legislature, and over 50 of them promote solar power – far more than ever before.

“There are senators and representatives that are talking about solar that have never mentioned the word probably in their lives,” he said. “We’ve actually heard the term ‘global warming,’ and two years ago that was called ‘the G word’ – you didn’t talk about it.”

Mark Strama, a state representative who is a leading promoter of renewable energy, has introduced at least five green bills this year (including a measure that would allow local governments to create a property tax financing program for solar, along the lines of several California cities).

“It just seems like everybody recognizes our leadership in wind, and that government policy got us where we are today in wind,” he told me last month.

In solar, he added, “We need to catch up.”

Some businesses, concerned about higher energy prices, urge caution.

“The state should avoid picking economic winners and losers in our economy through subsidizing solar – or any energy source – at the expense of the residential, commercial and industrial consumers who contribute significantly to the Texas economy,” said Luke Bellsynder, the executive director of the Texas Association of Manufacturers, in an e-mail message.

He also said, however, that his group supported incentives and tax abatements for solar, and broadening the state’s energy portfolio.

Earlier this month, the city of Austin, which is aggressively pursuing renewable power, unanimously gave a go-ahead to a private company to build the largest photovoltaic plant in the country, so that the local utility, Austin Energy, can buy the electricity produced.

However, the city met fierce opposition from struggling local technology firms and other groups, who complained about the prospect of higher electric bills.

 

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Make Every Day Solar Day in Texas

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , on March 23, 2009 |

txsunsetHey folks, tomorrow a whole host of solar bills are going into be heard in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.  Our friends over at Environment Texas have a petition up where you can show legislators your support for solar.  The sun’s setting on this petition, so sign up today!

From the horse’s mouth, here’s the email from Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas.  Poetic, ain’t it?

With the first day of spring upon us, we’re already experiencing the warmth and life that the Texas sun provides.

For the first time, the Legislature is taking a serious look at using the sun to solve our energy problems by investing in solar power. With the right support, Texas could become a world leader in solar power, helping protect our environment and putting people back to work in good green jobs.

We can make it happen, but we need your help. Please sign our petition asking the Legislature to Go Solar!

Decisions made by policy makers in the next year will determine whether Texas can ride the solar wave, capturing the vast potential of solar power for our state. Texas has the best solar potential in the nation and we could power the entire state many times over with our abundant sunshine.

Texas should spur the development of solar power within the state by creating rebates and incentives to make it easier for homeowners and businesses to install solar on their rooftop, investing in solar for schools and large-scale solar farms, requiring utilities to pay consumers a fair price for surplus electricity generated, and prohibiting homeowners associations from blocking solar.

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E.P.A. Proposes Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Posted in Consumers, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 15, 2009 |

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The first step towards greenhouse gas regulation is underway! On Wednesday, the EPA proposed a rule that industries measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions. The rule would apply to 13,000 facilities nationwide, including manufacturers of chemicals, oil, cement, iron and steal, automobiles, electricity generation, and more! Green Inc reports that this will cover 85%-90% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and not just carbon dioxide emissions. The reports will also include emission amounts of those other things we hate to inhale, such as methane, hydrofluorcarbons, and nitrous oxide.

If put into action, emissions tracking will begin in 2010 for reports to release in 2011. Of course, this program would cost a significant amount of cash—$160 million in the first year and then $127 million each year thereafter.

The reports will allow us to pinpoint exactly how much greenhouse gas is released into the atmosphere, and from where. Though some firms are already participating in voluntary reporting, this kind of industry-wide reports will provide comparative analysis. With such detailed (and presumably accurate) information, we will also be in a better position to make informed decisions about how emission regulation should be formulated.

CNNMoney.com also reported that this information could be important to investors. For those ill-prepared companies, emission regulation could drastically affect their earnings.

Mindy Lubber, the Director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk stated:

The SEC needs to protect investors from the risks companies face from climate change, whether from direct physical impacts or new regulations. Shareholders deserve to know if their portfolio companies are well positioned to manage climate risks or whether they face potential exposure.

Public release of information would be a powerful tool to prepare companies, especially those that are energy-intensive, to be held accountable for their energy emissions. Or a good kick in the pants to take the next step to become ecologically conscious!

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Wildcatting the Sun – Solar Energy and You!

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 12, 2009 |

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dfv2yoCtjU]

Ever wondered why Texas should invest in solar energy?  Ever wanted it explained to you in 5 minutes in a way reminiscent of a 1940s newsreel?  Or just tired of The Sham-wow Song and want a new viral video to watch?

Written, produced, and starring members of the Public Citizen Texas staff, “Wildcatting the Sun” talks about Texas’ solar potential, the green jobs that would come to Texas from investing in solar now, and how solar can replace dirty coal and expensive nuclear.

This video was produced as part of Environment Texas’s solar video contest.  You can see all of the other submissions here.

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Texas House: Green Jobs Bill Hearing

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2009 |

The House Technology, Economic Development and Workforce Committee met today to discuss HB 516, a bill to establish and fund a green job skills training program under the Texas Workforce Commission.  Representative Mark Strama (D-Austin) authored the bill, which specifies green jobs as being “jobs in the field of renewable energy or energy efficiency.” These include jobs in energy efficient building, construction, and retrofitting, renewable electric power, biofuels, deconstruction and reuse of materials, energy efficiency assessments, manufacturing of sustainable products, and manufacturing using sustainable processes and materials. Considering the fact that Texas unemployment rate has hit a 19-year high and is home to an increasingly environmentally-conscious public, creating green jobs simply makes sense.  Austin City Council’s recent approval and the public’s support of the Webberville solar plant shows that there is local a push for a greener economy. The fact that $43 billion of the recently passed stimulus package is slated towards energy, especially green energy, speaks volumes about what direction the country would like to go towards its use of energy. If the bill does pass, federal funding will be the principal source of money. (more…)

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Austin City Council Votes for Nation’s Largest Photovoltaic Array

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 5, 2009 |

2_18_09partyThis afternoon the Austin City Council moved unanimously to approve Item 16 on the agenda, the purchasing power agreement with Gemini Solar Development Company to build a 30 MW solar plant at the Webberville tract.  That means that by the end of 2011, Austin should be the proud home of the nation’s largest utility scale photovoltaic installation.  This is a tremendous milestone for both the City and Austin Energy that will set us up as a leader in solar energy, create jobs, attract industry, and protect our citizens from volatile future energy prices while curbing our global warming emissions.

Lee Leffingwell made the motion to approve item 16 with three additional recommendations.  The first direction was to include a provision that any federal stimulus funds, rebates, or incentives recovered would be passed on to Austin, rather than kept by Gemini.  The second was to create a new task force to review future energy projects.  The task force, he promised, would consist of diverse stakeholders and not be weighted in terms of energy usage.  This is an important point, as several representatives from the city’s large scale industrial users such as Spansion and the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) specifically requested that future stakeholder meetings be based upon the size of user consumption– meaning that in future energy projects, city council dialogue would be dominated even more than ever by large industrials.  As David Power, Public Citizen’s Deputy Director, testified, that sounds a little too much like, “for every dollar I spend, I get a vote.”  Cheers to Lee Leffingwell for insisting on a more inclusive process.

The third and final additional direction was, as expected, to roll the power purchase agreement into Green Choice, so that citizens would be able to voluntarily opt into a program to buy solar power at a locked-in price. Councilman Mike Martinez stated that he would be more than happy to be the first person to sign up for such a program, except that Leffingwell already called “shotgun” on that distinction.

Council members Sheryl Cole, Laura Morrison, and Randi Shade all made additional comments in support of the plant, stating that this was a tough decision to make in hard economic times but that this solar plant, far from a luxury item, was an important element of Austin’s long term energy goals.

The Austin City Council has earned Public Citizen’s most heartfelt appreciation for proving itself, once again, a renewable energy leader.  We especially respect the time and effort that the Council and its staff put into this contentious process, and look forward to working with them on future projects.

We also encourage Austinites to express their thanks to the Mayor and City Council for approving this historic first step towards our renewable energy future.

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