NATIONAL NEWS
House Vote Results on SEP, WAP, Buildings FY'12
Appropriations
On July 12, 2011, the vote for an amendment to the FY'12 House Energy and
Water Development Appropriations Bill offered by Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY)
and Representative Charles Bass (R-NH) fell short resulting in 149 yea's to 273
no's. The impact of this vote means funding levels for FY'12 coming out of
the House are as follows:
- State Energy Program: $25 million
- Weatherization Assistance Program: $33 million
- Building Technologies Program: $150 million
The funding levels will be impacted by the separate budget deal under
negotiation between the President and Congressional leaders. In addition,
the Senate will need to take up FY'12 appropriations. It will be some time
before these issues are resolved. NASEO will provide more details on this
action and next steps in the coming days.
Maryland’s Woolf Featured on National Panel on
Demand Response and Smart Grid
NASEO Chair, Malcolm Woolf, Director of the Maryland Energy Administration,
participated on a panel of policymakers on Wednesday, July 13, 2011, at the
“National Town Meeting on Demand Response and Smart Grid,” in Washington, D.C.
The session drilled down on grid modernization from a policy perspective,
identified the existing and desired demand response and smart grid policies, and
the challenges ahead. Mr. Woolf expressed the need for stable government
signals and the importance of clear measurement of the benefits of energy
efficiency.
Other speakers focused on easing market barriers to encourage innovation,
educating consumers, enhancing price signals, and securing the grid from a
reliability and cyber standpoint. The panel included Cheryl LaFleur,
Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Wayne Gardner, Commissioner,
Pennsylvania Utilities Commission; Nick Sinai; Senior Advisor, White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy; Kevin Huyler, Senate Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources; and Chris Villarreal, Staff Lead, Smart Grid
Policy, Smart Grid Policy, California Public Utilities Commission. For
more information on this meeting, visit
http://www.smartgridtownmeeting.com/home/.
NASEO and ASERTTI Executive Director on Technology
Panel with Secretary Chu
NASEO Executive Director, David Terry, participated on a technology panel on
Wednesday, July 13, 2011, with U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu at
the DOE Quadrennial Technology Review Capstone Workshop, in Washington, D.C.
DOE is undergoing a review of its energy technology activities as recommended by
the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The energy
technology development and deployment programs of the DOE include the Advanced
Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) and the Offices of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil
Energy, and Nuclear Energy, which have a collective budget of $4.3 billion, and
the Office of Science.
The DOE–QTR Capstone Workshop provided a public opportunity for feedback to
DOE’s principles for the entry of a technology into the Department’s energy
technology research and development portfolio, the composition of activities
within that portfolio, and approaches to prioritization of R&D programs within
each of six strategies defined in the DOE’s framing document (available online
here: http://www.energy.gov/qtr/10091.htm). The strategies include:
vehicle efficiency, electrification and advanced fuels in the mobile sector; and
buildings and industry efficiency, grid, and clean electricity supply in the
stationary sector. The Capstone Workshop builds on a series of workshops
held on each of the strategies held between April and June of this year.
Visit the DOE’s QTR website for more information: http://www.energy.gov/qtr/.
Senator Murkowski Voices Support for Geothermal Energy
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, made the following comments on the
Geothermal Exploration and Technology Act (S. 1142) during a Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee hearing held this week. “Geothermal is one of
our most promising sources of renewable energy,” Murkowski said. “This bill will
spur investment in geothermal, further expanding its market share to allow the
United States to remain a world leader in development of geothermal technology.”
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee took steps to aid research to
expand geothermal energy production nationwide in both 2005 and 2007. This
year’s legislation seeks to further expand geothermal energy from the roughly
2.2 gigawatts produced today, to as much as 100 gigawatts of electricity, which
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has suggested is possible in coming
decades.
EPA Releases Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized additional Clean Air
Act protections last week that will slash hundreds of thousands of tons of
smokestack emissions. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
will protect communities that are home to 240 million Americans from smog and
soot pollution, preventing up to 34,000 premature deaths, 15,000 nonfatal heart
attacks, 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis, 400,000 cases of aggravated asthma,
and 1.8 million sick days a year beginning in 2014 – achieving up to $280
billion in annual health benefits. Twenty seven states in the eastern half of
the country will work with power plants to cut air pollution under the rule,
which leverages widely available, proven and cost-effective control
technologies. Ensuring flexibility, EPA will work with states to help develop
the most appropriate path forward to deliver significant reductions in harmful
emissions while minimizing costs for utilities and consumers.
STATE NEWS
Hawaii Energy Usage Bill Becomes Law
Maui Now
Governor Neil Abercrombie signed a bill into law that is intended to help
more homeowners and renters access and afford clean energy. Under House
Bill 1520, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is tasked with investigating
how an on-bill financing program could operate in Hawaii. The measure also
gives the PUC the discretion to implement such a program. On-bill
financing allows an electric utility company customer to purchase a renewable
energy system or device on their electric bill and pay for it over time through
energy savings. The governor said he supports the program because of the
potential to advance clean energy goals and creating green jobs.
Kansas Governor Signs Ethanol Incentive Fund Bill
High Plains/Midwest AG Journal
The Kansas Association of Ethanol Processors commends Gov. Sam Brownback for
signing HB 2122, the ethanol incentive fund bill that passed the state
legislature this session, and continuing to be a champion for ethanol production
in Kansas. The $3.5 million-per-year program provides a seven-year payment
of $.035 per gallon (up to 15 million gallons) to grain-based ethanol plants
that are in existence by 2012, as well allows new cellulosic ethanol production
plants to participate in the program.
North Carolina Governor Creates Offshore Wind Task Force
Offshore Wind Wire
North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue issued an executive order on June 30
creating the “Offshore Wind Economic Development Task Force.” The
executive order was issued in conjunction with the Governor’s veto of Senate
Bill 709, which would have promoted offshore oil and gas as well as land-based
gas “fracking”. In a statement, Governor Perdue stated that she was
“completely committed to North Carolina’s energy policy of developing jobs that
foster America’s energy independence.” The executive order creates a
15-member task force with a chair appointed by the governor. The duties of the
Task Force include studying the benefits of the state establishing a non-binding
goal of developing 5,000 MW of offshore wind energy generation by 2030,
examining the laws in North Carolina and other states to determine what policy
framework is needed to support the offshore wind industry, and creating
guidelines on viable areas for offshore wind facilities. The Task Force is to
report their findings and recommendations to the Governor by March 31, 2012.
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