American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 Adds Amendment Supporting State Adoption of Feed-In Tariffs

Among amendments added to the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) of 2009, H.R. 2454, yesterday is important legislation for the solar power industry.  Yesterday’s votes at the House Energy and Commerce Committee markup of global warming and energy legislation included an amendment passed which ”gives states the ability to adopt 'feed-in tariffs' for renewables.”  This amendment was added by Kathy Castor (D-Fla.).  Florida is ahead of the curve with its adoption of a feed-in tariff program in Gainesville, through the Gainesville Regional Utilities, known as GRU.  GRU is the 5th largest municipal electric utility in Florida.

ACES, a combined energy and climate bill, was released by Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in May.  A summary of the legislation from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce web site can be found here.

The Wikipedia entry on Feed-In Tariffs gives this definition “an incentive structure to encourage the adoption of renewable energy through government legislation. The regional or national electricity utilities are obligated to buy renewable electricity (electricity generated from renewable sources, such as solar photovoltaics, wind power, biomass, hydropower and geothermal power) at above-market rates set by the government.”

More from Wikipedia, “The German federally managed program that has proven to be the world's most effective practice for boosting adoption of renewable energy technologies. Feed-In Tariffs (REFIT) have been associated with a large growth in solar power in Spain, Germany and wind power in Denmark. These countries now boast the supply of 9%, 5% and 20% of their electricity respectively. These systems involve fixed payments that are guaranteed in the long term; 20 years in the cases of Spain and Germany.”

For points of view on the ACES, here are a few resources:

Solar Energy Industries Association Improvements to the ACES, pdf summary.

Alliance to Save Energy, offers an energy efficiency perspective. From their website, “This legislation represents our first real chance for a national carbon reduction plan in the United States.”

IEEE, the world's leading professional association for the advancement of technology, is conducting its first ever Energy Fly-In to Washington, DC June 15-16.  A review of their energy policy’s can be found here.  From their website, “Energy underlies and connects three converging challenges that face the United States in the early 21st century: security, prosperity, and the environment.  To address these issues, President Barack Obama and Congress have vowed to make energy issues a priority this year.”

Related information:
Tracking of the bill can be found at OpenCongress.org.

Testimony on the bill can be found at the National Resources Defense Fund site.

Projected Senate and House Votes on 2009 Climate Legislation information can be found on E2.org site.