LETTER FROM WIND

…Renewable power advocates press lawmakers for mandate…
Darren Goode and Ben Geman, September 13, 2010 (The Hill)

"With lawmakers returning to Capitol Hill this week, pro-wind governors are ramping up pressure on Senate leaders to include a federal renewable power mandate in energy legislation this year, part of a broader push by advocates to win political traction for the long-sought standard in the closing weeks of the 111th Congress.

"The bipartisan Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition…[sent a letter] to Senate Democratic and Republican leaders touting a renewable electricity standard, or RES, as an economic jolt that will help the U.S. regain the ground lost to Europe, China and India in growing renewable energy markets…An RES would require many utilities to supply growing amounts of power from sources like wind, solar and biomass power over the next decade…"

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[Letter from the Governors Wind Coalition to the Senate:] “A strong RES is the most economically-efficient way to advance clean domestic energy and immediately create jobs in renewable energy manufacturing, construction of new projects and associated transmission, and ongoing operation and maintenance of these facilities…”

[Letter from the Governors Wind Coalition to the Senate:] “We wish to work with you and with the Administration to help shape federal energy legislation this year. The economic stakes are high for our states, and we see a narrow window of opportunity for Congress to enact a long overdue reworking of federal laws governing renewable energy…”

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"…[The letter is] addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Lisa Murkowsi (R-Alaska), the chairman and ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee…

"The letter is part of a broader campaign by renewable energy advocates to win traction for an RES [because they believe there are 60 votes for it in the Senate]. The House passed an RES as part of a sweeping – and now politically dead – energy and climate bill last year, and the Senate energy panel also included one in broader energy legislation it cleared in 2009."

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"The bill that Bingaman’s committee approved with a handful of GOP votes would require utilities to provide 15 percent of their power from renewables by 2021, although about a fourth of the requirement could be met with energy efficiency programs. An RES has long been a pillar of Democratic and green group energy plans, but has consistently fallen short amid resistance from many Republicans and some southeastern Democrats, who fear their states would struggle to meet the standard and face extra costs…

"An RES didn’t make the cut when Senate Democratic leaders unveiled a narrow energy package before the August break, and Reid said the provision lacked enough votes…[but is eyeing a lame duck energy vote and] has since opened the door to including a renewables standard, citing interest by some Republicans. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) has publicly called for adding an RES…"