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Standard Calls for 10%
of Nation's Electricity from Washington, DC – The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) applauded last night’s passage by the U.S. Senate of the 2002 Senate energy bill that includes a national renewable energy portfolio standard ("renewables portfolio standard," or RPS), along with other key policy measures sought by the U.S. wind energy industry. The bill's RPS provision requires 10% of the nation’s electricity to come from new renewable energy sources by 2020. Currently, approximately 2% of the nation’s electricity needs are generated by non-hydro renewable energy sources. In addition, the bill includes a three-year extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) and a provision establishing a Small Turbine Investment Credit (STIC) for homes and farms installing small wind generators. The Senate bill will now be sent to a joint House-Senate conference committee where differences between it and the House-passed energy bill passed earlier this year will be resolved. The House bill has no RPS provision or small turbine credit, but does also include a three-year PTC extension. "We congratulate the Senate on moving forward with this legislation," commented AWEA Legislative Director Jaime Steve, "and urge the energy bill conferees to approve all three of these measures. Doing so would mean that Congress is serious about the goal of promoting clean, renewable energy development. “Getting an RPS signed into law would be critical to the development of an effective response to this summer’s natural gas crisis and the ongoing ‘eggs in one basket’ approach to power generation in the United States. More than 90 percent of new power plants ordered in the past several years have been gas-fired, a development that has deepened the gas supply shortage." Wind energy is already helping to reduce the current gas shortage in the US, and could be deployed rapidly over the next few years to bring it under control. AWEA estimates that 6,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power will be in place in the US by year’s end. Enactment of the RPS into law will help ensure that wind energy provides as much as 6% of the nation’s electricity by 2020, as the industry estimates it is capable of doing. “This summer’s natural gas crisis is just the latest warning that the nation needs an effective policy that promotes multiple energy sources, including sources such as wind energy that can be developed quickly in a variety of areas nationwide,” AWEA Policy Director Jim Caldwell added. “Wind-generated electricity is clean, affordable, renewable, and domestically available and its continued development will provide an economic boost to the rural farm and ranching communities where it is developed.” "A national RPS has huge economic development implications for rural America including job creation and tax revenue for local governments where wind facilities are developed,” Caldwell said. A 100-megawatt (MW) wind plant (capable of supplying the electricity needs of 28,000 homes) will provide $5 million in payments to landowners and $12.5 million in wages over its 25-year lifetime. Some $3 billion worth of wind power investments (about 3,000 megawatts, or enough to supply the needs of 850,000 homes) are currently scheduled for development in the U.S., according to AWEA estimates. There are now wind turbine installations in 27 states totaling 4,792 MW and providing clean, renewable wind energy to consumers nationwide. ### AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. The association’s membership includes turbine manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested individuals. More information on wind energy is available at the AWEA web site: www.awea.org |
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©
2003 by the American Wind Energy Association. |
