NAT’L RPS WILL HELP, WON’T COST: EIA

The energy bill debate is on C-SPAN today. You can watch it and wait for Jon Stewart to share the hilarity or you can GET ACTIVE at Power Of Wind, where you can join an astonishing array of businesses and groups uniting to tell their congressional representatives: "We believe the time has come for Congress to move quickly to enact national RPS legislation."

EIA: 15% Renewable Standard May Cut CO2 By 3 Billion Tons By 2030
Ian Talley, June 11, 2007 (Dow Jones NewsWire via Nasdaq)

WHO
Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the Department of Energy (DOE), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.,
more states have joined the cause since this chart was created and there are 22 to 26 now, depending on how you count (click to enlarge)
WHAT
A national Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requiring the country to obtain 15% of its electricity by 2030 would drive tremendous development of wind, solar and biomass energy sources and save 3 billion tons of CO2 while raising utility prices only marginally.

WHEN
EIA report released June 11. Projections through 2030, with breakdowns.

WHERE
Report, pertaining to US energy/economy, released in Washington, D.C., to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

WHY
- Bingaman requested the analysis. He intends to offer an RPS amendment to the energy bill currently being developed in the Senate.
- The study assumes a credit trading system by which over producers of renewables could trade with and compensate for under producers.
- Because the study excluded hydro and waste generation, the total new renewable electricity was 12% in 2030.
- 0.3% total utility cost rises as a result of 2% rise in electricity price with decreasing natural gas prices.
- The RPS is expected to drive a 50% increase in US wind energy capacity, and triple biomass generation. Solar installation, driven by tax incentives, would go from its present 0.9% to 8% of renewable generation.
this chart shows 21 states and the number is growing but, as usual, the Feds are behind the trend (click to enlarge)
QUOTES
Talley: “Between 2020 and 2030, the EIA expects the market value of renewable energy credits - the price at which they could be purchased from the federal government - would be 1.9 cents a kilowatt-hour, up from around 0.4 cent a kilowatt-hour estimated for 2015.”
The study