REBELS FOR THE RES AND THE PRES

President Obama, both in his campaign for the presidency and since assuming office, has called for a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). An RES requires utilities subject to it to obtain a designated portion of their power from New Energy sources by a date certain.

The President’s proposed RES would require U.S. utilities to obtain 10% of their power from New Energy sources by 2012 and 25% by 2025.

The RES is a particularly appealing way to drive the development of New Energy in the U.S. because it leaves the choice of New Energy technologies to the power companies. Some 30 states have an RES but notably blank on the map showing states with such a standard is the Southeast.

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If it weren’t for the South’s reluctance, the U.S. would probably already have a national RES. During energy bill battles throughout the latter years of the Bush administration, Democrats sought to add a national RES to the legislation. In 2007, such a proposal passed the House of Representatives. Never did the measure manage to muster the 60 requisite votes in the Senate and, invariably, the staunchest opponents were Senators from the Southeast. Funded and backed by fossil-fuel dependent utilities, Southeastern Senators argued – and, in many cases, continue to argue – that their states do not have adequate New Energy resources to meet an RES mandate.

These Senators, from states that were once the heart of the 1776 rebellion and the rage of the confederacy, pride themselves in being stalwart rebels impervious to the dictates of New England conformity. Despite Al Gore being one of their own, they reject him and everything about the movement to defend the environment he champions as reflexive kowtowing to empty intellectual platitudes, something these self-styled Rebels will not countenance.

But like so many truisms in this Obama-ignited era of change, the once-solid South seems to be splintering. There is evidence that a new generation of rebels is turning against their recalcitrant, fossil-fool elders in favor of New Energy opportunities all around them.

Following recent public testimony repetition by a Georgia Public Service Commissioner of the familiar drone about the state’s supposed inadequate New Energy resources, a Georgia New Energy advocate spoke out.

James B. Marlow Jr., CEO, Radiance Solar: “With all due respect to the commissioner, he greatly underestimates Georgians’ ability to rise to this challenge and, in the process, clean up our air and create thousands of new, high-paying jobs.”

Marlow pointed out that Georgia gets an average of 5 hours per day of sun while Germany, which leads the world in installed solar energy capacity, gets an average of 2 hours per day.

Marlow also corrected a mistake New Energy opponents frequently make: “[The commissioner] and others claim that solar is too expensive, but when they compare solar to traditional energy sources such as nuclear or coal, they do not fully include federal subsidies and the environmental costs of those sources. More importantly, the cost of solar is rapidly coming down, while the cost of building traditional power plants is going up.”

Marlow described a quality solar energy has that is particularly important in these extremely tenuous economic times: “Solar is also “shovel ready,” meaning it is a technology that can be put right to work…New solar construction can start in a few weeks, and large systems can be operational in 90 to 180 days…”

The readiness of solar energy starkly contrasts with a proposed Georgia nuclear facility, not likely to be generating for nearly another decade.

Marlow: “Georgia’s utilities have proven to be resourceful and innovative when given the proper incentives. Hopefully, Georgia will soon join…30 other states in making the development our solar resource a priority.”

Marlow, a solar energy advocate, neglected to discuss his state’s offshore wind. South Carolina, Georgia’s neighbor up the Atlantic coast, is investigating its offshore wind potential. South Carolina utility Santee Cooper, the state Energy Office and Coastal Carolina University have strategically placed 6 weather buoys and a pair of towers to identify the most productive locations for offshore installations.

Test buoy off S.C. coast. (click to enlarge)

Locals see little cause for optimism in the search for a productive site and, based on the success of offshore wind in the U.S. to date, it is reasonable to be skeptical. Unlike Europe, where there are 20-to-25 functioning ocean-based turbine arrays, proposed U.S. offshore projects have met with enough regulatory and NIMBY rejection to discourage the most enthusiastic supporter.

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Studies have shown enormous wind power potential off the Mid-Atlantic coast as far south as North Carolina. The continental shelf there is shallow, making project installation less challenging and costly. The winds are strong and consistent.

Whether those winds prevail off South Carolina remains to be seen. That the utility is shelling out for part of the research study’s cost is a sign of the times. Clearly, Santee Cooper sees an RES coming and wants to know its New Energy options.

Lonnie Carter, President, Santee Cooper: "Ten years ago, we wouldn't be doing this…This is research that needs to be done to see if this is viable. Santee Cooper and its board wouldn't be spending this kind of money on this project if we weren't serious."

Florida’s Public Service Commission (FPSC) seems to have more perceptive commissioners than the one Mr. Marlow has to contend with in Georgia. The FPSC recommended a state RES requiring utilities to obtain 20% of their power from New Energy sources by 2020 to the state legislature. A vote is due by May. Vote Solar, a San Francisco advocacy group, is in Florida organizing on behalf of the proposal.

A Navigant Consulting study showed the proposed RES would result in 3,800 megawatts of new solar energy-generated electricity and create 85,500 jobs.

Vote Solar classified ad placed in the job listing section of Florida newspapers: "HELP WANTED: 85,000 electricians, engineers, sales to staff the new solar energy economy. Apply at Legislature. Ask for strong solar energy policies."

The jobs ad placed by Vote Solar. (click to enlarge)

Though Florida activists are no doubt happy to have the astute community organizing skills of the San Francisco group to help, they need no help seeing the importance of the RES and what it means.

Yann Brandt, vice president, Advanced Green Technologies (Ft. Lauderdale): "Solar is the infrastructure project of the 21st century. ... It offers us the most shovel-ready projects of all…We have the roof space and solar is readily available."

What seems to be happening all over the once-reluctant South is a growing realization of the other kind of green (as in $$$ green) that New Energy means.

Brian Betron, solar energy consultant, Abundant Energy (Jupiter, Fla.): "There is so much potential here in the state of Florida…For just the residential facilities, or homes, only half of 1 percent have any type of solar installed."

Big money-backed Senators, funded by the coal and nuclear industries and Old Energy-entrenched utilities, held the national RES off during the Bush years. Going forward, they have a new constituency. It is a youthful constituency that, last fall, came to believe something new about New Energy: Yes We Can.

Oh the delicious irony of history: A President of African-American heritage leading the New South as it rises once again, this time rebelling in defense of him and his New Energy agenda.

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85,500 solar jobs possible in Florida
Susan Salisbury, March 10, 2009 (Palm Beach Post)
and
State, utility look to wind
Bo Petersen, March 10, 2009 (AP and Charleston Post and Courier)
and
If sun rises, state can meet renewable energy mandate
James Marlow, March 10, 2009 (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

WHO
James B. Marlow Jr., CEO, Radiance Solar; Stan Wise, Commissioner, GA Public Service Commission; Santee Cooper (Lonnie Carter, President); Paul Gayes, director of The Center for Marine and Wetlands Studies, Coastal Carolina University; The Vote Solar Initiative (Gwen Rose, deputy director); Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC); Navigant Consulting

WHAT
The South seems poised to rise again in the New Energy world, making a national RES an increasingly real possibility.

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WHEN
- President Obama’s RES calls for utilities to obtain 10% of their power from New Energy sources by 2012 and 25% by 2025.
- The RES proposed in the Senate would require utilities to obtain 20% of their power from New Energy sources by 2021 and allow 5% of the 20% to come from energy efficiency improvements.
- The House RES (Markey-Platts) follows the Obama proposal, requiring utilities to obtain 20% of their power from New Energy sources by 2020.
- Florida’s proposed RES would require the state’s utilities to obtain 20% of their power from New Energy sources by 2020.

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WHERE
- Radiance Solar is based in Atlanta, GA.
- Germany is the world’s leading solar market. and averages only two solar sun hours each day. Solar energy is effective in several Canadian provinces, in the U.S. Northeast and in North Carolina and Florida, Georgia’s neighbors.
- The buoys will 1.5-to-6 miles off the coasts of Georgetown and Little River. The wind towers will be installed where the buoys find the best wind.
- The Vote Solar Initiative, based in San Francisco, is participating in a drive for an RES in FLA.
- The FLA legislature is expected to vote on the RES by May.

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WHY
- Marlow says Georgia’s 5-hour per day average sun is more than enough to generate significant electricity. Germany leads the world in solar generation capacity and averages 2 hours per day.
- Solar energy projects’ potential to be built and generating power in 3-to-6 months is especially stark in contrast to a proposed GA nuclear facility not expected to go on line before 2017 at the soonest.
- Other solar benefits: (1) free fuel; (2) smoothes peak demand, staying brownouts; (3) distributed generation available even when central systems fail
Offshore wind projects have significant hurdles in cost, siting and environmental impact factors.
- The So. Carolina study will cost $430,00 and be paid for by a state grant and by the utility.
- If wind can be successfully harvested off the South Carolina coast, it is due in part to the technical excellence of modern wind turbines.
- Vote Solar estimates estimates 85,500 jobs (construction, engineering, marketing, etc.) could come from the proposed Florida RES.
- Florida presently gets ~2% of its power from New Energy sources.
- South Florida, where the sun is best, already has thriving companies doing solar panel, solar hot water and solar pool heating systems.
- A current estimate puts the cost of an installed home rooftop solar system in Florida at $30-to-$40,000, with $25-to-$30,000 returned via federal tax incentives and state rebates.

QUOTES
- James B. Marlow Jr., CEO, Radiance Solar: “Solar is not the only solution; rather, it is an important part of a renewable energy strategy. Coal will remain a source of electricity for Georgians for years to come. But it’s time for Georgia’s political leaders to step forward and work with the business community to ensure that more of our electricity comes from clean, renewable sources. Solar is a proven technology that is ready to be put to work today.”
- Paul Gayes, director of The Center for Marine and Wetlands Studies, Coastal Carolina University: "The real question is, how far offshore and how high up do you have to go…It's exactly a matter of scale. I don't think anyone is going to suggest (a wind farm) is going to solve all our energy problems, (but) there is a resource there. How valuable would it be to the energy needs of the state?"
- Gwen Rose, deputy director, Vote Solar: "The nice thing about solar is that it is flexible, modular and quick to market…You get projects in on the ground really fast. If the renewable portfolio standard passes and the rules are in place, you could see development really accelerate by 2010."