Renewable Energy: Valuing Clean Power Benefits
The average California household's annual use of electricity produces
the same amount of smog the average car would generate if driven
across country from Los Angeles to New York City, and about the
same amount of global warming-causing carbon dioxide if that same
car was driven a third of the way around the world.
Part of a solution to electricity pollution is using electricity
produced by cleaner renewable resources. Under restructuring, local
governments may be able to carve out an elevated role in building
new local markets for clean renewable power technologies.
Background:
Most electricity in the United States is produced from coal, nuclear
and natural gas plants. Producing electricity from these sources
generates about two-thirds of the nation's emissions associated
with global warming, one-third of the pollution that causes acid
rain and smog, and over half of our nuclear waste.
Renewable energy is defined under California law as solar, wind,
geothermal, biomass, and small hydropowerfacilities less than 30
MW. These resources are termed "renewable" because they do not rely
on burning scarce, highly polluting fossil fuels and are regularly
replenished using the earth's own natural processes.
With the advent of choice under restructuring, customers can pick
between "green" electricity products ranging up to 100 percent renewable
energy supply. The San Francisco-based Center for Resource Solutions
has developed a Green-e verification program to insure that when
consumers, including local governments, elect to purchase power
marketed as "green," they know the product and the company meet
certain clean power standards and abide by good business practices.
Opportunities:
What benefits flow to local governments when they purchase renewable
energy for their municipal facilities or for their constituents?
Consider the following:
- Local governments can diversify their power sources, which,
in effect, can serve as an insurance policy against future fossil
fuel price spikes.
- Purchasing renewables helps local governments meet local and
regional air quality goals, particularly if the clean electricity
is generated nearby.
- Renewable energy purchases foster diverse economic development
opportunities, often in regions of the state seeking new sources
of employment and tax bases. Most renewable energy sites are in
rural and frequently economically depressed counties.
- Ten California cities have pledged to reduce their communities'
carbon dioxide emissions, a heat-trapping gas linked to the global
climate change threat. Purchasing renewable energy is one way
to help fulfill these climate protection pledges.
Challenges:
Electricity is a product that is the lifeblood of modern society,
but one which we never see. Under a regulated monopoly-based system,
consumers, including local governments, typically did not have a
choice about where their power came from.
With the advent of restructuring, local governments need to learn
how renewable resources can help them comply with federal and state
environmental regulations, and foster local green economic development
projects.
If they displace other polluting local sources of electricity,
renewable resources such as solar and wind power can reduce local
air emissions and assist local air quality mangement districts with
meeting federal air quality standards and in designing state implementation
plans.
Other renewable sources, such as biomass power plants, not only
improve air quality by reducing open field burns of agricultural
wastes, but can help local governments meet state solid waste reduction
mandates that require a 50 percent diversion of sold wastes from
landfills by 2000. Some biomass plants have already closed. If a
local government relies upon a biomass plant as part of its solid
waste management and diversion program, then it may make sense to
help ensure its viability by purchasing a portion of its electricity
output to power city or county facilities.
Proposed Solutions:
Involve your residents in the education process about restructuring
and new opportunities to vote for the environment with electricity
dollars. Hold public workshops that highlight the great advances
that have occurred in bringing the costs of clean renewable resources
down to the point where some, such as wind power, are nearly competitive
with fossil fuel options and cheaper than new nuclear capacity.
The California Energy Commission manages a program of funding designed
to help offset the small price premiums associated with renewable
resources.
Of the $540 million set aside to promote renewable energy over
the next four years, $81 million is earmarked for rebates to consumers
purchasing renewable energy. Each customer rebate is capped at $1,000
per year. Accessing these funds can make renewable energy purchases
even more attractive.
Successful efforts to market green power in Colorado, and recent
research conducted at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, reveal that
the key to success in promoting renewable energy purchases is appealing
to a sense of personal responsibility and community ownership of
the clean power product. These values can often be reinforced by
involving credible, non-profit organizations such as local governments
in marketing these products. In addition, highly visible installations
of renewable energy technologies can help. The City of Portland,
for example, aggregated its largest electricity accounts to shop
for savings and then dedicated a portion of these savings to purchase
17 MW of clean electricity from a new wind power plant located nearby.
For More Information:
For information about California Energy Commission funding:
California Energy Commission
Marwan Masri
1516 9th St. MS-45, Sacramento, CA 95814-5512
(916) 654-4531 • FAX (916) 653-8251
e-mail: mmasri@energy.state.ca.us
For general information about renewable energy from the California
Energy Commission:
(800) 555-7794
Web site: www.energy.ca.gov
Center for Resource Solutions
Kirk Brown
P.O. Box 29512, San Francisco, CA 94129
(415) 561-2105 • FAX (415) 561-2105
e-mail: kirkbrown@igc.org
City of Portland
Phil Welker
1211 SW 5th Ave., Suite 1170 Portland, OR 97204-3711
(503) 823-7590 • FAX (503) 823-5370
e-mail: pwelker@portland.or.us
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