New CA Renewable Energy Standards for Utilities - a Third by 2020
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday is expected to sign an executive order giving California the nation's most aggressive alternative energy standards, requiring utilities to get a third of their power from renewable sources by 2020.
The order comes three days after state lawmakers passed legislation mandating the same goal but in a way the governor's office says is too restrictive.
Schwarzenegger opposes the Democratic bills in part because they would limit how much wind, solar and geothermal energy utilities could import from other states. His office also said the bills would impose too many regulatory hurdles.
A spokesman says Schwarzenegger will veto them.
The executive order, to be signed in a Sacramento suburb, will give California the nation's most aggressive standards for renewable energy. Hawaii has a 40 percent requirement but allows a longer timeframe, giving its utilities until 2030 to meet the standard.
Supporters of the Democratic legislation said an executive order may not have the force of law, as the bills would have if they had been signed by the governor.
"An executive order does not provide any lasting assurances because it could be overturned by a future governor, invalidated by a court challenge or rendered completely meaningless by the implementing agency," said Matt Freedman, an attorney with the consumer watchdog group The Utility Reform Network.
Supporters of the Republican governor's executive order say the state agencies that oversee utilities can begin writing regulations immediately to carry out the goal. California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols told reporters Monday her board could develop a rule by next summer, in the middle of Schwarzenegger's final year in office.
"I think any new governor is likely to want to continue that program," she said.
Democrats, consumer advocates and environmental groups want limits on the amount of renewable power that could be imported from other states. They want utilities to build renewable plants in California, which they estimated could lead to as many as 200,000 new jobs.
The legislation by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, and Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Los Angeles, would allow utilities to import renewable energy generated outside California as long as the power came from a plant that connects to California's electricity grid.
Utilities also could buy a limited number of credits from producers of alternative energy in other states as a way to promote the development of clean power, even though that power would not reach California markets.
The Schwarzenegger administration said the Democratic bills would reduce utilities' ability to exchange renewable power with other states in the West. For example, California already imports hydroelectric power from the Northwest and exports solar power to Nevada when it's needed most. The Democratic bill reduces utilities' flexibility in the market, the administration says.
"The restrictions on the way the electricity for renewables is set to be delivered are just unreasonable and produces ways of actually making it even more difficult to deliver to California," said Yakout Mansour, president and chief executive officer of the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power grid.
California already has one of the nation's most aggressive standards mandating use of renewable energy. Investor-owned utilities are required to generate at least 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by next year, but few are expected to meet that goal.
Utilities also will have difficulty complying with the standard in Schwarzenegger's executive order, primarily because the system for transmitting electricity from where it's produced to where it's needed is insufficient, said Nancy Ryan, a deputy executive director for policy at the California Public Utilities Commission.
A commission report says California would need about $115 billion in upgrades over 10 years to its transmission grid if utilities hope to meet the renewable energy standard. The language in the Democratic bills would have made the goal impossible to meet, Ryan said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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The order comes three days after state lawmakers passed legislation mandating the same goal but in a way the governor's office says is too restrictive.
Schwarzenegger opposes the Democratic bills in part because they would limit how much wind, solar and geothermal energy utilities could import from other states. His office also said the bills would impose too many regulatory hurdles.
A spokesman says Schwarzenegger will veto them.
The executive order, to be signed in a Sacramento suburb, will give California the nation's most aggressive standards for renewable energy. Hawaii has a 40 percent requirement but allows a longer timeframe, giving its utilities until 2030 to meet the standard.
Supporters of the Democratic legislation said an executive order may not have the force of law, as the bills would have if they had been signed by the governor.
"An executive order does not provide any lasting assurances because it could be overturned by a future governor, invalidated by a court challenge or rendered completely meaningless by the implementing agency," said Matt Freedman, an attorney with the consumer watchdog group The Utility Reform Network.
Supporters of the Republican governor's executive order say the state agencies that oversee utilities can begin writing regulations immediately to carry out the goal. California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols told reporters Monday her board could develop a rule by next summer, in the middle of Schwarzenegger's final year in office.
"I think any new governor is likely to want to continue that program," she said.
Democrats, consumer advocates and environmental groups want limits on the amount of renewable power that could be imported from other states. They want utilities to build renewable plants in California, which they estimated could lead to as many as 200,000 new jobs.
The legislation by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, and Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Los Angeles, would allow utilities to import renewable energy generated outside California as long as the power came from a plant that connects to California's electricity grid.
Utilities also could buy a limited number of credits from producers of alternative energy in other states as a way to promote the development of clean power, even though that power would not reach California markets.
The Schwarzenegger administration said the Democratic bills would reduce utilities' ability to exchange renewable power with other states in the West. For example, California already imports hydroelectric power from the Northwest and exports solar power to Nevada when it's needed most. The Democratic bill reduces utilities' flexibility in the market, the administration says.
"The restrictions on the way the electricity for renewables is set to be delivered are just unreasonable and produces ways of actually making it even more difficult to deliver to California," said Yakout Mansour, president and chief executive officer of the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state's power grid.
California already has one of the nation's most aggressive standards mandating use of renewable energy. Investor-owned utilities are required to generate at least 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by next year, but few are expected to meet that goal.
Utilities also will have difficulty complying with the standard in Schwarzenegger's executive order, primarily because the system for transmitting electricity from where it's produced to where it's needed is insufficient, said Nancy Ryan, a deputy executive director for policy at the California Public Utilities Commission.
A commission report says California would need about $115 billion in upgrades over 10 years to its transmission grid if utilities hope to meet the renewable energy standard. The language in the Democratic bills would have made the goal impossible to meet, Ryan said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Rest @ The AP
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