IRenewsFlash Legislation News
Legislative Information for Iowa's Renewable Energy Community
Legislative Information for Iowa's Renewable Energy Community
Archives
home
about irenew
news
expo
workshops
legislation
membership
solar traveler
links
Monday, May 22, 2006
Update
|
A bill that will expand last year's tax credit bill for locally-owned wind power (SF2325), as well as a bill to exempt solar equipment from Iowa sales tax (SF2077) passed this session! More on this in I-Renew's summer newsletter. |
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Top Ten Worst Provisions in the Energy Bill
|
Top Ten Worst Provisions in the Energy Bill according to Taxpayers for Common Sense (Originally published in "Energy Matters" the newsletter of the Iowa Renewable Energy Association. Reprinted with permission of the author.) 10. OCS inventory: Government sources estimate that a full inventory of America’s Outer Continental Shelf would cost the government billions of dollars. Inventories are a normal business expense that should be borne by private industry, not the general public. 9. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative: The conference report authorizes $580 million for this program to reprocess nuclear waste, which would reverse the Ford administration’s nonproliferation policies. What’s more, it wouldn’t even solve the nation’s nuclear waste problems; reprocessing also creates radioactive waste. 8. Clean Coal: Clean Coal has been criticized time and again by the GAO for mishandling taxpayer money. The energy bill rewards Clean Coal’s record of shoddy performance by giving the program another $1.8 billion. 7. Pipeline tax breaks for public utilities: The provision would give utilities a better tax treatment on their natural gas pipelines, thereby increasing shareholder earnings in the short-term – and since their rates are already set, they do not have to pass on these cost-savings to consumers. This means that utility shareholders get a windfall profit, and taxpayers get stuck paying the bill. This tax break will cost taxpayers $1.02 billion over ten years. 6. The Healy clean coal plant loan guarantee: Taxpayers paid $117 million to make a coal power plant in Healy, Alaska, into a “clean coal” facility in the 1980’s, and now the plant is too expensive to operate. For the low price of $80 million, Healy is offering to change it right back to the way it was. 5. Idaho nuclear reactor: The bill would authorize $1.25 billion for the construction of a new nuclear plant in Idaho that would also produce hydrogen. While billed as a boon to the “hydrogen economy,” this is nothing more than an old-fashioned giveaway to the nuclear industry. 4. Nuclear production tax credit: The bill includes a 1.8 cent/kWh production tax credit for new nuclear plants that will cost taxpayers up to $6 billion. 3. Royalty holidays for oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico: The President has made it crystal clear: with oil at $60 a barrel, companies don’t need incentives to explore for new sources – they already have all the incentive they need. 2. Irradiated Petroleum: In the late hours on Monday, the conference committee added to the bill a $250,000 study for “cold cracking” – that is, irradiating petroleum as a way of refining it. None of the conferees had ever heard of “cold cracking” before, yet most voted for it anyway. There is no reason why oil companies, now reaping billions in profits this year, should not bear the costs of researching this impractical program themselves. and the most wasteful provision... 1. The Ultra-Deepwater Slush Fund: This provision, added after the deadline at Monday’s marathon conference session, will spend $1.55 billion, including $550 million in guaranteed money, to a new fund designed to benefit the Texas Energy Center in Sugar Land. |
The Federal Energy Bill: What does it mean for Renewables?
|
The Federal Energy Bill: What does it mean for Renewables? by Rich Dana (Originally published in "Energy Matters" the newsletter of the Iowa Renewable Energy Association. Reprinted with permission of the author.) President Bush signed omnibus energy legislation on August 8th, 2005, four years after his initial request for an energy bill. During those four years, the house and senate debated a plethora of energy issues and deadlocked several times on contentious items like arctic drilling, revitalizing the nuclear industry, and the use of MTBE and ethanol. In a time of high energy prices and a war in the oil-rich middle east, no one in Washington wanted to be seen as voting against an energy bill, and the result was a heavily compromised piece of legislation that does very little to move the nation toward it's goals of energy independence, lower energy prices and a cleaner environment. As in the case of most omnibus legislation, the attempt to shove all energy-related issues into one giant bill resulted in a hodge-podge of giveaways. Since there is something in the bill for everyone to dislike, legislators needed to be rewarded in return for the votes necessary for passage, and the formula was fine-tuned to create a bill that had something in it for everyone. For Iowa's legislators, that meant ethanol. The bill requires refiners to raise the amount of ethanol used in gasoline from 4 billion gallons to 7.5 billion gallons a year. According to supporters, this will mean new jobs for rural areas, more money or farmers, and a cleaner environment - opponents say it is merely a huge giveaway to large corporate agricultural interests. Another victory for Iowa's legislators was the two year extension of Senator Grassley's wind energy PTC (production tax credit). The PTC, which was scheduled to expire on December 31, 2005, provides a 1.9 cent-per-kilowatt-hour (kWh) tax credit for electricity generated with wind turbines over the first ten years of a project’s operations, and is a critical factor in financing new wind farms. There are also some incentives for solar - the bill increases the permanent 10 percent business energy credit for solar to 30% for two years. Eligible technologies include photovoltaics, solar water heaters, concentrating solar power, and solar hybrid lighting. The credit reverts back to the permanent 10 percent level after two years. The bill also establishes a 30 percent residential energy credit for solar for two years. For residential systems, the tax credit is capped at $2,000. For vehicles, the legislation will provide up to $3,400 per vehicle in tax credits to consumers for purchase of energy-efficient hybrid, clean-diesel, and fuel-cell vehicles based on their fuel savings potential. The major loss for renewable energy advocates was the exclusion of the senates 10% renewable electricity standard, which would have required increased use of clean energy nationwide and would have been a huge boost to Iowa's renewable industry. Despite their support in the conference committee for the RES, Senator Grassley and others from the senate were unable to convince house members to include the standard in the final bill. Another significant problem for utility-scale renewable development was the amendment of PURPA. The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) was passed to help diversify the electric power industry. PURPA required a utility to buy power from renewable energy and cogeneration plants when they can generate power less expensively than the utility, but the new amendment eliminates that requirement where FERC determines that competitive market conditions exist. Competitive markets may not support the long-term contracts that many renewable generators need to secure financing at affordable rates. Looked at by themselves, these incentives for renewable energy would appear to be fairly significant. The tax breaks for renewable energy amount to over $2 billion. In comparison with the rest of the bill, we see another story emerge. The total cost of the energy bill, according to analysis from Taxpayers for Common Sense, is $85.1 billion, including huge subsidies for mature, highly profitable industries like coal and oil. The nuclear industry, which has been subsidized to the tune of over $66 billion over the last 50 years, will receive another $3.3 billion over the next 10 years. In addition, it authorizes loans for 50% of the construction costs of new reactors (which have historically run over-budget) and an indefinite extension of the Price-Anderson Act, which protects reactor operators from liability, and leaves the American taxpayers to pay for nuclear mishaps. To add insult to injury, after the conference committee had approved a final version of the bill, then house majority leader Tom Delay managed to insert a $550 million provision for research into deep-water drilling at the Texas Energy Center in his home town of Sugar Land. In the end, the energy bill is the product of the current atmosphere in Washington and, unfortunately, little else could be expected. Energy is an issue where economic, environmental and national security issues collide, and the attempt to address "Energy" as a singular issue was doomed to failure (or at best mediocrity) before it began. In terms of advancing renewable energy, was it worth the effort? Industry groups like the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) applauded legislators for inclusion of their pieces of the pie, and remained mostly silent on the rest. One thing is clear - the debate on "Energy" is not over. Political skirmishes will persist. Attempts on one side to open ANWR (artic national wildlife refuge) to drilling will continue, as will attempts on the other to increase CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards. "Energy" is the key to the future of our nation and our planet, but as always, "the devil is in the details". -------------------------------------------------------- In Your Home: • Consumers can receive a credit of up to 30% of the cost, or up to $2,000, for installing solar-powered hot-water systems used exclusively for purposes other than heating swimming pools and hot tubs. • Consumers can receive tax credits up to $500 on the amount they spend to upgrade thermostats, to caulk leaks, or to stop energy waste. • Consumers can receive up to $200 credit for installation of new exterior windows. • Consumers can receive up to $300 credit for purchases of a highly efficient central air conditioner, heat pump or water heater. • Consumers can receive up to $150 for installation of a highly efficient furnace or boiler. • A new provision provides a 10% investment tax credit for expenditures with respect to improvements to building envelope. This allows credits for purchases of advanced main air circulating fans, natural gas, propane, or oil furnaces or hot water boilers, and other qualified energy efficient property. • Tax credits for contractors who build energy-efficient homes and manufacturers who make energy-efficient appliances could lower prices for consumers. For The Car: • Starting in 2006, hybrid-car buyers and advanced lean-burn technology vehicles will be eligible for tax credits ranging from $1,700-$3,000. This credit is tied with two components: hybrids that save the most fuel compared with 2002 models, and the vehicle’s estimated lifetime fuel savings. • The amount of credit for the purchase of a fuel cell vehicle is determined by a base credit amount that depends up on the weight class of the vehicle and in the case of automobiles or light trucks, an additional credit amount that depends upon the rated fuel economy of the vehicle compared to a base fuel economy. • For fuel-cell-powered vehicles weighing less than 8,500 pounds, for instance, the base credit will be $8,000 - heavier vehicles will get bigger credits. • Credits are offered for cars and light trucks that are more fuel-efficient than 2002 models. A tax credit gives the taxpayer a dollar-for-dollar reduction in his or her taxes. • A provision permits taxpayers to claim a 30% credit for the cost of installing clean-fuel vehicle refueling property to be used in a trade or business of the taxpayer or installed at the principal residence of the taxpayer. Under the provision, clean fuels are considered any fuel at least 85% of the volume of which consists of ethanol, natural gas, compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and hydrogen and any mixture of diesel fuel and biodiesel containing at least 20% biodiesel. This provision is effective for property placed in service 12/31/2005 and before 01/01/2010. |
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Renewable Energy Tax Credit Passes Iowa House
|
Sioux City Journal House passes tax credits for alternative energy producers By Todd Dorman Journal Des Moines Bureau DES MOINES -- A bill awarding tax credits to small alternative energy producers cleared the Iowa House Monday and is on its way to Gov. Tom Vilsack. Iowa facilities that produce less than 2.5 megawatts of power from wind, biomass, hydrogen or other alternative sources are eligible for tax credits starting in July 2006. The bill was approved on a 79-16 vote. Tax credits would add up to $2.8 million in Fiscal Year 2007 and $5.5 million by 2010, according to the Legislature's non-partisan Fiscal Services Division. Backers argued that the bill would encourage the development of innovative, small-scale energy operations. They sidestepped critics who dubbed it a subsidy. "Our nation literally runs on energy subsidies," said Sen. Mary Lou Freeman, R-Alta. "And if you think if what we're doing over in Iraq isn't considered a subsidy, then I think we're all mistaken. "Yes, this is a subsidy. It's an investment in local, small producers," she said. The tax credit amounts to 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity generated by wind facilities and $4.50 per million BTUs for methane or other biogas operations. Hydrogen facilities would be eligible for $1.45 per 1,000 cubic feet of fuel. To be eligible, a facility's majority owner must be an Iowa resident, a farm operation or an electric cooperative. Facilities could receive the credit for up to 10 years. |
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Important Renewable Energy Legislative Alert
|
Please share with your members, friends, and associates! ------------------- Hey Folks - In the waning hours of the session, it looks like House Majority Leader Chuck Gipp has put the brakes on SF390, which is the locally owned renewable energy tax credit bill. We have no idea as to why he has chosen to try and stall this bill, especially after its unanimous adoption in the Senate, it's strong bipartisan support, and it's obvious benefits to Iowa's economy and environment. We need folks in House District 16 to contact him and put some pressure on him to get this thing moving NOW! If you live in District 16, or have friends, family, or associates in the area (Far NE Iowa, Winnesheik and Allamakee Counties, the Decorah area...) PLEASE make an attempt to contact Representative Gipp and ask him to bring 390 up for a vote before the end of the session. Rep. Gipp contact info: House Switch Board (515) 281-3221 Home Address:212 High Street, Decorah IA 52101 Home Telephone: 563-382-5419 e-mail: chuck.gipp@legis.state.ia.us If you have any questions, or get a response from Mr. Gipp, please contact me. Also, if you are a Decorah area resident and would like to write a letter to the editor of your local paper encouraging Mr. Gipp to act, I would be happy to help you with any background information or assistance you might need. -Thanks for your Support! Rich Dana Union of Concerned Scientists (319) 530-6051 rich@gotoplanb.com |
Friday, April 08, 2005
Small Wind Tax Credit Legislation Update
|
The renewable energy small producer tax credit (sf390) that we have been working on for several years now passed the state senate today, unanimously! It will be in the house next week - stay tuned...A special congratulations and thanks to Ed Woolsey, UCS lobbyist and long-time I-Renew activist who was one of the original authors and tireless shepherd of this bill. Good Job Ed! The Biodiesel "Homebrewer" bill passed out of the Senate Ways and Means committee - it is now named sf401 and is on the docket for next week. This bill will allow individuals to manufacture biodiesel for their own use without paying fuel tax. This is a good time to call your state senator- let them know that this bill has support among their constituents. To view the bills and find your legislators phone number and email, go to http://www.legis.state.ia.us/ and please feel free to contact me any time with questions about these bills. Rich Dana rich@gotoplanb.net |
Monday, March 28, 2005
Important Update from the Statehouse
|
Please feel free to pass this along to your friends.... The efforts of organizations like I-Renew is essential to making Iowa a leader in renewable energy production – It is especially important to try to get out to meetings with your U.S. house members next week – let me know if you want more detailed lists of meeting times and talking points. Latham is especially important to maintaining the Ag bill RE money, and Nussle may be a good target on the topic of RES because of his proposed Renewable Fuel Standard. All legislators need to be hearing from their constituents on RE issues though- Thanks for your help, and please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, or suggestions… Thanks! Rich Rich Dana rich@gotoplanb.net 319-530-6051 gotoplanb.net --------------------------------------------------- Iowa Renewable Energy Update 3/25/05 RE issues are a hot topic at the statehouse this year - with the new, narrowly divided legislature battling over many issues, there is bi-partisan support for bills that will help Iowa expand it’s role in meeting the nations energy needs with clean, renewable energy, while benefiting the states economy. Several bills concerning RE made it through this years “funnel” and are currently being considered. Renewable Energy Tax Credits - Senate File 390 (formerly Senate file 371) This bill would provide a 1.5 cent per kilowatt tax credit to utilities purchasing renewable energy, up to a total 100 MW, with a limit of 5 MW per facility. This bill has a great deal of potential, and hopefully will be tweaked next week in order to have maximum benefit for locally owned RE projects. Energy Efficient Appliance Tax Credit - House File 606, Senate File 104 This bill would exempt Energy Star appliances from the sales tax Ethanol Mandate - House File 623 This bill would require all road fuel to utilize at least 10% ethanol by 2006. It would also create a general fuel excise tax of 20 cents after July 2007, and a 30 cents per gallon tax for high emission fuel, and create an income tax credit for E-85 stations. Small Biofuel Producer Tax Exemption - Senate Study Bill 1288 This bill would create a road fuel tax exemption for farmers, hobbyists and researchers to produce up to 300 gallons of fuel for use in their own vehicles without paying road fuel tax. To track progress on these bills, or to find and contact your legislator, visit the statehouse website at: http://www.legis.state.ia.us/ .If you have never looked at this website before, take a minute to check it out. You can search for a bill, read the language and changes, track it through the committee process, and contact those committee members in an easy to use interactive system. It really helps give you the power to understand and participate in your state governments decision making process! On the federal level, the struggle is on to maintain funding for section 9006 of the farm bill, which has provided money for many renewable energy projects and hopefully will continue to do so. Also, federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) bills were introduced in both the House and Senate. In the House, the Udall (D-NM)-Leach (R-IA) bill (HR 963) requires utilities to provide 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2017 and 20 percent by 2027. In the Senate, the Jeffords (I-VT)-Collins (R-ME) bill (S. 427) requires utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from clean renewable sources by 2020. Both bills would save consumers money on their electricity bills, create jobs, boost rural economic development, improve our energy security, and cut pollution. As of now, Latham, King and Nussle are not on board with this effort - they need to hear from you!!!! Legislators are currently home on break and are visiting with their constituents, and they need to be asked face-to-face about why they aren't supporting a renewable electricity standard! If you would like a list of legislator meetings in your area, contact information for your legislator, or a list of talking points and questions to ask your legislator, please feel free to contact me any time at: rich@gotoplanb.net or by phone at (319)530-6051. Rich Dana rich@gotoplanb.net 319-530-6051 gotoplanb.net |
Important Update from the Statehouse
|
Please feel free to pass this along to your friends.... The efforts of organizations like I-Renew is essential to making Iowa a leader in renewable energy production – It is especially important to try to get out to meetings with your U.S. house members next week – let me know if you want more detailed lists of meeting times and talking points. Latham is especially important to maintaining the Ag bill RE money, and Nussle may be a good target on the topic of RES because of his proposed Renewable Fuel Standard. All legislators need to be hearing from their constituents on RE issues though- Thanks for your help, and please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, or suggestions… Thanks! Rich Rich Dana rich@gotoplanb.net 319-530-6051 gotoplanb.net --------------------------------------------------- Iowa Renewable Energy Update 3/25/05 RE issues are a hot topic at the statehouse this year - with the new, narrowly divided legislature battling over many issues, there is bi-partisan support for bills that will help Iowa expand it’s role in meeting the nations energy needs with clean, renewable energy, while benefiting the states economy. Several bills concerning RE made it through this years “funnel” and are currently being considered. Renewable Energy Tax Credits - Senate File 390 (formerly Senate file 371) This bill would provide a 1.5 cent per kilowatt tax credit to utilities purchasing renewable energy, up to a total 100 MW, with a limit of 5 MW per facility. This bill has a great deal of potential, and hopefully will be tweaked next week in order to have maximum benefit for locally owned RE projects. Energy Efficient Appliance Tax Credit - House File 606, Senate File 104 This bill would exempt Energy Star appliances from the sales tax Ethanol Mandate - House File 623 This bill would require all road fuel to utilize at least 10% ethanol by 2006. It would also create a general fuel excise tax of 20 cents after July 2007, and a 30 cents per gallon tax for high emission fuel, and create an income tax credit for E-85 stations. Small Biofuel Producer Tax Exemption - Senate Study Bill 1288 This bill would create a road fuel tax exemption for farmers, hobbyists and researchers to produce up to 300 gallons of fuel for use in their own vehicles without paying road fuel tax. To track progress on these bills, or to find and contact your legislator, visit the statehouse website at: http://www.legis.state.ia.us/ .If you have never looked at this website before, take a minute to check it out. You can search for a bill, read the language and changes, track it through the committee process, and contact those committee members in an easy to use interactive system. It really helps give you the power to understand and participate in your state governments decision making process! On the federal level, the struggle is on to maintain funding for section 9006 of the farm bill, which has provided money for many renewable energy projects and hopefully will continue to do so. Also, federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) bills were introduced in both the House and Senate. In the House, the Udall (D-NM)-Leach (R-IA) bill (HR 963) requires utilities to provide 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2017 and 20 percent by 2027. In the Senate, the Jeffords (I-VT)-Collins (R-ME) bill (S. 427) requires utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from clean renewable sources by 2020. Both bills would save consumers money on their electricity bills, create jobs, boost rural economic development, improve our energy security, and cut pollution. As of now, Latham, King and Nussle are not on board with this effort - they need to hear from you!!!! Legislators are currently home on break and are visiting with their constituents, and they need to be asked face-to-face about why they aren't supporting a renewable electricity standard! If you would like a list of legislator meetings in your area, contact information for your legislator, or a list of talking points and questions to ask your legislator, please feel free to contact me any time at: rich@gotoplanb.net or by phone at (319)530-6051. Rich Dana rich@gotoplanb.net 319-530-6051 gotoplanb.net |
Monday, March 07, 2005
Iowa Legislature Addresses Renewable Energy
|
Renewable Energy – Hot Topic at the Statehouse By Rich Dana After years of work by I-Renew members and others in Iowa to raise consciousness of renewable energy and it’s economic and environmental benefits to our state, Iowa’s legislators seem to have decided in 2005 that RE is “ready for prime time.” A flurry of bills incenting the production and use of renewable electrical generation as well as biofuels have been introduced this year, and many seem to be enjoying bi-partisan support. Among the bills to watch this year are: SSB 1187 an incentive for utilities to purchase locally owned renewable energy generation SSB1188 an incentive for locally owned RE production HF 269 & SF 96 & 99 would establish ethanol and biodiesel standards for Iowa – requiring the use of blended fuels HF 317 would increase the percentage of ethanol in blended fuels In addition, a yet to be introduced bill is currently being drafted that would provide a road tax exemption to those manufacturing biodiesel for personal use. Stay tuned…. Members of groups like I-Renew, Iowa Farmers Union, and the Iowa Environmental Council all deserve credit for helping bring about this change in attitude – because of the efforts of activists like you, Iowa passed the Alternative Energy Production in 1983, a capacity-based standard requiring investor-owned utilities to purchase a shared total of 105 MW of capacity each year from renewable energy generators. Though utility companies opposed a government mandate requiring the use of renewables, it is generally accepted that the AEPL was the impetus for the construction of Iowa’s first wind farms, and lead to Iowa’s leading role in wind power production. A similar standard in Texas signed by then Governor Bush, has made Texas the nations leader in wind energy production, and many experts feel that increasing Iowa’s Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) would be the fastest way to keep Iowa a leader in renewable production. That idea is not popular with the powerful utility company lobby, though, and more “business friendly” approaches like tax credits seem to be useful compromises. Now that large corporations like MidAmerican Energy have found that wind energy is indeed profitable and have started to develop new, large wind farms, it is critical that grassroots activists like I-Renew lead efforts to make sure that all of those dollars don’t go out-of-state…local economies benefit more when a portion of the generation facilities are locally owned. On the Federal level, the Energy Bill will be back this year, and HR 983, authored by our own Representative Jim Leach, calls for a 10% federal RES of 10% by 2017, increasing to 20% by 2027. Although this standard would mean huge opportunities for Iowa, other Iowa congressmen are less supportive of a federal RES. On both the state and federal level, it is essential that your government representatives hear from you on the need to support renewable energy development. If you would like to receive regular updates and action alerts on legislative issues, please contact us by email – irenew@irenew.org or by phone – 563-432-6551. This article was printed in the Energy Matters newsletter, a publication of the Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-RENEW). |
irenew@irenew.org
(563) 432-6551
IRenew
PO Box 3405
Iowa City, IA
52244-3405
home
- about irenew - news
- expo - workshops
- legislation - membership
- links
Copyright © 2004 IRENEW, All Rights Reserved.
Click to subscribe to irenew
This page powered by BLOGGER