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June 2, 2010

For Louisiana, now is the time to adopt a Renewable Energy Standard

BP contractors cleaning up the beaches in Louisiana, photographed on May 23, 2010

The terrible images and stories emerging out of Louisiana – despite apparent attempts by BP to control the media coverage – makes you wonder if the state will ever be entirely comfortable with offshore oil drilling again.

Will millions of gallons of toxic black sludge taking over the Gulf of Mexico, and still no end in sight to the disaster, Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek highlights a number of legislative measures that could now find support among Louisiana legislators, as well as some interesting ideas about sourcing power from the flow of the Mississippi River.

While some may be focusing on who to blame, whether a Hollywood director can help stop the oil leak, or whether the “cool” demeanor of President Obama is or is not appropriate for a crisis, a group of lawmakers in the affected State are getting on with real efforts to try to affect some change.

Among the proposed laws is Senate Bill 183 from Senator Nick Gatreaux, which is seeking to rent out Louisiana state land for renewable energy projects, a bill that has passed the Senate and awaits House committee review.

This could include solar plants, wind farms and perhaps most intriguingly a hydrokinetic power project on the Mississippi.

A pair of House Bills from Rep Franklin Foil seeks to break down the barriers that homeowners face in setting up their own renewable energy equipment – HB 751 and HB 973 have passed the House and now await a Senate committee hearing.

Standard

Meanwhile, the glaringly obvious omission from state legislation is a full Renewable Portfolio Standard.

Environmental groups like the Sierra Club have been calling for a Standard for several years, a measure that would require state utilities to supply renewable energy to their customers.

A meeting of the Louisiana Public Service Commission on June 23 may see some consideration to a proposal for a Renewable Portfolio Standard, although it considered a standard last year to no avail.

However, as it stands the proposal on the table is for a voluntary Standard, with a weak target of just 12.5% renewable electricity by 2025.

Another possibility is that the “renewable” standard could include the use of nuclear power and even “clean” coal among the types of energy that can be used toward the standard targets.

While some may argue that Louisiana cannot afford higher prices for renewable energy under the kind of mandate California has put in place, the fact that the existing oil industry has inflicted such a huge cost on the Gulf of Mexico cannot go unnoticed.

Take into account that a major delay to new offshore oil projects as set in place by the White House could see an increase in future oil prices, and a major investment in renewable energy makes even more sense at this time.