May 8th, 2013
As the days get longer, I am reminded that summer is just around the corner. The extra daylight is reinvigorating my garden. But lately, another bloom has captured my attention: the solar photovoltaic (PV) installations sprouting up across the country. Read More
May 7th, 2013
Recent efforts to repeal renewable electricity standards (RES) by fossil-fuel backed opponents have been thwarted in Kansas and North Carolina. The reason? As a newly released review of state RES policies by the Union of Concerned Scientists report clearly shows, these popular, bipartisan policies are working effectively all over the country; affordably driving new renewable energy development and delivering substantial economic benefits to states and local communities in the process. Simply put, the facts on the ground are proving difficult to overcome for those seeking to roll back progress toward a clean energy economy. Read More
April 25th, 2013
Again this week, a coal-burning utility announced that a significant purchase of wind power will benefit ratepayers. This is the third contract to deliver over 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Oklahoma and Kansas wind farms to benefit the Southeast states. Alabama was first, now Georgia will see lower and more stable electricity prices through wind power purchases. Both utilities Georgia Power and Alabama Power report that the wind power contracts provide cost-savings for their customers. Read More
April 25th, 2013
On April 24, Senators Coons (D-DE), Moran (R-KS), Stabenow (D-MI) and Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Master Limited Partnerships (MLP) Parity Act, a bipartisan bill that would give renewable energy projects access to billions of dollars of lower cost capital that has been available to the fossil fuel industry for decades. Read More
April 17th, 2013
I recently spoke at the BlueGreen Alliance conference on the question: Could all U.S. manufacturing be powered by renewable electricity? Read More
April 15th, 2013
State decisions on new power plants are even more critical while the EPA holds back its release of carbon standards for new power plants. Read More
April 12th, 2013
When we are ready for winter to end but forced to endure a few more weeks of grey and blustery days, we often attempt to comfort ourselves by saying “April showers bring May flowers.” But now, thanks to the growing amount of wind generation capacity and blustery spring winds, we can expect something else in April: loads of clean, renewable energy. Read More
April 12th, 2013
Tomorrow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will likely miss a legal deadline for finalizing its draft carbon standard for curtailing carbon emissions from new power plants. Power plants are the single largest stationary source of U.S. global warming emissions. Cutting those emissions is critical to slowing the magnitude and pace of climate change. Furthermore, an ambitious standard is achievable because we have abundant cleaner forms of energy. So why the delay? Read More
April 10th, 2013
UCS has just released a new report that I co-authored called Ramping up Renewables: Energy You Can Count On. It shows that renewable energy is already providing more clean, reliable electricity in the United States and around the world than many people thought possible just a few years ago. It also shows that we have the tools to accommodate considerably more wind and solar in the U.S. electricity system, as well as reach much higher levels in the future. Read More
March 21st, 2013
The 2012 figures on U.S. solar installations have just come in, and things are looking, well, sunny. The U.S. Solar Market Insight 2012 report shows that annual solar installations grew 76 percent last year. That growth has been driven by a dynamic and exciting interplay between costs, markets, and policies that have created incentives, knocked down barriers, and brought in all kinds of new customers. Read More
© 2013
