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'Tilting at windmills': new documentary on wind development in upstate NY lacks broader perspective

2012-02-12T03:09:42Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

Documentaries present stories and dilemmas that use a variety of available media and first-hand interviews from real-life events. The recently released documentary, "Windfall," gives "us a firsthand look at rural Meredith, in upstate New York [more specifically the 'Southern Tier' region] when wind turbines came to town, the film depicts the perils of a booming industry and the bitter rancor it sowed among a citizenry" (Andy Webster, New York Times).

Before diving into the finer points of the story and information presented in "Windfall," I think it's important to take a step back to not lose sight of the bigger picture regarding energy extraction activities that have taken place in broader the Appalachian region where "Windfall" takes place. Starting with perhaps the most insidious activities still taking place today, there's mountain-top removal (watch: "The Last Mountain"), coal mining and combustion for electricity (watch: "Coal Country"), and hydro-fracturing and drilling for natural gas (watch: "Gasland"). We also did a lot of dam building in the last century.

With this perspective on the bigger picture of energy development and extraction in Appalachia, let's now go a little deeper into "Windfall". The biggest shortcoming of the documentary may be the fact that the film's director, Laura Israel, provided us with no wind industry representation (or serious attempt to contact them). New York Times film reviewer Andy Webster makes the point:

Government officials are seen only in glimpses of television talk shows. Conspicuously absent are representatives of corporations like Airtricity , Enxco or Horizon Wind Energy (though the financier and wind advocate T. Boone Pickens comes off as a wolf in good-old-boy clothing).

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at least provided representation from all sides of the matter in a creatively titled piece (it's pretty darn funny, too), "Fowl Wind," for a wind energy development dilemma in Florida last summer.

I have first-hand experience working at a major 'utility-scale' wind turbine site -- the first one ever constructed in the Southeast U.S. -- at Buffalo Mountain, Tennessee (just north of Oak Ridge, TN). It was a summer internship I had with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 2003.

I worked with a small team of scientists studying bird and bat populations at the wind site. I would spend upwards of 20-hours/week directly below the wind towers, searching for bird and bats that might have collided with the towers or blades, conducting bird & bat counts in specific spots near the tower footings, and changing out batteries (35-lb marine batteries to be exact) to run the bird & bat-detecting equipment.

There is no denying that utility-scale wind turbines are tall and unique features in any given landscape. They do produce sound when wind hits them. They create a faint shadow when it's sunny (but like any shadow, it falls behind the sun, which moves across the sky each day and variates position seasonally, so it's never in one spot for more than a few minutes). And yes, there are occasional bird and bat collisions that occur.

Stepping through the human health and environmental impacts more systematically:

(If you prefer listening to these matters over reading, I spoke about wind energy and environmental impacts, and the state of renewable energy development more generally, on Florida Public Radio's Radio Green Earth this past November.)

Sound: Typically, two people can carry on a conversation at normal voice levels even while standing directly below a turbine. Often the loudest sound heard is the whooshing sound of the wind hitting the blades—similar to the sound of a flag in the wind. Basic guidelines have been developed for locating wind farms as well as local agreements keep turbines at safe distances from homes and businesses.

Shadows: Shadows from moving wind blades typically lasts just a few minutes near sunrise and sunset in bright sun conditions, and can be addressed through the location of turbines and plantings. German researchers found that flicker would affect residents for 100 minutes per year under the worst conditions and 20 minutes per year under normal circumstances. The rate at which wind turbine shadows flicker is far below the frequency that, according to the Epilepsy Foundation, normally is associated with seizures. A 2007 report by an expert panel for the National Academy of Sciences found it to be "harmless to humans."

Overall Health Impact: An independent expert panel established by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Public Health in January 2012 gave wind a clean bill of health, based on analyzing all available scientific studies. The agencies reported that,

“There is no evidence for a set of health effects, from exposure to wind turbines that could be characterized as a 'Wind Turbine Syndrome.'…we conclude the weight of the evidence suggests no association between noise from wind turbines and measures of psychological distress or mental health problems.”

Environmental Impacts: Authorized through the landmark National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversees all federal environmental review procedures, more generally known as the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and review, for all proposed wind energy development.

Birds and Bats: Acknowledging that bird and bat collisions do occur with wind turbines, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has developed "Bird-smart" review guidelines for wind energy development. (NRDC is leading the way in Smart-from-the-Start siting.) For broader perspective it's important not to lose sight of the fact(s) that direct bird and bat kills caused by wind energy pale in comparison to other infrastructure and human-created activity:

Table source: How Stuff works

Although "Windfall" has its shortcomings in providing a fair and comprehensive view from all sides of the dilemma,it does, however, tell a story that fits within the broader, age-old narrative that energy development is a messy and complex problem. Abundant, free and carbon-less renewable energy from the wind and sun require that we build infrastructure in the form of wind turbines and solar arrays to capture it. NRDC is facing this challenge head on by laying the policy groundwork that will guide us to make good and fair decisions through 'smart-from-the-start' siting principles, maps and tools. In closing I leave you with this quote from my colleague, Johanna Wald, who I believe best articulates the nature of this tough new dilemma we face:

" ... our changing climate is changing everything, including conservation goals. We no longer have the luxury of picking between the obvious good and unmitigated evil. We are faced with hard choices, and those choices entail trade-offs. Our challenge today is to make the choices that provide the greatest environmental benefit and result in the least possible environmental impact. ... We face many difficult decisions, but we will have to pick among them as wisely as we can. There is no reasonable alternative. As the planet changes, we must change with it. The traditional conventions – and those include some traditional conventions of the conservation community – must yield to the new realities."

NY Solar Jobs Bill will improve air quality and health

2012-01-31T03:00:00Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

The solar jobs bill will not only provide new local economic development opportunity and good paying jobs, but it will also result in significant health benefits to all New Yorkers throughout the state by improving our air quality and removing global warming pollution. Our economic-public health tally shows at least $158 million to $226 million in total public health benefits (avoided health costs from emissions of existing fossil fuel combustion linked to public morbidity and mortality).[1]

Specifically NYSJA will:

Reduce stress on New York’s power grid during peak hours, lessening the need to run older, dirtier plants, especially on summer days.

Reduce harmful emissions of mercury and smog-causing pollution. Over 65 percent of New Yorkers currently live in counties where air pollution endangers lives.

Reduce global warming pollution, equivalent to taking 95,000 cars off the road.

The table below summarizes the atmospheric pollutant reductions from a program that would achieve 5 GW of solar (3% statewide electricity generation) in New York by 2026.[2]101

Criteria Pollutants

Greenhouse Gases

Mercury (Hg)

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) equiv.

70.0 lbs.

9.2 million lbs.

25.2 million lbs.

3.9 million metric tons

(95,000 cars)

[1] Derived from multiplying 3% (the amount of displaced existing generation from 5GW capacity or nearly 6 GWh energy production from NYSJA) by $3.4 billion (the most recent EPA health impact study from the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards Rule for New York, see http://www.epa.gov/mats/whereyoulive/ny.html) and the range of $48 million to $116 million (the modeled economic health impacts in New York from ozone and particulate matter in the Northeast U.S. for the Cross-state Air Interstate Rule, Table 3-2, “Summary of the value of avoided incidences attributed to reduced ozone due to CAIR+ in OTR states.” See: http://www.mass.gov/dep/air/priorities/hazeapaa.pdf).

[2] Emission co-efficients from EPA Egrid 2007, summarized in the table, below. See http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/egrid/index.html

Emissions Co-Efficients for GHG's (Non-Baseload Emissions)			Other Criteria Pollutants (Non-Baseload Emissions)
Carbon dioxide (CO2) (lbs/MWh)	Methane (CH4) (lbs/GWh)	Nitrous oxide (N20) (lbs/GWh)	Mercury (Hg) (lbs/GWh)	Nitrogen oxides (NOx) (lbs/GWh)	Sulfur dioxide (SO2) (lbs/MWh)
1,517.76	51.98	13.83	0.0123	1.6236	4.4314
(100 yr CO2e)	25x	298x

Solar is Ready for Prime Time in New York

2012-01-27T01:00:53Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

What's the wait? New York needs to take the next step to invest in solar. Policies such as the New York State renewable portfolio standard (RPS) have done a lot to bring new renewables like wind and biomass into the state's clean energy economy, but they have fallen short in valuing localized economic, jobs and air quality improvement benefits that solar can bring to communities and utility consumers throughout the state. Two distinguished leaders within our New York Solar Jobs Act coalition, Jackson Morris of the Pace Energy and Climate Center and Adam Browning of the Vote Solar Initiative tell us in "prime time" on CUNY TV's Brian Lehrer show why solar is a great investment for New York and why the New York market needs certainty, longevity and scale if the state is to become a true solar leader. The solar segment is part of Brian Lehrer's "Planet White House" segment that begins at minute 21 and goes through minute 43.

Have any questions? Post them here and I will do my best to answer them for you!

Obama: Advancing U.S. clean energy requires more federal support and Congressional action

2012-01-25T22:30:48Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

President Obama confirmed his commitment to clean energy and to environmental and public health protections in his State of the Union Address last night. And he backed up his words toward advancing renewable energy in the U.S. with real, measurable goals:

Obama: “I’m directing my Administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power three million homes.”

What is the energy equivalent of 3 million U.S. homes? How about meeting all the electricity needs for the entire state of Nevada (with room to spare!) according to latest EIA figures. On a capacity-basis, the President’s goal equates to around 10 gigawatts (GW) of new renewables on U.S. public lands. Here's how that compares to the existing installed capacities of these technologies in the U.S:

3.1 GW of solar to October 2011
Over 43 GW of wind to October 2011
3.1 GW of geothermal to April 2011

This work toward achieving 10 GW of new renewables is already underway. Under Obama, at last count the Department of Interior (DOI) has permitted 6.5 GW of renewable energy including sixteen utility-scale solar plants, four wind projects and seven geothermal plants on U.S. public lands. That is an impressive achievement. NRDC has supported a number of these projects through our work. But much needs to be done to ensure that the federal land management agencies in charge of public lands institute siting and sourcing policies that are “Smart From the Start.” It’s worth repeating what we mean by this phrase -- stated earlier by my colleague, Johanna Wald:

“To NRDC, responsible renewable energy development means Interior needs to establish a program that is based on guiding solar development to appropriate places – places with high quality solar resources, low natural resource conflicts and the needed infrastructure in place or planned, rather than permitting solar projects – typically thousands of acres in size – to be strewn sporadically across our public lands.”

Smart siting, such as creating zones for solar and wind development is the only way we can meet the ambitious targets laid out by the President. Send a message to the Obama administration in asking them to embrace a Smart from the Start renewables program. Smart siting and sourcing of homegrown renewable energy is only part of the equation in putting American ingenuity and leadership at work. We need Congress to act, too.

We need Congress to act, too.

Obama: “It was public research dollars, over the course of thirty years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock – reminding us that Government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground. … Our experience with shale gas shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away. Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. … I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here. We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.”

The graphic below summarizes what Obama was describing:

Adding up the area below the lines for oil & gas versus renewables, you get this: in the last 60 years, the US fossil fuel industry has received almost $600 billion in federal support, compared with only $74 billion for renewables.

Failure to enact long-term support from the federal government, such as extending the production tax credit for wind, is limiting all of these benefits by making it impossible for renewable energy businesses to plan and grow. Our elected representatives in Congress need to hear from us that this is super-critical and urgent action that needs to happen now.

These are real jobs providing power that we invented, we own and it’s never going to run out. The last thing we need to do is put up roadblocks now.

Labor Groups Join the Call for More Solar in New York

2011-11-29T22:43:19Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

The New York Solar Jobs Act continues to gain momentum before Albany lawmakers reconvene in just a few short weeks. Today our coalition officially welcomed the support of several organizations representing labor and trades:

National Electrical Contractors Association
United Association
New York State AFL-CIO
NYS Building & Construction Trades Council
NYS Apollo Alliance
Workforce Development Institute

Below is the official statement of principles that forges this new and historic alliance among solar and clean energy advocates, leading businesses, environmental groups and labor to get a New York solar bill passed in 2012.

New York State is facing two connected fiscal, policy and political imperatives: we must create sustainable, clean energy and we must create new, sustainable jobs. To make both sustainable we need more than a single project or even several projects—we need a well thought out program and the fiscal, policy and political will to carry the program forward. The New York Solar Jobs Coalition is an historic collaboration of organized labor, the solar industry and environmental organizations working to promote and develop good jobs in the clean energy economy. We believe that investments in New York’s solar industry go hand in hand with economic development, job creation and sound environmental policy.

We believe that the State must set an ambitious solar goal by a date certain – equivalent to 5,000 megawatts of solar on the grid by 2025. We also believe that the State must develop policies that stimulate the demand for and incentivize the local manufacture of products in the solar supply chain.

The Coalition understands the environmental imperative of reducing carbon emissions and recognizes the role of small businesses in delivering residential solar installation at the neighborhood level. The Coalition believes that providing businesses throughout the state with a stable and predictably-priced energy option will enhance their competitiveness and allow them to continue to invest in local operations and jobs. We also believe that no State incentive program will be successful unless it is designed to scale and developed to create demand in the commercial marketplace. All members of the Coalition agree that applying labor protection laws, specifically the prevailing wage law, to the installation of photovoltaic devices above a certain size threshold is the best way to ensure that New York is expanding solar technology while at the same time creating good, local, family-supporting green jobs.

The New York Solar Jobs Coalition supports Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders who are committed to the expansion of New York’s solar industry. We applaud the inclusion of a solar jobs impact study in the Power NY Act of 2011 and we look forward to the study’s results. A reliable supply of affordable energy over the long-term is key to New York’s economic future. Investments in renewable energy have the added value of contributing to a cleaner, healthier and safer future.

This initiative is about energy security, the creation of good jobs, and investment in New York. With a good faith effort on all sides, we look forward as a united coalition to working with New York’s elected officials to develop a solar jobs program that will position our state as a national leader in the development of solar energy and good, green jobs.

The ever-broadening coalition of business, environmental and labor interests shows that New Yorkers are demanding more investment in solar energy to reinvigorate our economy (juxtaposed to this sobering New York State economic & jobs report released earlier today), provide new job opportunities and clean up our environment.

Long Island is Solar Island

2011-11-21T19:22:36Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

Over 4,000 businesses and homes on Long Island have gone solar. We learned last week, however, that Fox News program host and long-time resident of Long Island, Bill O'Reilly, does not have solar or wind on his property. (Special thanks to Stephen Lacey and colleagues at Climate Progress for posting.) He says he wants to "buy solar or wind for his house this winter." But he can't find anyone who will do it.

Bill, we're here to help. As a resident of Long Island, NY, you're in luck for at least three reasons. First, your electric utility provider, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), ranks among the Top Ten U.S. utilities with the most installed solar in their service territory - three years running. Second, Long Island is home to over twenty renewable and solar energy (including both photovoltaic and hot water) businesses who are eager to bid and spec out a new system for you. Third, Long Island has very good solar resources. How good? It's on par with 'sunny' European countries, Italy and Spain (accounting for all seasons).

The light-yellow shaded area (e.g. covering most of New York and the Northeast) on the U.S. map corresponds to the medium-orange band running through northern Spain and northern Italy.

Ironic that Mr. O'Reilly's public 'request' for solar and wind installers coincided with the news last Friday that the largest solar photovoltaic energy system in the Northeast went online in Long Island. Known simply as the Long Island Solar Farm, it is powering the equivalent of 4,500 homes (that's 32 megawatts in capacity for the energy-savants keeping score). Goordian Raacke, director of Renewable Energy Long Island, advocating alongside us for clean and renewable energy in New York said it best, "This is huge!"

Photo above is a screen capture of Newsday video by Jennifer Smirth of the Long Island Solar Farm Commissioning Ceremony

Solar is a good investment for New York, giving a boost to our economy and adding new and local job opportunities while keeping our air and water clean. The New York Solar Jobs Act will open up this great economic investment opportunity for the benefit of all New York State residents and businesses.

U.S. Job Creating Solar Industry Continues to Shine

2011-11-08T22:25:18Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

The U.S. solar industry employs more than 100,000 Americans and is expanding at a rate of 6.8 percent, helping to lift U.S. employment levels and the broader economy. In addition, almost 9 out of every 10 Americans say they want more solar development to boost domestic energy resources. Solar PV costs have fallen so rapidly that it now pays to be your own energy generator (with double the rewards when combined with appliance and building energy efficiency measures). Whether you're a business, community institution, homeowner or even a renter, solar provides us all a new choice to take control of rising energy costs, prevent local pollution and avoid greenhouse gas emissions.

If my 'sunny' disposition as an environmental voice on the rise of solar energy isn't convincing enough, check out these remarks from the President and CEO of one of the largest power suppliers in the U.S., NRG Energy Inc. In a conference call [subscription req'd] to company investors last week, NRG Energy, Inc.'s President and CEO David Crane remarked that the falling cost of solar could revolutionize utility industry:

We will be in a situation where within two years the price of delivered power from solar installations will be able to undercut the retail price of grid power in roughly 20 states,” Crane said. “Many of these high price retail states are in our core regions. This low-cost solar power, installed in ever-increasing volumes on a distributed and semi-distributed basis in a way that obviates the need for a lot of very long high-voltage transmission lines, has a potential to revolutionize the hub-and-spoke power system which currently makes up the American power industry.

Which 20 states is Mr. Crane referring to? Most likely the states and locales that are shaded in green in the graphic below. The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) created this map after running a basic level analysis that overlayed the national average cost for small-scale rooftop solar projects purchased through long-term, low-interest financing on top of local utility, state and federal incentives.

Solar energy's mass appeal and solid investment features are beginning to pay off in a big way. Our own NRDC Renewable Energy Map shows that new solar energy facilities (of capacity size greater than 500 kW) are rapidly sprouting up throughout the U.S.

Paul Krugman summed things up nicely in his recent Op-Ed in the New York Times on the rise of solar energy amidst the Solyndra DOE loan guarantee fall-out:

… These days, mention solar power and you’ll probably hear cries of “Solyndra!” Republicans have tried to make the failed solar panel company both a symbol of government waste — although claims of a major scandal are nonsense — and a stick with which to beat renewable energy.

But Solyndra’s failure was actually caused by technological success: the price of solar panels is dropping fast, and Solyndra couldn’t keep up with the competition. In fact, progress in solar panels has been so dramatic and sustained that, as a blog post at Scientific American put it, “there’s now frequent talk of a ‘Moore’s law’ in solar energy,” with prices adjusted for inflation falling around 7 percent a year.

This has already led to rapid growth in solar installations, but even more change may be just around the corner. If the downward trend continues — and if anything it seems to be accelerating — we’re just a few years from the point at which electricity from solar panels becomes cheaper than electricity generated by burning coal.

Solar energy is now a major player among the expanding portfolio of clean and renewable energy options available in the U.S. The smoke and resulting shadow cast upon U.S. renewable energy industries from Solyndra's fall out has dissipated. The sun is back, shining as brightly as it has been for billions of years, able to reinvigorate any economy that's willing to let it.

Your One-Stop Shop for Renewable Energy Info

2011-11-01T20:02:47Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

We are excited to share with you our latest update to the NRDC Renewable Energy for America website—providing you with all the latest and accurate information on where renewable projects and resources are, what technologies they encompass, and what we can do to get more of them.

The "Where" - Map Updates

Newly installed projects
Planned and under construction projects
New geothermal energy potential map
Higher resolution wind energy potential map

The "What" - Technologies and Markets

More state profiles
New stories and updated facts and figures
Updated technology profiles

How We Can Get More Renewables

Recommended state and technology-specific policy considerations
Updated advocacy and consumer toolkit
Updated and expanded list of references including emerging renewable technologies

My Initial Observations

A couple observations I made from the updated map include: (1) there is at least one renewable project in every state, and (2) every state shows high potential (the highest end of the scale) for at least one of the five renewable energy resources with a majority of states exhibiting high potential for three or more renewable energy resource options.

This website is intended to be a shareable resource that we hope you will find both informative and engaging. Whether you're a local clean energy advocate, researcher, curious consumer, energy industry participant, or political decision-maker, I encourage you to give it look, ask us questions about what you see, and tell your friends and colleagues. Enough reading it already -- click here to start exploring!

A New York Consumer Energy Efficiency Program Strengthens Consumer Confidence

2011-09-20T16:46:26Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

Just before Labor Day, we found out that U.S. consumer sentiment took a nosedive. Meanwhile, businesses say they won't invest in hiring new employees until consumer demand assuredly picks up. Whether it was a sympton of “Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder” as Ben Bernanke recently alluded to, or some other set of fears about market uncertainty, consumer demand needs a lift.

It’s been said that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. New York consumers were treated to a bit of this kind of ‘luck’ and foresight when the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) flipped the switch on a program known as the “Buy Green , Save Green NYS High Efficiency Appliance Rebates” just before Labor Day, which offered consumers rebates for high-efficiency clothes washers and fridges. The program did its part to 'energize' consumer demand in a big way, as reported on by Aaron Scholder of Gannett’s Albany Bureau:

"The $3.5 million appliance rebate initiative announced last week by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority ran out of funds on Tuesday, effectively ending the program after just five days.

The program offered consumers rebates of up to $350 if they purchased new refrigerators and washing machines that met super-high efficiency standards.

Timing of the program’s start could not have been better for consumers, who reaped the benefits that came with the rebates coupled with retailers’ Labor Day sales."

It was no fluke that the consumer rebate program saw such rapid uptake. The Buy Green, Save Green NYS High Efficiency Appliance Rebates program was actually part of a much longer-running and successful NYSERDA program known as the New York Energy $mart Products Initiative [see p.122]. This larger initiative aims to accomplish two goals:

1) To increase the supply of products through partnerships with retailers, manufacturers and distributors, and

2) To create demand for high efficiency and ENERGY STAR products through consumer awareness and understanding of the ENERGY STAR label.

I blogged about the NYSERDA program over two years ago as a similar concept got play in a provision known as the Best-in-Class Appliance Deployment Program in the 2009 Waxman-Markey Climate "ACES" Bill. Here’s how I described the Energy $mart Products Initiative back then:

The NYSERDA program rewards retailers who sell a higher proportion of ENERGY STAR-labeled products to non-qualifying high efficiency products. Retailers can use any variety of creative and innovative aims to get consumers to purchase the more efficient products. Common retailer sales tactics that have emerged include eye-catching energy and environmental promotional pieces, coupons and price markdowns for the efficient products, consumer education via signs showing product energy savings, and favorable shelf positioning for efficient appliances. And the program does not discriminate based on store or company size - everything from local "ma and pop" hardware stores to Home Depot, Lowe's, and Best Buy are able to take part and benefit from the program.

. . . Using the cost-benefit test known as the Program Administrator Cost (PAC) test , which [only] measures the energy savings from affected appliance sales against the cost of the program [public spend], the NYSERDA program comes out at a ratio of 19:1. (My apologies for the wonkiness.)

Add in the total consumer spend for purchasing these products and the ratio only goes higher. Taken together, New Yorkers not only reaped a big payback for making energy efficient product purchases, they also realized immediate and sustained savings by reducing their own personal and household electric utility cost burdens. And that translates into additional money in consumers’ pockets to spend elsewhere in the economy. The NYSERDA program is yet another great example of energy efficiency at work in helping to strengthen our weakened economy and protect our environment.

Update: New York Solar Jobs Act ... Vote Deferred to Next Year

2011-06-24T18:31:18Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

Summer is now in full swing and New York lawmakers are planning to close the 2011 legislative session before the weekend. They did not move the New York Solar Jobs Act. Needless to say we are disappointed that state lawmakers have decided not to move strong solar policy forward this session - a move that sets New York back an additional year toward realizing its full solar potential, forgoing federal funding, economic development and new job opportunities as neighboring states continue to charge ahead.

However, NY legislators' attention to solar over the course of the 2011 session as well as the ultimate inclusion of a solar study provision in Energy Program Bill #21 indicate real interest on the part of lawmakers in advancing New York's solar economy. The bi-partisan bill received support from more than 65 sponsors and co-sponsors in the Assembly and Senate.

Beyond Albany, solar is clearly still an energy priority among businesses, public health groups, environmental advocates and citizens from upstate and down.

For all of these reasons, we remain optimistic about the prospects of New York passing strong solar legislation - and we remain committed to supporting its speedy passage so that New Yorkers can begin to reap the many economic and environmental benefits of a strong solar market sooner rather than later.

Designing Policy to Sustain and Scale Distributed Clean Energy in the U.S.

2011-06-20T20:30:03Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

Non-hydroelectric renewable energy today accounts for over 4% of the U.S. energy mix. We have made modest progress on renewables in the U.S. with a quadrupaling of new renewable energy since the year 2000. However, we must do a lot more for renewables at home if we hope to keep within reach of China and Germany in clean energy development and show rest of the world that the U.S. is serious about addressing climate change.

Several countries, particularly in Europe, have demonstrated a strong conviction to take action on climate issues by establishing policies to develop and quickly grow renewable energy markets. One particular policy mechanism, broadly known as a Feed-in Tariff (FIT), has emerged as the most widely adopted platform to drive investment in clean energy technologies, especially solar photovoltaics (PV). The country most famous for originally designing and implementing a FIT is Germany. The German FIT, alongside a multi-faceted renewable policy strategy, has led to global leadership in solar PV and other renewable technology deployment in both generation and manufacturing capacity.

Other countries, such as Spain, France and Italy have similarly utilized FITs to supercharge their renewable deployment, although with widely publicized challenges in the case of Spain, and growing unease in France. All told, as of today, over fifty countries spanning Europe, Asia and North America were experimenting with, or fully implementing FITs -- mostly to encourage PV installations, leading to a global boom in solar capacity. Since eclipsing one gigawatt of PV capacity in 2002, the global solar industry has now installed over twenty gigawatts of global capacity, a staggering eight year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 50%.

In light of these superlative results, and with a desire to increase incentive options available for clean distributed generation such as solar PV and community-scale wind power, support for the implementation of FITs is growing among key stakeholders in the United States. This is leading to a wide-ranging and passionate debate among policy advocates (link: recent paper on FITs that I co-authored with Cai Steger and Noah Long in the Electricity Journal), investors and the business community; and to a profusion of U.S. state- and local-level proposed FIT legislation.

How Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) are Structured and Work

Fixed-price Feed-in-Tariffs (e.g. Germany’s solar deployment program) establish standard contractual prices, terms and conditions (e.g. “power purchase agreements”) for specifically defined energy producing and/or energy storing technologies that connect (i.e. “feed”) into a larger utility grid or bulk transmission system. FIT contracts are typically framed and programmatically administered by regulatory bodies that have legal jurisdiction over utilities (including both publicly- and privately-held) that generate and/or deliver electric power. Drilling a little deeper into this general definition, we identify these common elements:

Pricing: “Value-based” is a method to securitize long-term grid, public health and environmental benefits that clean distributed generation to a specific geographic area and/or location on the grid. “Cost-based” creates an above-market tariff that “fills the gap” between current electricity market rates and the installed costs of a given type of distributed generation technology. In the case of the latter, pricing is set to “guarantee” a positive return on investment during the life of the contract.
Terms: generally ten to twenty years
Conditions: utilities “must take” energy generated, pursuant to meeting interconnection standards for system commissioning, monitoring and power quality.

Overview of Feed-in-Tariffs in the U.S.

Within the U.S., FITs are intended to complement existing competitive resource procurement mechanisms (e.g., Renewable Portfolio Standards) and other renewables supporting policy, by tailoring financial and/or transactional support for emerging distributed generation technologies that are often neglected by traditional renewable resource procurement mechanisms. Financial and transactional issues most often identified as barriers to developing robust markets for clean distributed generation include relatively high transaction costs of participation in competitive solicitations for smaller projects, insufficient market liquidity and access to low-interest private capital, burdensome and untimely utility-grid interconnection procedures, and unknown, competing or prohibitive local zoning, environmental and building codes.

The diversity of institutions that govern, invest in, operate and maintain the U.S. electric-delivery system pose many unique challenges to the implementation of FITs. We stress that these challenges are “unique” and we caution against directly comparing the U.S. among nations with an existing FIT because of the wide ranging, and frankly, wholly different context of politics, laws and institutions that establish electricity policy in each different polity.

Critical Objectives for Cost-Effective Scaling of Distributed Generation that Can Inform FIT Design:

Attract an increasing percentage of private sector capital and allows market to operate on a ‘‘level playing field’’ in providing the balance of technologies
Drive industry costs down
Encourage sustained orderly deployment to avoid overheating the market
Facilitate the development of a diverse portfolio of emerging, early-stage
technologies alongside mature technologies
Limit impact on electric utilities by applying only to those that are revenue decoupled or regulated by a Commission that is moving toward such a regulated regime
Encourage environmentally sustainable technology build-out and adapting program rules to reflect any new environmental regulations

Points to Consider When Designing and Implementing FITs in the U.S.

There are several important elements of a well-designed FIT. A poorly implemented FIT can cause significant utility rate impacts without establishing a sustainable market; and the complexity of designing such a policy, especially on a federal level, should not be underestimated.

(1) Start in the States. Take advantage of the ‘‘state-as-policy-lab’’ concept, and experiment with different policy configurations.

(2) Competitively neutral. FIT policies should not discriminate by utility ownership or apply asymmetrically within states.

(3) Restrictions on project size. FITs should be available for systems sized up to several megawatts. Smaller projects typically are stymied by a high transaction costs, which is a key market barrier that well implemented FITs will help diminish.

(4) Informed distributed generation siting. Sufficiently precise, transparent, and accessible distribution system analyses to identify specific grid locations that would benefit from new clean distributed generation ought to precede and then strongly inform FIT rate design and capacity limits.

(5) Balance legislative framework with public utility commission involvement. In order to maintain adequate flexibility, general principles for the FIT should be established in legislation, but the PUC should be charged with adopting the actual tariffs.

(6) Tariff rate-setting should carefully balance a limited utility rate impact and accurately reflect the true value (externalities included) of distributed generation.

(7) Regular program evaluation with reasonable implementation flexibility.

(8) Program Capacity cap. In order to minimize cost concerns, an annual limit should be placed on the amount of resources that can be procured under the FIT.

(9) Last but certainly not least! Address non-price-based installation barriers to growth. Feed-in tariffs cannot be used to overcome all barriers to the installation of distributed renewable generation and attempts to do so will likely lead to excessive program costs. Here are some of the key non-price barriers to keep in mind:

Widely varying interconnection, technical and installation standards. National standards are needed.
Unknown, competing, or prohibitive local zoning, permitting procedures, environmental and building codes.
Substations vary widely in their ability to handle distributed generation. States must share information to target development near substations with low utilization rates and develop plans for sharing the cost of analysis and distribution upgrades among all beneficiaries of renewable energy.

Finally, a key broader challenge for advocates of clean distributed energy lies in accurately framing and systematically comparing the complex set of trade-offs, at a much finer scale, both grid-specific ‘‘technical’’ dimensions (e.g., transmission, grid and utility management), and important socioeconomic dimensions (e.g., environmental, local economic development) that, until now, has been overlooked in the broad-scale planning, deployments, and upkeep of the electric utility production and delivery system in the U.S.

Solar Could Power Two-Thirds of NYC; The NY State Solar Jobs Bill Can Get Us There

2011-06-16T18:15:01Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

New York has the potential to become a solar powerhouse. A new mapping tool released released today by the Sustainable CUNY (City University of New York) program shows that nearly two-thirds of the City's power could be generated from capturing the sun's rays in the summer. But a critical element remains absent in reaching this awesome potential: long-term solar policy that shows New York is committed to a solar energy future. The New York Solar Jobs Act of 2011 will get New York on track to reach its solar potential while adding over 40,000 new jobs to the state with over $50 billion in new economic investment. But its our next generation, the "Solar Generation" -- some of them pictured in the winning entries of our Times Square photo contest, who will benefit the most.

The New York City Solar Map

The NYC Solar Map tool is a living manifest of what can be achieved by a laser-focused (pun intended) public-private partnership, creatively leveraging and combining cost-effective information technology tools for the good of our economy and environment. The map deserves much praise for not only its broad scope and pin-point resolution, but for the user interface ease-of-use and helpfulness in helping one decide whether rooftop solar is the right investment to make. Every building within NYC limits can be scoped for three important qualities: (1) the "technical" solar potential, (2) the City agency permitting and utility 'interconnection' pathway you'll need to follow, and (3) the essential financial criteria -- available incentives and 'break-even' point. Fun fact: the LIDAR data collection method used to develop the map is accurate to the nearest 7.5 cm (in all three "x, y, z" dimensions!). That's precision down to the size of a coffee mug!

(photo credit: Sustainable CUNY NYC Solar Map)

Mireya Navarro of The New York Times provided a thorough overview of the Solar Map tool and its development in today's print edition:

Two-thirds of New York City’s rooftops are suitable for solar panels and could jointly generate enough energy to meet half the city’s demand for electricity at peak periods, according to a new, highly detailed interactive map to be made public on Thursday.

Winners Selected for the CBS Superscreen Billboard Solar Photo Contest

In addition to today's official release of the NYC solar map, NYT's Navarro also reported on the winners of our Times Square "CBS Superscreen" billboard photo contest, which aired for the first time today and will stay up through July 5th. Congratulations to Solar Rainbow and Sustainable Flatbush!

The Final Decision Nears for the New York State Solar Jobs Act of 2011

With only three days left on the official NY State legislative calendar, the fate of the New York Solar Jobs Act of 2011 hangs in the balance.

There are a lot of bills out there that we have been told are dead. This isn't one of them. 40,000 new jobs and billions of dollars in economic benefits, it is a bi-partisan package that everyone wants to get done. It's just a matter of time at this point.

The pieces are in place, the support is there, it'll just take a demonstration of leadership from lawmakers to pass the bill.

Let's Chat about the New York Solar Jobs Act

2011-06-10T18:15:12Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

A newly revised analysis of jobs and economic impacts shows that implementing the New York Solar Jobs will lead to over 40,000 new jobs and over $55 billion in additional economic output.

The analysis was completed using the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory “JEDI” modeling tool. JEDI stands for “Jobs and Economic Development Impacts” model. The graphic below shows what it measures.

What’s it gonna cost to get those jobs and new economic development? Negative 4.7 billion dollars going out to 2035. In other words, New York will save over $4.7 billion through 2035 by passing the New York Solar Jobs Act (represented by the area in blue in the graphic below). Focusing strictly on the cost portion of the ledger (the red area in the graph), our rate impact analysis shows it will cost less than 1 percent of our total statewide electricity bill in any given year. For added assurance, the program has its own cost control cap that is set at 1.5% of the statewide total electricity spend.

To sum up we will spend $4.7 billion less on electricity through 2035, gain 40,000 new jobs, pump $55 billion into the New York State economy and have over 3 percent of new, homegrown, fossil fuel-free, energy independent electricity for less than 1 percent of what we spend on electricity each year.

Why wait any longer New York? In addition to falling behind the race to develop clean energy and start a new in-state, self-sustaining economic development and job machine, perhaps this statistic may be most salient in these times of lean public budgets:

New York loses over $1.5 billion in federal investement money for every year of delay in reaching its full solar potential.

Help us tell Albany lawmakers that it’s solar’s time to shine in the Empire State.

Show Your Love for Solar in a Really Big Way on the CBS Superscreen in New York's Times Square

2011-05-23T17:15:21Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

New York state lawmakers are considering new legislation called the New York Solar Jobs Act that would make New York the solar powerhouse it should be. Let’s give them a sign that the Empire State is ready to build that brighter energy future. And let’s make it a really big sign.

Help us light up Times Square with a sunny message in support of jumpstarting New York’s solar power industry. Two winners will have their photos displayed for all to see on the CBS Superscreen in Times Square.

Whether it’s a family portrait in front of that PV system on your home on Long Island. Or getting cozy with some solar panels near the Brooklyn Bridge. Or snapping a new head shot in a green hardhat and sunglasses for your office in Buffalo . . . surely your boss will approve. Don’t be afraid to get creative – however you want to show your support for New York’s solar future, we want to see it in photo form.
Here’s how you can participate in The ‘Empire State Solar Generation’ Times Square Photo Contest:

Submit your favorite “New York Loves Solar” photo in one of two ways: Upload it to Flickr and tag it “NYSolarJobsAct” OR post it to the New York Solar Jobs Act fan page on Facebook.
Include a caption to tell us why you love solar and the name of your hometown in New York.
Get it all in before the contest ends on June 6

New York Solar Jobs Bill: The Motion Picture Version

2011-05-05T19:07:16Z

Pierre Bull, Policy Analyst, Air & Energy, New York City

For those preferring to wait and watch the motion picture version of a story--or in this case a great piece of solar policy, this blog post is for you! Here is a very informative and easy-to-understand, 7-minute, "School House Rocks-style" video on how the Solar Bill will work, courteousy of our good friends over at NYC-based SolarOne.