U.S. Energy Department offering $4 billion for renewable energy loans

The U.S. Energy Department on Wednesday unveiled a plan for up to $4 billion in loan aid for renewable energy companies to help rejuvenate a program that faced harsh political attacks over past failures of federally subsidized projects. The Obama administration's draft plan would provide loan guarantees for innovative projects that limit or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. It will specifically focus on advanced electric grid technology and storage, biofuels for conventional vehicles, energy from waste products, and energy efficiency.

Conservative heavyweights have solar industry in their sights

Solar power, once almost universally regarded as a virtuous, if perhaps over-hyped, energy alternative, has now grown big enough to have enemies. The Koch brothers, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, and some of the nation's largest power companies have backed efforts in recent months to roll back state policies that favor green energy. The conservative luminaries have pushed campaigns in Kansas, North Carolina, and Arizona, with the battle rapidly spreading to other states. At the nub of the dispute are two policies found in dozens of states. One requires utilities to get a certain share of power from renewable sources. The other, known as net metering, guarantees homeowners or businesses with solar panels on their roofs the right to sell any excess electricity back into the power grid at attractive rates. Net metering forms the linchpin of the solar-energy business model. Without it, firms say, solar power would be prohibitively expensive. The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a membership group for conservative state lawmakers, recently drafted model legislation that targeted net metering. The group also helped launch efforts by conservative lawmakers in more than half a dozen states to repeal green energy mandates. The arguments over who benefits from net metering, meanwhile, are hotly disputed. Some studies, including one published recently by regulators in Vermont, conclude that solar customers bring enough benefits to a regional power supply to fully defray the cost of the incentive. Utilities deny that and are spending large sums to greatly scale back the policy.

State legislature hearing: why isn't California using more geothermal?

Geothermal potential was the subject of a joint committee hearing in California on April 3 led by State Senator Ben Hueso, D-40th Senate District, and Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-46th Assembly District. As the hearing began, Senator Hueso, who is Chair of the Senate Select Committee on California’s Energy Independents, and Assemblyman Pérez, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on the Renewable Energy Economy in rural California, each expressed their interest in understanding why the state is not using more of its untapped geothermal resources. Of particular interest for California lawmakers, industry, and consumers alike are the areas near the Salton Sea familiar to the geothermal industry for their immense potential for power development.

Sonoma Clean Power opposes 'opt-in' bill

Officials with Sonoma County's startup public power provider said that legislation recently introduced in Sacramento poses a major threat to the agency and others like it seeking to launch across the state. The bill would fundamentally change how community-based power providers enroll new customers. Critics of the bill say it could halt those power ventures from getting off ground, stalling local efforts to boost renewable energy use and cut greenhouse gases. Supporters, however, say the change would provide a truer consumer choice between the emergent government-backed electricity suppliers and the utilities that now serve most households and businesses in California. The change would not kill Sonoma Clean Power, but would make it significantly more difficult and costly to attract customers, agency officials said. The venture is launching electricity service to its first group of homes and businesses May 1.