Coal legislation in Indiana - Senate Bill 420 "Renewable Energy"

[Lena Lucas]

Hoosier Chapter of Sierra Club
1915 West 18th Street, Suite D
Indianapolis, IN 46202
[phone]

Help us stop the Rush to Coal and Nuclear in Indiana!

On Thursday, the Senate utilities committee is scheduled to hear a bill that would send Indiana on a dangerous path to dirty and more expensive electricity. Senate Bill 420 is labeled a "Renewable Energy" bill, but it won't help Indiana find clean sources of electricity. Instead, it commits the state to develop dirty coal and dangerous nuclear energy, both of which will cost consumers much more than electricity from clean sources like solar, wind and geothermal.

The timing of the committee hearing couldn't be worse, coming just two days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in a letter to the Sierra Club that it will take the first steps toward regulating carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants. Regulating such emissions will drive up the cost of electricity derived from coal and make renewable sources the sensible alternative.

At a time when other states are turning away from coal, the Indiana Senate is contemplating actions that will keep our state in the dark ages of power generation. It is time for Indiana to get over its infatuation with dirty and expensive sources of electricity. Instead, it should see the light and feel the breeze of new ways to produce our power.

Please contact Senator James Merritt, the chair of the Senate Utilities and Technology Committee ([e-mail] or 317-232-9533), and your state senator (www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/) and tell them to oppose Senate Bill 420.

Tell Sen. Merritt and your state senator to support a true renewable energy standard to promote solar, wind, and geothermal (20% by 2020) by passing Senate Bill 283.

Anybody is familiar with the Bill? What are your thoughts?

[Donna Storm]

Thank you for this post. This state has a very powerful coal lobby so I am not surprised. I am hopeful that everyone will realize that this hearing is the first step in the process of the coal industry grabbing the green stimulus funds that will be sent to Indiana. Obama has supported the coal industry, and the coal industry states are all setting up the legislative framework to be ready and waiting for the stimulus money, under the guise of "clean coal". Every dollar diverted by the coal industry is one less dollar used to promote other green energy initiatives in the state. Indiana cannot afford to let that happen and we owe it to our children to be actively involved in this issue.

The deceit in the labeling of this shows a disrespect to the citizens of Indiana and is evidence of how they want to slip this in under our noses. The coal industry is hoping that we are asleep at the wheel and that this will be an easy and done deal. They are hoping that we will buy the idea that they can produce "clean coal". The coal industry still needs to clean up their current messes. Please check out this link: http://www.focusthenation.org/blog/%E2%80%9Cclean-coal%E2%80%9D-mas... to look at the mess the coal industry can get us into. There are new and better ways to produce our power.

[Duke Brown]

Thoughts are simple. First if nuclear energy is so dangerous and expensive why is that France has enjoyed the long term low cost of nuclear energy with little to no hazardous exposures. 2nd with the enormous amount of coal available in the indiana and illinois southern basin it is by far our best near term solution to for oil. And the fact that carbon dioxide is being used as the main precursure to pollution reduction is insane. Their are plenty of toxic issues that need our attention. Co2 is not toxic.

Having worked in the environmental remediation business for 25 years, most of my long time enviro professional friends who are engineers, geologists, biologists and the like do not by the fear mongoring of global warming. Also the past 10 years of weather patterns do not support global warming.
As an environmentally conscious person and a tax payer we need to be more realistic about the time it will take to bring many new technologys to the fore front.

[Laura Ann Arnold]

Lena et al.,

Yes, I am familiar with this bill and the other energy legislation going through the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly. SB 420 came out of the Senate Utilities and Technology and passed the Senate by a vote of 42 to 7. To see how your state legislator voted and the full text of the bill see SB 420.

http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2009&....

I would like to bring your attention to two bills on net metering, SB 300 and HB 1347.

Indiana renewable energy businesses are encouraged that state lawmakers are addressing incentives to promote renewable energy usage. Two bills moving through the Indiana General Assembly will revise and improve the rules to allow consumers to net meter and provide needed tax incentives.

When consumers install a wind turbine or solar energy system to reduce their electric bill, they need their electric utility to credit them for any excess power they generate or net meter. Allowing a customer’s meter to run backwards or net metering is an important policy to promote distributed generation. Wide adoption of renewable distributed generation will help to clean the air, reduce carbon emissions, create jobs, and support economic growth. Currently in Indiana only residential customers and K-12 schools are allowed to net meter.

The 2008 Edition of Freeing the Grid, a national report on the status of net metering across the Unites States identifies Indiana among the worst in the U.S. The report states that in Indiana “businesses and other commercial or industrial customers are excluded from net metering. Indiana is now the only state in the nation with this limitation.”

“Not requiring utilities to net meter business and industrial customers is counter productive and just crazy,” said Terry Black, Co-owner of Green Way Supply in Indianapolis. “Why are we are the only state that does not have this incentive to attract new industry?” Duke Energy exceeds the rules established by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and does allow small commercial customers but the other Investor Owned Utilities do not permit net metering for businesses.

“Both proposed net metering laws need further improvement,” said Eric Cotton with ECI Wind and Solar in Fairmount. “Neither net metering bill applies to the REMC’s. 22 other states require net metering for rural electric cooperatives.”

“Not including Indiana’s REMC’s in net metering is a travesty for rural Hoosiers,” says Eric Cotton. “Some of the best opportunities for renewable energy are small wind turbines for farmers. Not including REMC’s creates a disincentive for renewable energy systems in rural areas. For an agricultural state like Indiana this just doesn’t make sense.”

SB 300 and HB 1347, if enacted by the Indiana General Assembly would change the net metering rules to permit all customer classes to net meter including business and industrial customers. The bills do differ in the maximum system size for net metering. SB 300 would permit systems up to 100 kW but HB 1347 would allow for systems up to 1 MW. Currently state rules only permit net metering for systems up to 10 kW.

The past two federal Economic Stimulus bills provide incentives for businesses to install solar and renewable energy systems, a 30% investment tax credit or grants covering 30% of the costs of a system. HB 1347 was amended in the Indiana House of Representatives to add a 15% tax credit for renewable energy manufacturing and a 10% tax credit for businesses investing in renewable energy systems.

“Federal incentives encourage long term investment in clean energy technologies, they help reduce operating costs in businesses willing to invest in them and they will improve our air quality which right now stinks,” added Terry Black. “Congress has taken action and now Indiana needs to do the same.”

Green Way Supply and ECI Wind and Solar are both founding members of the Indiana Renewable Energy Association formed last year. For more information about these companies and other Indiana renewable energy companies see www.indianarenew.org.

[James Ryan]

I love coal.

[Chris Baggott]

Question. Does it make sense to tie coal and nuclear together?

Seem like the reasons to be opposed are different

[Laura Ann Arnold]

Chris et al.,

We have three days left--Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday--for the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly. Both SB 420 and SB 300 are likely to have conference committee meetings during this time. Please urge Sen. Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis) to include net metering with 1 MG and at least 2% of a utilities summer peak load as well as a "clean" renewable electricity standard (RES) without coal and nuclear power. Sen. Merritt is the chairman of the conference committee on SB 300 which only addressed net metering as it left the Senate. It was amended in the House to add a good renewable electricity standard. Sen. Merritt now will decide what remains in the bill THIS WEEK.

Sen. Merritt can be reached as follows: [e-mail] or [phone] his State House office.

I will try to post updates on this blog: www.indianarenew.blogspot.com I now have a link on the blog to follow me on Twitter, too.

Laura Ann Arnold