Great day for renewables in Virginia: Onward & upward!

On the heels of Secretary Salazar’s offshore wind energy announcement yesterday in Norfolk, both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly passed the Voluntary Solar Resource Fund Bill (HB 2191 and SB 975), which aims to set up a revolving loan fund for residential solar energy projects. The loan program will promote economic development and the production of clean, renewable energy at no cost to the state.

Solar Panels on a roof

This bill is a win-win-win for all major parties involved: the citizens of Virginia who will receive the loans, the commonwealth’s solar energy industry, and utilities with an interest in distributed solar power.

“Renewable energy has had two major boosts today: first the announcement that Virginia could begin leasing offshore wind sites by the end of this year, and also from the passing of the Voluntary Solar Resource Fund bill in the Virginia General Assembly,” said Chelsea Harnish, Virginia Policy Coordinator for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Continue reading

Offshore Drilling: Virginia's General Assembly still doesn't get it

Yesterday was (supposed) to be a big day for energy bills in the Senate but many of the bills were “passed by” for the day, which means they have been postponed until next week’s committee hearing. However, one of CCAN’s priority bills, SB 814, which would have stopped the potential for offshore drilling in its tracts, died a valiant death. This was no surprise to us; the purpose of the bill this year was to educate our legislators on the threat of offshore drilling. While not immediate, this threat is still very real. Suffice it to say, we accomplished our goal big time. There was a tremendous, healthy debate centered around our bill that lasted more than 20 minutes whereas most of the other bills in committee were quickly discussed and voted upon. I was able to point out to the committee members that drilling can and will most likely begin after 2017 when the federal government revisits opening our coast to offshore drilling. We must continue to keep the pressure on our state and federal legislators about this threat.

Today though, we are reversing gears a little bit by working hard to promote our renewable energy bill that is on today’s committee docket. This bill would establish a voluntary solar fund for Virginia homeowners to apply for. By all early indications, this bill has a good shot today. Stay tuned for details!

Virginia Must Move To Clean Energy

This letter to the editor appeared in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch.

At Gov. Bob McDonnell’s energy conference, the participation spoke for itself. Virginians want renewable energy. As an attendee at the conference, I was struck by the fact that the sessions covering renewable energy topics were relegated to tiny meeting rooms, while the sessions about traditional fossil fuel sources were granted huge spaces similar to a college lecture hall.

The irony of this? The renewable energy sessions were jam-packed while the fossil fuel sessions were nearly empty. After the first day, event organizers moved the “dirty energy” sessions into much smaller spaces, but a common theme emerged during the three-day conference: We want clean energy but the state is falling behind the pack.

Presenter Cody Nystrom from SJF Ventures noted that companies located in states with mandatory renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have a much greater chance of receiving funding for clean energy projects than non-RPS states like Virginia.

Meanwhile, McDonnell claims to be fully committed to his “energy capital of the East Coast” idea. If he’s serious about that, he must not sit idly by and continue to allow surrounding states to reap the benefits of tax revenue and jobs from new clean energy projects.

Following the conference, it became more clear than ever that Virginia is ready to move beyond dirty fossil fuels and we have the strong economic incentives and necessary support from state energy professionals to make this overdue shift. It’s high time McDonnell and the General Assembly stopped planning energy conferences and started acting to give the burgeoning clean energy sector the support it sorely needs. We’re ready.

Chelsea Harnish
Richmond

An urgent message for President Obama: Put Solar on It!

“In 1979, President Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House. In 1986, President Reagan removed them and they were never replaced. Years later, Unity College in Maine adopted the panels where they have lived ever since. Until now.” Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org has organized a solar road trip from Unity College down to Washington, DC to ask President Obama to re-install solar panels on the White House roof as part of the 10.10.10 Global Work Party events.

“Nothing replaces legislation that really cuts carbon,” said McKibben. “But one way to build support for those changes is to show how easy it is to start to work. It’s time for President Obama to roll up his sleeves and get to work at his own home and in Congress.”

The movement to get solar back on the White House is spreading rapidly and CCAN’s Mike Tidwell weighed in on the efforts. “President Obama’s stimulus package included many incentives for Americans to ‘go green’ in their daily lives,” said

Tidwell interviews WaPo reporter on MD/VA energy issues

Last week on Mike’s cable access show “21st Century Life” — part of The Coffee House TV show and viewed across the region — he interviewed Washington Post reporter Steve Mufson about green jobs developments in Maryland and Virginia, including offshore wind developments, offshore drilling, and the closing of the BP solar panel plant in Frederick, Md.

Don’t miss this interesting 12-minute clip.

MD General Assembly 2010 – Clean Energy Victories and Session Summary

This year, CCAN and our partners continued the fight to keep Maryland at the national forefront on clean energy policy. We fought for a number of bills aimed at shoring up Maryland’s hard-won carbon cap and building on other clean energy policy victories of recent years. It was a tough fight, given the state budget difficulties and a state Senate that environmental groups were ready to declare an environmental dead zone at the end of the session. But, thanks to the hard work and dedication of grassroots activists across the state and many dedicated environmental advocates, we managed to score some victories for the climate at the final hour. At the top of our agenda this year was the fight to get a comprehensive energy plan for Maryland. Having a statewide comprehensive plan is absolutely essential to ensuring that Maryland is able to meet its ambitious climate and clean energy policy goals while creating thousands of new clean energy jobs in the process. House Bill 522 and Senate Bill 910, if passed, would have required the creation of a state energy plan that is consistent with all state environmental laws and required the Public Service Commission to review proposals with respect to that state plan. Sadly, both bills died in committee. However, thanks to the clear public support for this important energy blueprint, some legislative leaders recommended administrative action. So we are now working with Governor O’Malley and his administration to create a comprehensive energy plan. Stay tuned for more info on this effort. In addition to the comprehensive energy plan, CCAN fought for a variety of other important clean energy initiatives including an expansion and acceleration of the solar portion of the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, the creation of clean energy loans programs, improvements the state’s net-metering policies, and an effort to prepare the state to cope with the stronger storms we are starting to face as a result of climate change.

Here a summary of how those bills fared:

Solar Energy: SB 277/HB 471 (WIN!) The Administration bill accelerating solar energy production in Maryland passed. However, the targets for accelerating the solar energy production were significantly weakened in the final version passed by the House.

Net Metering: SB 355 and HB 801 (WIN!) Both bills will improve our net metering law, requiring utilities to pay for excess power generated by solar power or other on-site generators.

Clean Energy Loans: SB 720/HB 1014 (LOSS) This common sense bill would have helped property owners afford clean energy projects, but was ultimately defeated, largely because of hard-fought lobbying efforts by the banking industry, which would have faced competition from the loan program.

Climate Adaptation: SB 1092 (LOSS) This bill would have empowered the state to study the connection between this past winter’s historic snowstorms and climate change, assess the future likelihood of such strong storms, and take steps to finance our emergency and disaster preparedness forces to deal with such future storms. Despite dying in Finance committee, the committee leadership is planning to work with the governor’s office to try to accomplish the goals of the bill.

With three wins and two losses, this Session wasn’t a perfect one for climate and clean energy policy but it certainly was one in which we carried Maryland further down the path towards the clean energy future. Big thanks to all of you amazing activists out there who proved that even in a tough year for environmental legislation, the power of grassroots action can achieve wins for the climate. We’re looking forward to continuing to work alongside you next session, and in the coming months in our ongoing efforts to win victories for the climate.