Sunday, October 25, 2009
By: Howard A. Learner
Executive Director, Environmental Law & Policy Center
The confluence of multiple economic and policy factors creates a huge strategic opportunity to advance solar power installations in the Midwest. This window of opportunity will likely be open for about two years while solar photovoltaic (PV) module prices are very low due to excess global supply. Soon after, hoped-for technology curve improvements will reduce module costs and key policy drivers, such as Illinois’ solar procurement legislation, will kick in. Here are the combined factors that are driving today’s solar PV opportunities:
Þ Solar PV module prices have come down to $3 per watt, or less, due to the excess supply in global markets. For several years, solar-friendly policies in Germany, Spain and other countries drove new global manufacturing plant investments to ramp up supply for the expected markets. Germany and Spain shifted their subsidy policies – designed to catalyze markets, not support mature markets – just as ramped up manufacturing came on line. The current excess supply has driven down solar PV panel prices to the lowest level in years.
Þ Solar will find a niche supplying peak power in Midwest electricity markets. Solar is available at peak times when regional power market prices are highest. As the Midwest power market has transformed from vertically-integrated utilities to a wholesale market dominated more by merchant generators and power auction-type processes, prices for generation are increasingly reflect time-of-day and time-of-year. In short, solar energy matches well at pricey peak demand times.
Þ Fairly lush federal subsidies for solar energy through the Investment Tax Credit, loan guarantees and various other tax credits and grants are making a difference. Recent federal energy legislation and the economic stimulus package provide significant price support and investment value for solar projects.
Þ Federal and state policy support for solar energy is making a difference. For example, the Illinois RPS “solar carve-out” in the state’s renewable energy procurement standard will drive a new market for 700 MW – 750 MW of solar power supply in 2015. Net metering standards and interconnection standards in several Midwest states are creating more favorable pricing for distributed solar-generated power. Expanding net metering policies to cover larger projects will boost solar even more.
Þ Solar development is finding a sweet spot with 10 MW – 20 MW projects on former industrial sites with nearby substations. These projects are large enough to achieve economies of scale on module purchases and installation costs. Locating systems on older industrial sites provides ready low-cost access to transmission substations in open areas with little blockages to sunlight. In some cases, brownfield redevelopment, recovery bonds and other tax credits and subsidies are available. In addition to SunPower’s 10 MW solar project on the old U.S. Steel site on the South Side of Chicago, there are at least three more developers seeking to move forward with 10 MW – 20 MW solar projects in Illinois. These solar projects are big enough to obtain economies of scale, but small enough to fit onto the transmission grid as well as provide grid support when needed most.
Þ Skilled electrical and other workers are available in the current economic downturn for solar installation “green jobs.” With the 10 MW – 20 MW projects, there is enough volume to bring down the per panel installation costs and, thereby, improve the overall economic robustness of projects. Moreover, in some cases, various federal and state job creation grants, subsidies and credits are available, as are federal job training programs directed to new “green jobs.” Because of the excess worldwide manufacturing capacity, the solar green jobs opportunities are predominantly installation jobs, rather than new manufacturing jobs in the Midwest. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is (re-) training new skilled solar installers at facilities in Illinois, Indiana and other states.
Þ Solar intensity in the Midwest is better than that of both Germany and Japan, the world’s largest solar markets. All right, Illinois and Nebraska are not the same as Arizona and Nevada, but there are some good solar sites here.
Þ New state policies can provide continued support for solar expansion as module prices increase after about two years when there is less excess supply. The Environmental Law & Policy Center and our colleagues are advocating a new ramp-up in 2010 – 2014 prior to the 700 MW – 750 MW Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) solar carve out now set to begin in Illinois in 2015. We are working on feed-in tariff models in Michigan and with colleagues in Iowa to improve the state’s net metering policies. As Wisconsin considers boosting its RPS in 2010, there may also be opportunities to include solar provisions. We have a two-year window of opportunity to gain solar policy improvements as the unusually low module prices, combined with federal economic stimulus incentives, can drive significant new development.
Solar PV is primed for take-off in the Midwest, and especially in Illinois. Let’s seize these strategic opportunities and move forward with solar power development that creates new jobs, spurs economic growth and helps to solve our global warming pollution problems.
Howard A. Learner is the executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Midwest’s leading environmental and economic development advocacy organization. www.elpc.org and www.globalwarmingsolutions.org
Monday, October 19, 2009
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued an objection to the operating permit for BP North America’s refinery in Whiting, IN that will require the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to rewrite the permit.
The decision is a victory for ELPC and the other citizens and environmental groups who petitioned EPA to object to the permit in August 2008 on the grounds that it did not accurately account for the large increases in dangerous air pollution that would be caused by BP’s expansion of the refinery. ELPC filed the petition with a coalition that included Hoosier Environmental Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, Save the Dunes Council, Sierra Club, Susan Eleuterio and Tom Tsourlis.
BP began a major expansion of the Whiting Refinery in 2008 in order to process dirty Canadian tar sands crude oil at the facility. The expansion would make the refinery the largest refiner of tar sands oil in the U.S. and would increase numerous traditional air pollutants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. In addition, the expansion would create approximately as much new global warming pollution as a new 300-400 megawatt coal plant, about a forty percent increase from current refinery levels.
“BP needs to come clean about what this expansion really will mean for clean air and public health.” said ELPC Staff Attorney Meleah Geertsma.
Read the Press Release Here
Monday, October 12, 2009
ELPC and a coalition of health and environmental groups moved to join the federal lawsuit over pollution from the aging Illinois coal plants owned and operated by Midwest Generation, LLC. The coalition had signaled their intent to sue the company for violating the Clean Air Act this summer before the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), US Department of Justice (DOJ), and Illinois Attorney General stepped in and filed suit last month. The government suit supersedes the suit that the coalition had initiated, so the groups are moving to intervene in support of the new case.
The lawsuit relates to opacity violations. Opacity is a measurement of the amount of light blocked by particulate matter coming from smokestacks. Particulate matter is fine dust and soot that stays close to the plant and concentrates negative air quality and health effects in nearby communities leading to respiratory illnesses and premature deaths. The USEPA has cited Midwest Generation’s coal plants for numerous air pollution-related violations.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found that the Fisk and Crawford plants in Chicago are responsible for 41 premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2800 asthma attacks annually. Midwest Generation owns coal plants in Chicago, Waukegan, Joliet, Romeoville and Pekin, Illinois.
Read ELPC’s Press Release
Read Coverage in the Joliet Herald News
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The electric utility MidAmerican Energy recently made headlines in Iowa as it vowed to “fight to its last breath” against national climate and energy legislation currently being considered in the Senate.
MidAmerican claims that the company’s motivation is to protect consumers, but in a guest column in the Des Moines Register, ELPC Senior Attorney Rob Kelter wrote that the best way to protect consumers is to support strong federal climate change legislation.
Kelter’s column states that the company should act responsibly by working to create a sustainable, clean energy future rather than fighting against solutions to climate change.
Read the column in the Des Moines Register.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The following is a statement by Howard Learner, ELPC’s executive director, following the hearing today of the Senate Ag Committee on how climate legislation affects agriculture.
We agree with the USDA’s recent study showing that actions to reduce greenhouse gas pollution can produce long-term gains for farmers. It’s time for strong energy and climate legislation that will boost farm income and reduce the risk of global warming.
The costs of inaction are high—farmers and agricultural industries are particularly vulnerable to changes in temperature, rainfall patterns and pests that will result from unchecked climate change. Federal climate solutions and clean energy legislation can help farmers and foresters tap into growing markets in carbon offsets, renewable energy generation, advanced biofuels and energy efficiency savings.
The USDA study, among others, shows that minimal short-term costs to farmers will soon be outpaced by significant long-term gains in income, job creation, and other rural development opportunities.
With a strong climate bill, including new investments in farm-based energy and conservation, the agricultural community can help lead efforts to protect and improve our health and environment while fueling our clean energy economy.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Michigan Public Service Commission (MSPC) filed a report stating that there is no need for a coal power plant in Rogers City and that a new plant in Essexville would not be needed until at least 2022. Growing needs for energy could be met by better energy efficiency, renewable energy or other sources, MPSC found.
ELPC has worked with citizen groups to oppose the new plants because they would be unnecessary, expensive and would create huge amounts of pollution that contributes to global warming and threatens human health.
As ELPC Senior Attorney Faith Bugel told the Detroit News, “This report shows that clean energy can power Michigan’s future. Moving away from outdated coal power will build our economy and protect our environment.”
Last year, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm ordered the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to examine whether the state’s energy needs could be met by renewable sources and energy efficiency before granting Clean Air Act permits for any new coal plants. A final decision on whether to grant Clean Air Act permits to Wolverine and Consumers Energy rests with the state Department of Environmental Quality, which promises a ruling by the end of this year.
Read Coverage in the Detroit News
Friday, August 28, 2009
ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner’s opinion piece in today’s Springfield State Journal-Register points out the many benefits a high-speed rail network would bring to the Midwest:
“…For many years, federal and state taxpayers have provided trillions of dollars of support for highways, airports and air service. It’s now time for public investment in high-speed rail service to provide a third intercity transportation option that works better. According to an economic study conducted for the Midwest state Departments of Transportation, the new Midwest high-speed rail network can create 57,000 permanent new jobs across the region, produce more than a billion dollars in additional household income, and spur almost $5 billion in private new development near Midwest rail stations. Let’s seize the opportunity to capture these benefits.”
Read the full OpEd.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan today filed suit against coal plant owner Midwest Generation, LLC for violating the Clean Air Act. The complaint states that Midwest Generation failed to install adequate pollution controls on the six coal plants it operates in Illinois.
ELPC has been working with a coalition of health, environmental and community groups to force Midwest Generation comply with the Clean Air Act and clean up its coal plants. On July 28, 2009, ELPC and the coalition filed a 60 day notice of their intent to sue Midwest Generation for Clean Air Act violations.
“Midwest Generation’s own reports show that they have been breaking the law and endangering public health for years,” said Faith Bugel, Senior Attorney for ELPC. ”We’re encouraged to see that U.S. EPA and the State of Illinois are holding Midwest Generation accountable for breaking the law. ELPC and our colleagues will remain engaged as the lawsuit moves forward.”
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found that pollution from nine coal plants in northern Illinois causes 311 premature deaths, 4100 emergency room visits, and 21,500 asthma attacks annually. Midwest Generation owns coal plants in Chicago, Waukegan, Joliet, Romeoville and Pekin, Illinois.
Read Coverage in the Plainfield Sun and Wall Street Journal
Friday, August 21, 2009
In an op-ed in the Des Moines Register, ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner writes about the historic developments and growing support that are making high-speed in the U.S. a reality.
He writes that we need cooperation and continued commitment across the region to bring the benefits of high-speed rail to the Midwest.
“ Working together, we can create a win-win-win for our region: good for jobs and our economy, good for the environment, and good for people and our communities. Let’s get on board together and advance smart Midwest high-speed rail development on a fast track.”
Read the full Op-Ed
Thursday, July 9, 2009
On July 7, the US Senate Committee on Appropriations voted to boost funding for farm energy programs that will create more clean energy and new income for rural Americans.
The committee voted to increase fiscal year 2010 funding for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) from $60 million to $128 million. The REAP program helps farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses build their own clean energy projects.
The committee also voted to increase funding for the Biorefinery Assistance program, by $17 million.
Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl, Chair of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, was a key supporter of the funding increase. “Our nation faces historic challenges for our economy, our environment and our energy security,” Kohl said. “Farmers in Wisconsin and across the nation have much at stake and want to be part of the solution. These funds will help lead the way toward greener energy independence.”
Read ELPC’s press release here
Learn more about farm energy programs at FarmEnergy.org
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