Kudos to the golden state. I assume energy lobbyists are furiously power-lunching in D.C. to thwart this initiative.
California Kindles Green Energy - WSJ.com
Facing new regulations intended to limit greenhouse-gas emissions by the electricity industry, California utilities are using their clout as big power buyers to snub “dirty” resources outside the state and push forward development of renewable resources in and around California.At a meeting next month, California utility regulators are expected to approve a measure that will prohibit utilities from entering into contracts to buy electricity from resources that emit substantial greenhouse gases, such as coal. The policy, believed a first among states, implements a new state law that takes aim at global warming.
Utilities in the state are already moving to meet or exceed the new standards. Last week, for example, Southern California Edison, part of Edison International of Rosemead, Calif., announced a deal to buy a record sum of electricity from a proposed wind-power project in the Tehachapi Mountains that divide northern and southern California.
The 1,500-megawatt contract with Alta Windpower Development LLC, a unit of Allco Finance Group Ltd. of Australia, is believed the biggest by a U.S. utility. It will provide support for wind development in the region over the next decade. Financial terms weren't disclosed, however, so electricity customers have no way of knowing the price they will be obligated to pay for the power. A megawatt can provide power to 500 to 1,000 households.
Through a variety of programs, utilities are being urged to sign contracts so that 20% of the state's energy supply will come from renewable resources, such as wind and solar power, by 2010. It also is trying to cut emission of greenhouse gasses, from power plants and vehicles, to the 1990 level by 2020, while still accommodating steady growth in population.
Tags: Energy, /environment, /global_warming
...PG&E estimates that 4% of its customers, or 230,000 households, will agree to pay a fee of one-quarter penny per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed, in addition to regular energy charges. The utility will take steps to make participants effectively “carbon neutral,” such as by planting trees or putting forested areas in a land trust. For the average household, it could mean a bill increase of $4 to $5 a month.The proposed greenhouse-gases order of the California Public Utilities Commission, up for a vote in January, would prevent utilities from arranging to buy power from conventional coal-fired facilities but might permit purchases from “clean coal” technologies such as those that convert coal into a less-polluting combustible gas.
More than 20,000 megawatts of coal-fired plants are proposed for construction in western states during the next few years, but it is probable somewhat less will get built as a result of California's boycott. Though the proposed decision covers only investor-owned utilities, a similar measure is in the works for municipal utilities.
About 10% of the greenhouse gases attributed to California come from coal-burning power plants in neighboring states whose power is imported. California doesn't have significant coal deposits and thus relies on what is known as the “coal by wire” approach to meet about 20% of its electricity needs.
In the future, utilities will be allowed to tap only those generation resources that emit less than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide for each megawatt hour of electricity produced, if the measure passes. That is about the amount produced by modern plants fired by natural gas, an increasingly used fuel.
