Western lawmakers vow to increase state renewable energy portfolios
With President Donald Trump vows to revitalize America’s fossil fuel industry, Western lawmakers are making good on promises to increase their reliance on renewable energy and limit greenhouse gas emissions.
With President Donald Trump vows to revitalize America’s fossil fuel industry, Western lawmakers are making good on promises to increase their reliance on renewable energy and limit greenhouse gas emissions.
De Leon’s bill would require California to hit its 50 percent renewable energy mandate by 2025, five years sooner than current law, and phase out fossil fuels entirely by 2045. Even though the bill is most likely a placeholder for more detailed legislation that would be fleshed out later, environmental and clean energy advocates celebrated the proposal. Jim Woodruff, president of the Large-scale Solar Association, said the bill is a reflection of the “moral imperative” to slash carbon emissions.
“Whether it’s a direct response to what’s happening in Washington, I don’t know, but it’s certainly an indication that California will continue to lead in this area,” said Woodruff, who is also an executive at First Solar, to The Desert Sun. “It’s the sixth-largest economy in the world. I think by putting these goals out, it’s making a pretty powerful statement, not only in the U.S., but globally, that if we set out the goals and put the resources to it, those goals can be achieved.”
In Nevada, lawmakers introduced similar legislation that would increase the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) from its current 22 percent requirement to 80 percent by 2040. The bill creates an incremental increase in the state RPS on a two-year interval, starting with a 4 percent increase in 2018-2019 putting the RPS goal at 26 percent. In each subsequent year, the RPS would increase by 4 percent until 2030, when the state must reach a 50 percent RPS.
The bill would make incorporating rooftop solar power to the grid a mandatory goal for Nevada utilities. Nevada’s energy regulator, the Public Utilities Commission, recently approved a deal between NV Energy and solar panel manufacturer SolarCity that gives customers the right to retain their retail rate net metering deal.
The two states join Massachusetts and Maryland on the East Coast who have pushed similar bills requiring greater sourcing of renewable energy. Massachusetts introduced a bill earlier this month that would create a 100 percent renewable energy RPS by 2035.
The legislation would serve as a rebuke to the agenda of President Trump, who once called human-caused global warming a “hoax” perpetrated by the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing less competitive. He has also pledged to boost American production of fossil fuels, which he says will create millions of new jobs.
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