"WEEKLY UPDATE"
November 21, 1999
Contents
FEDERAL ENERGY BUDGET & TAXES
1.) Congress Approves Small, Across-the-Board Budget Cut
2.) Budget Deal Includes More Money for Energy Efficiency
3.) Tax Bill Extends Wind and Biomass Production Credits
ELECTRIC UTILITY RESTRUCTURING
1.) Markey Amendment Sympathizes With Line-Standers
2.) Green Power Accreditation Program Is Launched
3.) U.S. Power Grid Threatened by Lack of R&D Funding
CLIMATE CHANGE
1.) Alan Keyes Outlines Views on Climate Change
2.) Republicans Introduce Their Own Climate Bill
3.) Study Warns That Arctic Ice Is Thinning
MISCELLANEOUS
1.) House Renewables Caucus Grows to 158 Members
2.) Booklet Discusses Renewable Energy Potential
3.) NREL Posts A Renewable Electricity Database
4.) Europe Opens Largest Solar Cell Plant
5.) Study Suggests That Dam Removal Is Unnecessary
6.) Bill To Give States Choice on Using MTBE in Gasoline
7.) EIA Says That Home Energy Use Drops
8.) New Cogeneration Plant Dedicated at MA Textile Factory
9.) Groups Charge That Polluters Back George Bush
10.) Prospects Dim for Utility Clean Air Relief Legislation
11.) Study Finds Clean Air Benefits Four Times Greater Than Costs
12.) Court Stymies Nuclear License Renewal for Calvert Cliffs
13.) Report Issues Warning on Nuclear Processing Accidents
FEDERAL ENERGY BUDGET & TAXES
1.) Congress Approves Small, Across-the-Board Budget Cut:
The Associated Press (November 18) reports that White House and
congressional negotiators have agreed on a final FY'00 $390 billion budget
bill
that includes a 0.38% across-the-board cut for federal programs. The budget
deal, which covers five of the 13 annual spending bills including the Interior
appropriations bill, does not include a proposal by Senator Robert Byrd (D-
WV) to let mountaintop coal mines continue dumping waste into valley and
streams. U.S. Public Interest Research Group reports that the bill
"contains a
much weaker version of the oil rider and a somewhat weaker version of the
hardrock mining provision on millsites, but would still allow that many
destructive mines to go forward. The big victories were on removing bad
forest riders, and blocking the Byrd mountain top and utilities' clean air
riders.
Not clear if Byrd will still try to attach mountain top to something else
before they leave."
2.) Budget Deal Includes More Money for Energy Efficiency:
The Alliance to Save Energy reports that Clinton Administration negotiators
have emerged from often contentious negotiations over the Interior
Appropriations bill with an additional $56 million for the U.S. Department of
Energy's energy-efficiency programs over and above the $697 million passed
by the Congress for fiscal year 2000 - i.e., a 9% increase over last year's
expenditure on energy-efficiency research, development, and deployment.
Separately, the "New York Times" (November 16) and "Washington Post"
(November 16) report that GOP leaders consented to allow the federal
government to charge oil and gas companies a fairer, significantly higher
royalty rate for drilling on public lands. A rider that would have allowed
mining companies to dump thousands of tons of waste on public land has been
weakened. And Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) lifted his threat to hold up a budget deal unless Congress passed a rider that would let coal mining
companies to continue to dump waste in West Virginia streams. A draft Excel
spreadsheet with the negotiated Interior energy conservation numbers (7
pages) can be requested from the Hamilton Group, c/o Katherine Hamilton at
703-516-4444 or hamiltongrp1@earthlink.net.
3.) Tax Bill Extends Wind and Biomass Production Credits:
The Associated Press (November 17) reports that negotiators for the Clinton
Administration and Congress have struck a deal on a compromise tax
"extenders" bill that is estimated to cost the Treasury $18.2 billion over 10
years. It includes a renewal of the wind and closed loop biomass production
tax credits for 2 1/2 years as well as Senator Roth's language making a credit
available for energy produced from chicken waste. The bill is expected to
move shortly after Congress approves a large catch-all spending bill for FY'00.
ELECTRIC UTILITY RESTRUCTURING
1.) Markey Amendment Sympathizes With Line-Standers:
At the end of the October 27 mark-up of the Barton utility restructuring bill,
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the following: "A motion by Mr. Markey
providing that it is the sense of the Subcommittee that all of the line
standers
who have been standing in line all day outside the Rayburn Building to reserve
a seat in the markup of H.R. 2944 on Thursday, October 28, should be fully
compensated for their time and efforts, notwithstanding the fact that the
Subcommittee's markup will not be continuing on Thursday, October 28, and
that such compensation shall be paid for by investors, and shall not be
recovered from ratepayers, and, further, that such costs shall not be
recoverable as 'stranded costs,' notwithstanding the fact that they have been
stranded in line, was WITHDRAWN by unanimous consent."
2.) Green Power Accreditation Program Is Launched:
The Center for Resource Solutions reports that it has launched the first
independent Accreditation Initiative for utility green power pricing programs.
The Initiative is reportedly designed to recognize and accredit best practice
utility programs that offer qualified green electricity options to their
customers. To receive accreditation, utilities will have to meet stringent
standards for consumer and environmental protection in addition to using
renewable resources. Accredited utilities will also undergo an annual,
independent verification documenting that they delivered promised green
power to their customers. More info on the Initiative and its standards is
available at: https://www.resource-solutions.org.
3.) U.S. Power Grid Threatened by Lack of R&D Funding:
"EarthVision Reports" (November 12) reports that a new study, "Electricity
Technology Roadmap," by the Electric Power Research Institute warns that
the ability of the U.S. to deliver reliable power to its residents is in
jeopardy
because new technologies are being kept from commercial deployment by a
lack of financial incentives and declining investments in R&D. With electric
industry deregulation, new demands will be placed on the distribution system,
creating the largest potential for power disruption in the last 35 years.
Everything from communications, to finance, to transportation is becoming
dependent upon electronic equipment that is sensitive to even minor power
disruptions. Small voltage "sags and surges" can harm electronics and is
already costing the U.S. more than $50 billion per year. The report is posted
on the EPRI Web site at:
https://www.epri.com/corporate/discover_epri/roadmap/index.html.
CLIMATE CHANGE
1.) Alan Keyes Outlines Views on Climate Change:
In response to a survey by Ecumenical Ministries of Iowa, presidential
candidate Alan Keyes writes: "On the specific issue of global warming, I am
impressed by a variety of empirical evidence that suggests we have little or
nothing to fear. ... Literally hundreds of laboratory and field experiments
demonstrate that virtually all food crops, trees, and plants raised in CO2-
enriched environments grow faster, stronger, and more profusely, with greater
resistance to both temperature and pollution stress. ... I believe the
balance of
evidence suggests that man-made CO2 is not destabilizing the climate system
but, rather, enhancing global food security and biodiversity. ... Even if
global
warming turns out to be a real problem, the Kyoto Protocol would be the
wrong solution. ... Kyoto advocates view the Protocol as just a beginning --
the first of a series of energy-suppression treaties, each mandating stricter
controls and encompassing more countries than its predecessor. ... [Because]
to a great degree, poverty is a function of limited energy supply, I fear
that a
Kyoto energy-starved world would be a world with more starving people. ... I
suspect that behind the Kyoto Protocol is the age-old lust for power. ... To
successfully control CO2 emissions, government must regulate practically
everything. The Kyoto Protocol would establish such regulation on a global
scale. ... [T]he climate forecasts fueling the Kyoto enterprise are all based
explicitly or otherwise, on long-term technology forecasts. ...The Kyoto
Protocol is, thus, a scheme of global central planning based on claims of
greater-than-human foresight and knowledge."
2.) Republicans Introduce Their Own Climate Bill:
The Climate Change Energy Policy Response Act (S.1776) has been
introduced by Senators Craig (R-ID), Murkowski (R-AK), Hagel (R-NE),
Enzi (R-WY), Grams (R-MN), Roberts (R-KS), and Thomas (R-WY) to
revise the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The bill purports to analyze scientific
facts on global warming and encourage development of technology through
market-based incentives.
3.) Study Warns That Arctic Ice Is Thinning:
A report to be printed in the December 1 issue of "Geophysical Research
Letters" notes that there has been a significant reduction in the thickness of
Arctic Ocean ice. The Scientific Ice Expeditions program found that the
average draft of the sea ice (i.e., its thickness from the ocean surface to
the
bottom of the ice pack) has declined by 4.3 feet or 40% since the first
measurements were made in 1958. The ice thinning extends all across the
Arctic Ocean and corresponds to previously reported evidence that the Arctic
climate is warming. Separately, BBC News (November 15) reports that a
study by the Canadian Wildlife Service finds that climate change is
threatening polar bears along Hudson Bay with starvation by shortening their
hunting season. In the past 20 years, the sea ice season on Hudson Bay has
been reduced by three weeks, giving the bears in the area less time to hunt on
the ice for their main food source, the ringed seal.
MISCELLANEOUS
1.) House Renewables Caucus Grows to 158 Members:
The House Renewables and Energy Efficiency Caucus (note name change!)
has added three new members -- Adam Smith (D-WA), Louise Slaughter (D-
NY), George Nethercutt (R-WA) -- bringing the total to 158 (91 D's, 66 R's,
1 I).
2.) Booklet Discusses Renewable Energy Potential:
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has issued a new 32-page
booklet "Choices for a Brighter Future: Perspectives on Renewable Energy"
looks at the use of renewable energy in eight regions of the U.S., plus Alaska
and Hawaii, and discusses the implications of the emerging competitive
market for electricity and the policy options that would support the use of
renewable energy. For details, contact NREL at 303-275-4096
george_douglas@nrel.gov).
3.) NREL Posts A Renewable Electricity Database:
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has posted a database of grid-
connected renewable electric facilities at https://www.eren.doe.gov/repis.
The database is the product of a large and extensive literature search, and
represents a "best effort" at cataloging the operating status of renewable
electric facilities in the United States. You can do a limited number of
searches at the web site by clicking on the "REPiS Interactive Online
Database" link, or you can download the entire database (in Access97
format) by clicking on the "REPiS Interactive Online Database Download"
link. NREL is requesting any comments people can provide, and most
importantly, any corrections or renewable electric facilities that it missed;
comments can be e-mailed to . A report on the
database that summarizes some of the data's major findings will be out in
the near future.
4.) Europe Opens Largest Solar Cell Plant:
Reuters (November 16) reports that Europe's largest solar cell production
plant has come on line at Gelsenkirchen, Germany. At full capacity, the plant
owned by Royal Shell/Shell Group will produce enough solar cells to generate
25 MW, the equivalent of providing power for 7,000 European households.
The plant has a current capacity equivalent to 13 MW.
5.) Study Suggests That Dam Removal Is Unnecessary:
The "Portland Oregonian" (November 16) reports that a draft study by
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) suggests that salmon the Snake
River could be saved without breaching dams. However, the alternative
would entail stringent controls on fishing, development, logging, and grazing
throughout the Columbia Basin to save the fish. The complete report is slated
to be released in mid-December followed by public hearings with NMFS
scheduled to recommend in May whether the dams should be breached.
6.) Bill To Give States Choice on Using MTBE in Gasoline:
"EarthVision Reports" (November 16) reports that Senators Dianne Feinstein
(D-CA) and James Inhofe (R-OK) have introduced S.1886 that would allow
states to waive EPA's 2% oxygenate content requirement for reformulated
gasoline and choose for themselves whether or not to use gasoline oxygenates
such as MTBE as long as the fuel meet the other regulatory requirements
such as clean air standards.
7.) EIA Says That Home Energy Use Drops:
A new report, "A Look at Residential Energy Consumption in 1997" by the
Energy Information Administration reports that average on-site energy
consumption per household dropped by 27% between 1978 and 1997 while
the number of U.S. households increased by 33%, resulting in no change in
total on-site residential energy consumption over that 20-year period.
However, if the amount of primary energy required to generate and transmit
the electricity consumed by households is considered, then the decline in per-
household energy consumption in only 16%, because electricity's share of
total household energy consumption increased from 23% to 35% between
1978 and 1997. The report is available at
https://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/pdf/consumption/063297.pdf
8.) New Cogeneration Plant Dedicated at MA Textile Factory:
A November 8 DOE news release notes that a new cogeneration power
system has been dedicated at the Malden Mills textile factory in Lawrence,
MA. The factory had been rebuilt following a 1995 fire during which time the
plant's owner kept his employees on the payroll. The energy-efficient
cogeneration system, which will help the company reduce energy costs by up
to $1 million annually, is part of DOE's initiative to double the use of
combined heat and power systems in the U.S. by 2010 at which point
cogeneration could produce 46 gigawatts of electricity -- equal to the output
of more than 50 large power plants.
9.) Groups Charge That Polluters Back George Bush:
The Associated Press (November 17) reports that a new study by the New
Hampshire Citizens Alliance and the Iowa Citizen Action Network
Foundation finds that Governor George W. Bush has received 79% of the
money donated to presidential candidates by employees of oil, electric power,
and automobile interests. Bush received $521,714 of the $658,389 donated by
workers of companies belonging to three trade organizations: the American
Petroleum Institute, the Edison Electric Institute, and the Alliance of Auto
Manufacturers. Vice President Gore receive the second-highest amount,
$56,025, about one-tenth of Bush's total.
10.) Prospects Dim for Utility Clean Air Relief Legislation:
Reuters (November 17) reports that Congress has not yet decided whether to
pass a measure prohibiting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from
penalizing electric power plants already being sued for violating Clean Air
Act
laws. The rider would preserve a utility company's ability to continue to
produce electricity by suspending potential daily civil and criminal
sanctions or
penalties while the case is pending. Legislative aides said the utility
company
amendment has only a slight chance of being attached to one of the few
unrelated bills yet to be voted on before Congress adjourns for the year.
11.) Study Finds Clean Air Benefits Four Times Greater Than Costs:
A new report, "The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act Amendments of
1990" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concludes that the
economic value of the public health and environmental benefits that
Americans enjoy from the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 exceed their
costs by a margin of four to one. The study shows that in the year 2010, the
Amendments will prevent 23,000 Americans from dying prematurely, and
avert over 1,700,000 incidences of asthma attacks and aggravation of chronic
asthma. In addition, they will prevent 4,100,000 lost work days and 42,000
cardiovascular hospital admissions as well as 22,000 respiratory-related
hospital admissions will be averted. EPA's best estimate is that in 2010 the
benefits of Clean Air Act programs will total about $110 billion. The
report is
available at https://www.epa.gov/oar/sect812.
12.) Court Stymies Nuclear License Renewal for Calvert Cliffs:
The "Washington Post" (November 13) reports that the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the D.C. Circuit voted 2-1 that the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission unfairly ignored opponents of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in
southern Maryland as it rushed to renew its operating license. The decision in
favor of the National Whistleblowers Center represents a rare reversal for
the NRC and may have far-reaching implications for the nuclear power
industry which is closely following the case. Calvert Cliffs is the first
nuclear
plant in the country to seek a 20-year renewable of its license, but five
others
have started the process and about 20 others have expressed interest. The
court's decision could delay the relicensing process by as much as three years
13.) Report Issues Warning on Nuclear Processing Accdents:
The Safe Energy Communication Council (SECC) has issued a new 6-page
report, "Nuclear Material Safety in the United States" by former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) official Robert Alvarez. The report outlines the
criticality accident potential at eight DOE sites and 11 commercial facilities
around the country. Nine criticality accidents have occurred at federal and
commercial U.S. uranium processing facilities since 1945 with four fatalities.
Eight of the accidents occurred at federal facilities, Since 1994, several
official DOE safety reviews have identified significant, chronic, complex-wide
environmental, safety, and health vulnerabilities associated with the DOE's
storage of fissile materials, many of which remain to be corrected. For
details,
contact SECC at 202-483-8492; ext.13.
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