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February 7, 1999
The articles provided below were initially compiled during the past week by the SUN DAY Campaign (ph. 301-270-2258; fax: 301-891-2866) for the 36 member organizations of the Sustainable Energy Coalition (list available upon request).
Feel free to distribute this newsletter to others. In addition, please let us know of other U.S. organizations, businesses, or government agencies that would like to be added to the e-mail list for this publication. This newsletter is presently sent to over 700 organizations nationwide.
If you want any of the items we have offered to fax, please provide a number for a dedicated, 24-hour fax line.
FEDERAL ENERGY BUDGET
1.) Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Request:
The Administration's Fiscal Year 2000 (FY'00) budget request for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) totals $15.76 billion - an increase of $212 million over FY'99.
RENEWABLE ENERGY: The budget includes $389.9 million for renewables compared to $336.0 million in FY'99 and a Sustainable Energy Coalition proposal of $517.2 million. The major renewable energy accounts are as follows: Solar Buildings - $5.5 M (FY'99-$3.6 M); Solar Thermal - $18.9 M (FY'99-$17.0 M); Photovoltaics - $$93.3 M (FY'99-$72.2 M); Wind - $45.6 M (FY'99 - $34.7 M); Biomass - $39.8 M (FY'99 - 31.2 M); Biofuels - $53.4 M (FY'99 - $42.0 M); Geothermal - $29.5 M (FY'99 - $28.5 M); Hydropower - $7.0 M (FY'99 - $3.3 M). Let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy of a 1- page release from the National Hydropower Association or a 2-page release from the American Wind Energy Association on their respective budget increases.
All renewable energy accounts were increased except for the Renewable Energy Production Incentive (FY'99 - $4.0 M; FY'00 - $1.5 M; Coal'n - $20.0 M); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (FY'99 - $3.9 M; FY'00 - $1.1 M; Coal'n - $14.7 M); and International Solar (FY'99 - $6.4 M; FY'00 - $6.0 M; Coal'n - $0.0 M). The American Public Power Association has "raised a ruckus" about the cut in REPI funding and reports that DOE officials now acknowledge that they "screwed up" and will work to remedy the situation.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The FY'00 budget request includes $837.5 million for energy efficiency compared to $691.7 million in FY'99 and a Sustainable Energy Coalition proposal of $900.1 million. The major energy efficiency accounts are as follows: Building Sector - $144.9 M (FY'99 - $96.2 M); State Grants & Weatherization - $$191.0 M (FY'99 - $166.0 M); Industrial Sector - $171.0 M (FY'99 -165.9 M); Transportation Sector - $252.1 M (FY'00 - $202.1 M); Federal Energy Management Program - $31.9 M (FY'00 - $23.8 M). The Alliance to Save Energy and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy each released a 2-page news release on the FY'00 energy efficiency budget request; let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy of either one. An analysis of the efficiency budget has been prepared by the Alliance to Save Energy; see www.ase.org/takeaction/fy00budget.htm.
NUCLEAR POWER: The budget includes an increase of $13.6 million for commercial nuclear R&D for a total of $87.3 million; the Sustainable Energy Coalition had recommended a budget of $0.0. The nuclear increases include $6 M more (for a total of $25 million) for the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative and $5 million for the Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization program which Congress refused to fund in FY'99. However, the FY'00 budget request proposes to zero- out the $50 million ITER nuclear fusion program -- a Sustainable Energy Coalition goal since 1992. Let us know if you would like us to fax you a 2-page news release on the nuclear budget issued by Safe Energy Communication Council.
FOSSIL FUELS: The fossil R&D budget was reduced by $10 million to $364.0 M with most of the cuts absorbed by the natural gas research program (reduced by $3.3 M) and the fuel cell program (reduced by $6.6 M). The total includes $122.4 million for coal R&D, $50.1 million for petroleum R&D, and $105.3 million for natural gas R&D.
2.) Green Scissors:
On January 28, U.S. PIRG, Friends of the Earth, and Taxpayers for Common Sense released a report, "Green Scissors '99 -- Cutting Wasteful and Environmentally Harmful Spending," which argued that $50.7 billion could be saved by cutting 72 federal programs. These include eliminating the coal, petroleum, and diesel research programs that "benefit large, profitable fossil fuel and auto companies [which] would save $1.6 billion and reduce subsidies that encourage global warming." The report recommends eliminating research funding for diesel engines that emit harmful levels of air pollution to save taxpayers $220 million as well as canceling DOE's noncompetitive contract to "recycle" radioactive metals and other atomic weapons and nuclear power wastes into consumer products to save $251.6 million. The full report can be found at
www.taxpayer.net.
ELECTRIC UTILITY RESTRUCTURING
1.) Restructuring - Congressional Prospects:
A February 4 "CongressDaily" article reports that "House and Senate leaders on energy policy are continuing to move in opposite directions on electric deregulation legislation." Some Senators, led by Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Frank Murkowski (R-AK), favor minimalist legislation with a separate bill to repeal the line-of-business restrictions in the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA). Moreover, Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) last week vowed the Senate would not take up electric deregulation this year. But many House members - including Commerce Chairman Tom Bliley (R-VA) and Commerce Energy & Power Subcommittee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) - are pushing a comprehensive electricity deregulation bill and oppose a stand- alone PUHCA bill. Barton plans to hold two to three weeks of hearings in March before sending a bipartisan bill to the full committee for approval this spring or early summer and possibly reach the full House floor in early September. Let us know if you want to see a copy of the 2-page article.
2.) PUHCA Repeal Pending:
Reuters (January 28) reports that Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has introduced legislation to repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA). The bill reportedly has the support of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS). The less than a dozen electric utilities and three gas utilities that are registered holding companies want the law repealed so they can expand in the increasingly competitive energy market without having to seek approval from regulators. PUHCA repeal -- along with PURPA repeal -- is also a target of the utility deregulation bill expected to be introduced by Senate Energy Committee Chairman Frank Murkowski (R-AK). Public Citizen has prepared a 4-page alert about pending PUHCA repeal legislation that includes a short background description of S.313 accompanied by a proposed letter to members of the Senate and Public Citizen's recommendations on how to improve PUHCA. Let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy.
3.) PUHCA/Holding Companies:
Public Citizen reports that the number of "registered" holding companies has been increasing. Today there are 16 electric and 3 gas registered holding companies that must comply with all sections of PUHCA, for a grand total of 19. Since 1992, five electric utilities have become registered holding companies: Ameren Corp (Union Electric and Central Illinois Public Service Co.), Cinergy Corp. (Cincinnati Gas & Electric and PSI Energy), Conectiv (Atlantic Energy and Delmarva Power & Light), Interstate Energy Corp. (aka Alliant, Wisconsin Power & Light, Interstate Power, and IES Utilities), and New Century Energies (Public Service of Colorado and Southwestern Public Service Co.)
CLIMATE CHANGE
1.) Early Action Legislation:
In his State of the Union address, President Clinton offered his full support for the burgeoning, legislative effort to provide companies with early credit for voluntary reductions of greenhouse gas emissions saying that he wants "to work with members of Congress in both parties" to craft a bill. However, Administration officials have since indicated that the White House will not take the lead on the issue or attempt to "put a bill on the table." This may reflect growing unease among environmental groups with the pending Chafee-Mack- Lieberman bill, S.2617, which - among other shortcomings - would allow the nuclear power industry to gain tradable emission credits for supplanting coal- fired power generation with nuclear power.
2.) State of the World:
In its millennial edition of the "State of the World" report issued on January 16, the Worldwatch Institute warns: "The atmosphere is under assault. The billions of tons of carbon that have been released since the Industrial Revolution have pushed atmospheric concentrations of CO2 to their highest level in 160,000 years -- a level that continues to rise each year. As scientists predicted, temperatures are rising along with the concentration of CO2. The latest jump in 1998 left the globe temperature at its highest level sine record-keeping began in the mid-19th century. Higher temperatures are projected to threaten food supplies in the next century, while more severe storms cause economic damage, and rising seas inundate coastal cities. The early costs of climate change may already be evident: weather-related economic damages of $89 billion in 1998 exceeded losses for the decade of the 1980s. In Central America, 11,000 people were killed by Hurricane Mitch, and Honduras suffered looses equivalent to one-third of its annual GDP.
"World energy needs are projected to double in the next several decades, but no credible geologist foresees a doubling of world oil production, which is projected to peak within the next few decades. ... Satisfying the projected needs of 8 billion or more people with the economy we now have is simply not possible. The western industrial model--the fossil-fuel-based, automobile- centered, throwaway economy that so dramatically raised living standards in this century--is in trouble. ... The broad outlines of a sustainable economic system that can meet the human needs of the next century are beginning to emerge. The foundation of such a system is a new design principle -- one that shifts from the one-time depletion of natural resources to an economy that is based on renewable energy and that continually reuses and recycles materials. A sustainable economy will be a solar-powered, bicycle/rail-based, reuse/recycle economy, one that uses energy, water, land, and materials much more efficiently and wisely that we do today." For further details, see www.worldwatch.org.
3.) BP Amoco - Energy Taxes:
The most recent issue of "Wind Energy Weekly" reports that on January 15, Rodney Chase, president and deputy CEO of BP Amoco, noted that an energy tax might be needed "as a last resort" to persuade industrial companies to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. BP Amoco's preference is for an emissions trading system which it believes provides "the most economic and the most effective route" for reducing emissions, particularly among large, capital-intensive industries. However, a tax "which rewards certain behaviors" could also have a role to play in meeting Kyoto targets at a minimum cost especially "for smaller companies whose energy use is low and where emission levels receive a lower priority."
MISCELLANEOUS
1.) House/Senate Caucuses Grow:
The House Renewable Energy Caucus is now officially up to an all-time high of 138 members (77 D's, 60 R's, 1 I.) representing 41 states. The newest members include Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ), Mark Udall (D-CO), Robert Underwood (D-GU), Steven Kuykendall (R-CA), Jack Metcalf (R-WA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), William Lipinski (D-IL), and John LaFalce (D-NY). In addition, the Senate Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucus has grown to a new high of 20 members, representing 19 states. The newest Senators to join are Rod Grams (R-MN), Max Cleland (D-GA), Frank Murkowski (R-AK), and Charles Grassley (R-IA). Let us know if you would like us to fax you a 5-page list of the members of both caucuses.
2.) Sustainable Energy Periodicals Directory:
The SUN DAY Campaign has released the fifth edition of its "National Directory of Sustainable Energy Periodicals" which provides a zip-coded listing of 800 U.S. newsletters, magazines, and other periodicals that report on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and related environmental issues. Each entry in the 75-page directory includes the periodical name and mailing address; most include the editor's name, telephone and fax numbers, and a short description; e-mail and web site addresses are also provided for many entries. Copies may be purchased for $15.00 prepaid from the SUN DAY Campaign (315 Circle Avenue, Suite #2, Takoma Park, MD 20912-4836.
FEDERAL ENERGY BUDGET & TAXES
1.) White House FY'00 Budget/Tax Package:
A 13-page, January 25 media packet prepared by Vice President Gore's office reports that the Clinton Administration's Fiscal Year 2000 budget request (to be released February 1) will propose $4 billion in spending and tax breaks, a third more than FY'99, to help address the threat of global warming. This includes a $200 million "clean air partnership fund" that will funnel grants to state and local governments to reduce greenhouse gases, mainly CO2 from burning fossil fuels. Also included is $1.24 billion in spending for renewable energy ($399 million), energy efficiency ($647 million), and weatherization & state energy grants ($191 million), a 20% increase over such spending in FY'99; Also included is $105 million, more than double the current levels, for research into how agriculture and forests can offset greenhouse gas emissions by absorbing CO2 as well as tax credits for purchase of ultra-efficient homes or energy-efficient equipment, or for the purchase of electric, hybrid or fuel cell vehicles expected to begin hitting showrooms over the next few years; and $122 million to spur technology for "cleaner-burning," coal-fired power plants. Let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy of the materials.
In response, the SUN DAY Campaign issued a 1-page news release warning that "the Administration's FY'2000 budget request and tax package were not up to the challenge of climate change." It noted that the Sustainable Energy Coalition had earlier called for a FY'00 budget of $1.43 billion for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs as well as a climate change tax package at least double the size of the White House' proposed $3.6 billion, five-year program. Let us know if you would like us to e-mail you a copy of the release.
2.) House Interior Appropriations Committee - Hearing Schedule:
We received a copy of the FY'2000 budget hearing schedule for the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee (which handles the energy efficiency and fossil fuel budgets). It provides the dates and times of hearings for the period February 10 through April 15. Let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy of the 2-page list.
ELECTRIC UTILITY RESTRUCTURING
1.) Senator Murkowski - Deregulation Plans:
Reuters (January 26) reports that Senate Energy Committee Frank Murkowski (R-AK) plans to introduce power deregulation legislation before the end of March. The proposals would be "bare bones" but contain "those things that help the states proceed with deregulation." Furthermore, Bob Simon, chief minority counsel to the energy committee, said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), the panel's ranking Democrat, plans to work closely with the Republican leadership. Simon noted that Bingaman and Murkowski "share a common philosophical approach toward at least how to get started on that issue and I think we're going to pursue that."
2.) PURPA Repeal Proposed:
Reuters (January 22) reports that Senators Connie Mack (R-FL) and Bob Graham (D-FL) have introduced legislation to repeal the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) which requires utilities to buy power from small independent producers. A companion bill already has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL). Under the legislation, power supply contracts would not automatically be null and void, but would be reviewed by state utility regulators.
3.) Nuclear Waste - Impacts of Early Retirement:
According to the Citizens Action Coalition Education Fund (Indiana), a new study by Synapse Energy Economics (Cambridge, MA) shows that electricity deregulation could force the early retirement of many nuclear plants, creating unfunded decommissioning and nuclear waste storage liabilities that could total as much as $54 billion. Utility restructuring could force the closing of as many as 90 of the nation's 102 nuclear plants before their scheduled retirement dates; even under the most optimistic assumptions, 20 plants will close early and in the most likely scenario, the number is 34. The report can be found at www.citact.org/nucrep.html.
4.) Nuclear Reactor Sales Proposed:
Two PR Newswire articles (January 28) report that both Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and New York State Electric & Gas Corporation are pursuing the sale of the two reactors at the Nine Mile Point (NIMO) nuclear plant in Scriba, NY. A price for the sale has not yet been announced; however, NIMO has over $1.5 billion in unamortized debt associated with the reactors. The proposed sale is another fallout from utility deregulation. Let us know if you would like to see a copy of the articles.
5.) Local/State Government Restructuring Principles:
"Public Power Weekly" (January 18) reports that the National Governor's Association, National League of Cities, National Conference of State Legislatures, and eight other state and local government associations have issued a set of 10 principles for federal restructuring legislation. They include opposition to any federal mandates, grandfathering state actions, and the right to provide for recovery of stranded costs. They also provide that "states should maintain the authority to require public benefits programs on a nondiscriminatory basis, including those that support reliable and universal service, energy efficiency, renewable technologies, research and development, and low-income assistance." Let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy of the 2-page article.
6.) California - New Renewable Energy Projects:
On January 12, the California Energy Commission approved more than $21.3 million in funding agreements for 14 renewable resource power plants. The amount represents 30% of the $540 million renewables fund established by AB 1890, the law that established electricity utility restructuring; payments will be in the form of subsidies paid for power generated from the plants once they are completed. The facilities, which will total 90 MW in capacity, include 62 MW from 100 new wind turbines as well as 22 MW from four landfill gas projects and 3.8 MW from a biomass project utilizing agricultural waste.
7.) Colorado Utility Disclosure:
The January 23 "Denver Post" reports that new regulations just adopted by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission will require the state's two investor-owned utilities to disclose price and fuel source information as part of customer billing. Under the rules, the utilities must itemize how coal, natural gas, and other fuels account for their electricity generation and purchases. Coal accounts for 93% of the electricity generated in the state. The data will be supplied twice a year, in April and October. The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies notes that this is the first example nationally of a disclosure requirement for utilities operating in a regulated monopoly environment. Environmentalists hope the rules will unleash demand for renewable energy and should be useful in marketing wind power in Colorado through the existing utility programs as well as educating customers about the environmental impacts associated with their energy choices.
CLIMATE CHANGE
1.) Early Action Bill - Environmental Opposition:
The January 28 issue of "CongressDaily" reports that "Senators [Chafee, Mack, Lieberman] pushing an 'early action' emissions credit bill may have lost broad support from the environmental community when Senate staffers met with the groups and refused to change the bill to mollify their concerns." The groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, Greenpeace, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Ozone Action, said they support the principle of early action but voiced concerns that the legislation lacks baselines for measuring emissions and credits, a verification system, and a single government body for enforcement. Ozone Action has also noted that the Credit for Voluntary Early Action Act (S.2617) would allow the nuclear power industry to gain tradable emissions credits for supplanting coal- fired power generation with nuclear power and that the bill does not require emissions reductions to be focused domestically but permits hard-to-verify actions to be taken by industries overseas.
2.) Anti-CAFE Rider on Appropriations Bill:
Although improved automobile fuel efficiency offers one of the best options for reducing CO2 emissions, the Sierra Club reports that the House FY'00 transportation appropriations bill is expected to have a rider that effectively freezes CAFE standards by zeroing out funding for the Department of Transportation to even consider raising the standards. This would be the fifth year in a row that this rider has been included in the bill. Those who wish to submit written testimony on this issue can do so anytime before March 26 by sending it (4 copies) to the Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agency Appropriations, 2358 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515.
3.) American Geophysical Union - Climate Statement:
On January 27, the American Geophysical Union issued a policy statement which said, in part: "AGU recommends the development and evaluation of strategies such as emissions reduction, carbon sequestration, and adaptation to the impacts of climate change. AGU believes that the present level of scientific uncertainty does not justify inaction in the mitigation of human- induced climate change and/or the adaptation to it."
MISCELLANEOUS
1.) Energy Company Profits:
A new report, "Performance Profiles of Major Energy Producers 1997," released by the Energy Information Administration notes that the net income of two dozen major U.S. energy companies was $32.1 billion in 1997, a second consecutive record, despite a $2-per-barrel decline in world oil prices. Total net income of the majors was up $3.5 billion in 1997 compared to the 1996 level. In addition to the big oil companies, the 24 profiled firms include Enron Corporation and Unocal. The full report can be found at https://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/perfpro.
2.) "Mobile Chernobyl" Legislation:
The most recent issue of "Environment & Energy Weekly" reports that Reps. Upton and Towns claim they "have gained as many as 50 cosponsors" for H.R.45 which would enable construction of an "interim" high-level nuclear waste repository near Yucca Mountain, NV. H.R.45 is essentially the same as H.R.1270 that passed the House last year on a 37-120 vote, except for a few changes to the funding mechanism. Rep. Joe Barton is reportedly "shooting" for a hearing on the bill by the House Energy & Power Subcommittee -- probably in February. The White House has made clear that a veto threat on the bill remains. A 3-page "alert" issued by the Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS) warns that the bill "would impact 43 states" and would require transporting "an ambitious 3,000 metric tons of irradiated fuel a year--or about the total amount that have been moved in the last 30 years, each year for the next 30 years or more. Fifty million Americans live within a half mile on either side of the likely train tracks and highways this waste would pass by." Let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy of the NIRS alert.
3.) Lifting Sanctions on Iraqi Oil:
A 2-page, January 21 letter sent to the White House by Reps. Ernest Istook, Wes Watkins, Tom Coburn, and J.C. Watts opposes the proposed lifting of sanctions against Iraq "to allow Saddam Hussein to sell unlimited amounts of oil." In addition to national security concerns, the letter warned that such action "will only further depress already depressed oil prices [and risk] the collapse of America's domestic oil and gas industry, and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs." Let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy of the letter.
4.) Arizona - Pending Renewable Energy Bills:
The Arizona Solar Energy Association sent us a 2-page memo noting that five solar-related bills were given "due pass" recommendations by a key committee of the state's House of Representatives. They included tax incentives and funding for state solar development programs. Let us know if you would like us to fax you a copy.
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