National Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) | Senate Status
Update: The Senate energy bill contains an RES, but in addition to its low standard, the senate RES has serious shortcomings. In June, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA) which includes an RES. Under the senate committee RES, utilities must meet a goal of 15 percent renewable energy by 2021. Approximately 3 percent of that goal may be met through energy efficiency measures. UCS analysis shows that the actual amount of renewable energy generated would be less than this level, between 7.4 and 10.7 percent. This is worse, or at best, only marginally better than the amount of renewable energy generated without a national RES. Furthermore, the future of renewable energy is threatened by an “alternative compliance payment” option which would allow states to opt out of the federal requirement altogether. The funds generated from this option could then be used to subsidize new nuclear reactors or coal plants with carbon capture, at the expense of new, clean renewable energy. A flawed RES is only one troublesome piece of this energy bill that UCS will work to strengthen on the full Senate floor.
A strong RES that would require utilities to obtain 25 percent of the electricity they generate from clean, renewable energy sources by 2025. The RES would create a large and growing market for clean and truly renewable sources of energy, such as solar, wind, geothermal (energy from the heat in the planet’s interior), and biomass (energy from plant and animal wastes).
A Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) analysis shows that a 25 percent RES will:
- save consumers $64.3 billion by 2025 and $95.5 billion by 2030 in their electricity and natural gas bills;
- create 297,000 new, green jobs;
- produce $263.4 billion in new capital investment; and
- take the equivalent of 45.3 million cars off the road through global warming pollution reduction from power plants.
The RES is one of the most viable ways to address both global warming and our nation’s economic crisis. While no substitute for a comprehensive cap and trade policy, the RES is an important and complementary tool to reduce our global warming pollution. The RES cuts emissions while creating jobs and saving consumers money, reducing costs for utilities and consumers.
Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have enacted an enforceable renewable electricity standard. The Senate has passed a similar bill three times and the House passed an RES in 2007 that was subsequently blocked by the Senate.
In January 2009, staff of the Senate Energy Committee circulated a discussion draft RES bill that calls for a 20 percent by 2021 standard, but allows utilities to meet up to 5 percent of their obligation through energy efficiency. In February 2009, Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced S.433, an RES bill which requires that 25 percent of electricity would come from renewable sources by 2025.
While UCS supports energy efficiency as a way to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, the leading source of global warming pollution, we believe that separate, but complementary renewable and energy efficiency standards is more effective than letting utilities choose to either save energy or generate renewable energy. We need both energy efficiency and renewable energy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, save families money on their utility bills, and create jobs to help lift our economy out of recession.
UCS and our allies hope to strengthen the Bingaman 20 percent RES once it passes out of committee and reaches the floor, where we will urge senators to support a more robust 25 percent by 2025 standard that would yield more renewables, reduce more carbon emissions, create more jobs, and save consumers more money.
