News

NBC Philadelphia // Apr 30, 2013

Navigant Research released a new report this week that predicts sales of electric vehicles will reach 22 million by 2020. With wider availability, greater charging infrastructure, and falling prices, sales of EVs have already begun to break records.News reports suggest the surge in electric vehicles has already begun. Tesla announced strong first quarter performance, and sales both the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf are up compared to this time last year. All told, more than 12,500 electric cars sold in the first quarter of 2013. Read more here.

The Senate Finance Committee released a white paper today outlining possible federal energy tax changes. The white paper is the fourth in a series of papers presenting tax reform options for consideration as part of the Committee’s broader tax reform efforts. AEE's Malcolm Woolf, senior vice president of policy & government affairs, released the following statement:

Greentech Media // Apr 24, 2013

Investment in renewables is expected to triple due to the plunge in wind and solar power, paving way for renewables to account for half of all generation capacity by 2030.  Bloomberg New Energy Finance recently reported that annual spending on clean-energy projects may rise to $630 billion at the end of the next decade from $190 billion last year.

The Swiss engineering company ABB agreed on Monday to acquire Power-One, the number two global PV inverter company, for $1 billion.  The purchase will place ABB as the number-two global supplier of inverters and position them as a close competitor to inverter market leader SMA.

GigaOM // Apr 22, 2013

Interviews with 40 Executives Show Support for Policy Stability, R&D Support, Incentives that Phase Out, and a Level Competitive Playing FieldCreate market certainty by making rules and regulations stable, predictable and transparent, in order to encourage investment.Create a level playing field by providing advanced energy access to benefits provided to traditional energy and avoiding preferential treatment for particular technology solutions.Support innovation in a portfolio approach by increasing federal funding for research and development and using that funding to assist the widest array of technological possibilities.Limit the duration of incentive support in order to let competitive markets determine what technologies will be viable in the long run.Craft policies around broad problems rather than prescribe narrow solutions, in order to let innovation and competition in the marketplace surface the best answers.R&D Funding: Nearly every executive interviewed supports the Federal Government’s involvement in research and development in advanced energy, especially if done through independent agencies in support of a wide range of firms at varying scales. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) were cited as the best existing models, with DARPA exhibiting the added benefit of linking product development to an established defense procurement market.Tax Policy: Tax credits are seen as a powerful tool to incentivize but should sunset in a well-structured and clearly defined manner. For example, the renewable electricity production tax credit (PTC) has generally been extended in one- or two-year increments over a number of years, resulting in boom and bust cycles. It would be better for this mechanism to be extended for a fixed number of years and then phased out in a well-structured and clearly defined manner. Similarly, tax incentives that currently create preferential treatment for conventional energy technologies should either sunset or be widely offered to advanced energy generation technologies. The Master Limited Partnership (MLP) ownership structure, now available only to certain conventional energy facilities, is one that many executives say should be available to advanced energy technologies as well.Demand Creation: Government policy can help bring new technologies to scale by stimulating market demand in a variety of ways. For example, many executives view a national version of the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) currently in 29 states as a potential means to create market demand. They also believe that any federal RPS needs to be technology neutral, meaning it should not privilege one advanced energy technology over another, especially considering regional variation in renewable resources. The executives also cite both Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as stimulating private investment. But they strongly prefer the CAFE approach, which allows vehicle manufactures to determine the best means of raising fuel economy, over the RFS, which requires production of specific biofuels.  Be targeted to driving innovation.Sunset or update automatically when market-based objectives are achieved.Provide stability and certainty for businesses and investors.Be technology neutral to support all forms of advanced energy.

America's first enhanced geothermal system (EGS) has come online. The project, based in New Hampshire, is producing 1.2 megawatts to an existing power plant. ORMAT, the company behind the project, has been developing the project since 2002. The industry has been in search of advanced geothermal technology that would allow for safe and cost-effective production of energy. ORMAT has developed "game-changing" technology with this project. Renewable Energy World explains:

Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) represents the pragmatic voice of business leaders who are working every day to make the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable.What are the primary business challenges faced by your firm?How does your business interface with federal policy?What changes to federal policy would you like to see occur?