Advanced Energy Perspectives

Ohio put energy efficiency and renewable energy standards in place in 2008. The standards have been a great success – saving money, creating jobs, diversifying resources.

But no good deed goes unpunished. Some of the utilities have been slow in implementing energy efficiency programs and decided to exercise their influence in the Ohio General Assembly rather than implement efficiency measures that would save money for their customers.

Advanced energy finance is an ever-expanding field with many players, including government agencies, private investors, and international financial institutions. Our periodic Finance updates will help you understand and navigate this complex infrastructure. Read previous energy finance updates here.

DOE Issues Draft Innovative Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Solicitation; Up to $4 billion in Loan Guarantees to be made Available

The U.S. Department of Energy last month issued a draft solicitation for loan guarantees for innovative renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to help commercialize technologies that may be otherwise unable to obtain full commercial financing. When finalized, the solicitation is expected to make as much as $4 billion in guarantees available for U.S.-based projects.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to develop its first greenhouse gas performance standards for new and existing power plants under the Clean Air Act. These new GHG standards could increase opportunities for both supply- and demand-side advanced energy technologies to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, depending on the ultimate regulatory design. This is the latest in a regular series of blog posts chronicling important news about these EPA regulations and their development.

Late last week a federal judge dismissed the latest lawsuit facing Cape Wind. Cape Wind Associates, the New England-based organization behind the planned offshore wind project, is no stranger to the courtroom: the organization has faced consistent legal challenges since its inception a decade ago. As recently as March, a court resolved most of the legal challenges then pending, enough for the developer to pursue financing for the project.

The U.S. Senate began debate Tuesday on the energy efficiency bill (S. 2262) sponsored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH). While the Shaheen-Portman bill maintains broad bipartisan support, the most likely scenario is that it will fail to obtain the 60 votes needed to emerge from the Senate.