Advanced Energy Perspectives

With the exception of the nine legislatures that meet year-round, most legislative sessions have ended.  It was a tremendously active – and successful – session for advanced energy. 

All in all, AEE and its partners have tallied 56 legislative successes this year – defending and expanding renewable energy requirements, increasing energy efficiency efforts, and advancing transportation alternatives – including passage of 49 new bills. 

Early this year there was a great deal of public discourse around efforts to roll back state renewable portfolio standards (RPS), but not all the RPS action in state legislatures this year has been negative. In total, there are 121 unique proposals introduced since January to increase, modify or rollback state RPS policies. As this year’s session comes to a close in most states, its time to take stock of how RPS polices have fared. 

Guest post by Peter Rothstein, President of the New England Clean Energy Council, an AEE partner organization. 

The recent passage of a bill updating Connecticut’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), S 1138, was the culmination of a protracted education, advocacy and negotiation effort, with significance for the entire New England region.  

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently handed down a decision on a challenge to the FERC's authority to distribute the costs of high-capacity transmission to support wind investments (“multi-value projects”) across the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) region.  One sentence in the decision has attracted a great deal of interest – the statement that Michigan’s in-state requirement for their RPS is a violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. While some see this language as trouble for the RPS in Michigan and possibly elsewhere, in my view, the decision is a victory for FERC and for advanced energy.