Renewables Industry Calls for National Policy Support

On Tuesday, executives in the renewable energy sector gathered in Washington DC to urge Congress to swiftly enact key policies to continue accelerated growth across the entire sector in order to add renewable energy jobs and boost economic growth in 2010.

If these policies are not enacted, they said the renewable energy sector could face a downturn in 2010, undermining positive developments that took place in 2009.

Participants in the press conference including Denise Bode, CEO, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA); Linda Church Ciocci, Executive Director, National Hydropower Association (NHA); Robert Cleaves, President and CEO, Biomass Power Association (BPA); Karl Gawell, Executive Director of the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA); and Rhone Resch, President and CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

The group called for Congress to pass a strong national renewable energy standard (RES) with clear near- and long-term goals, along with expansion and extension of credit incentives, and comprehensive legislation.

“The RES is the best way to provide the certainty that companies need to expand wind manufacturing nationwide,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “The importance of building a strong renewable energy manufacturing base in the U.S. cannot be overstated. The U.S. has a historic opportunity to fortify the clean energy economy but is committing unilateral economic disarmament by not giving itself the policy tools to do so.”

“Policy matters in tapping hydropower’s tremendous growth potential in every state, which will lead to the creation of well-paying, family-supporting jobs,” said Linda Church Ciocci, Executive Director, NHA. “We need a strong RES, tax incentives and other support policy if we are to double hydropower’s contribution to America’s energy portfolio.”

“Thousands of jobs in the biomass power industry could be lost if Congress fails to extend the production tax credit for biomass power that recently expired late last year. These tax credits are literally the life-line to many biomass power facilities that provide long-term high paying jobs in rural areas currently facing unemployment levels as high as 15%,” said Robert Cleaves, President of the Biomass Power Association.

Karl Gawell, Executive Director, GEA, said: “This year Congress enacted stimulus legislation with a historic group of incentives supporting geothermal and other renewable technologies. Now in its 2011 budget, the Administration proposed additional measures, including ramping up incentives for the domestic manufacturing capacity needed to supply a growing geothermal power industry. The keys to sustain this growth will be adopting longer-term measures to support an increase in both new projects and the manufacturing and supply infrastructure. That means extending the stimulus bill’s tax incentives through 2016, adopting a strong renewable electricity standard, and other measures to keep the U.S. a leader in geothermal energy.”

The group pointed to a new study conducted by Navigant Consulting, Inc. that states a 25% by 2025 national RES would result in 274,000 more renewable energy jobs than a no-national RES policy scenario. That study is available at the link below.