The question last week was whether or not renewables were going to be left behind in the tax deal in Washington. It is a testament to the maturity of the industry that they were not. The key federal grant program, and some other supports for renewables, were extended. One perspective has it that thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment have been preserved. See also this excellent analysis from Kirsten Korosec at her blog for bnet, Carbon Based. She breaks down all the tax credits and incentives for energy, including those for the less-than-felicitous ethanol program. In any event, with renewables able to enjoy these benefits, now let’s see if Congress can pass some deeper program, like a Renewable Portfolio Standard.
On another front, I noted here last April that there was bad craziness afoot in Oregon because the DOD was holding up a massive wind farm because of concerns regarding radar. It turns out that there were any number of good ways to surmount that particular obstacle. The DOD was eventually satisfied and now the project is eligible for $1.3 billion in federal loan guarantees. Not, as we say in New York, chopped liver. (I’m a vegetarian, but I still like the expression.)
Going back a few years, Sunflower Electric was blocked in the construction of new coal-fired plants in Kansas by then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius. (She is now the US Secretary of Health and Human Services.) Sunflower has been chipping away since Sebelius went to Washington and has now received its state permit. Sunflower’s critics and the EPA, however, are going to bring a microscope to the project. Stay tuned.
