[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 148 (Friday, November 15, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  AMENDING TITLE VI OF PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY POLICIES ACT OF 1978

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce legislation 
that amends title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 
1978 to establish Federal renewable energy portfolio standard for 
certain retail electric utilities.
  As we in Congress have attempted to develop a national energy policy, 
some say that a long-term sustainable energy plan is impossible. They 
say that renewable energy and energy efficiency are pipe dreams, and 
they say the U.S. will never be able to break its reliance on 
traditional energy sources like oil and coal. I disagree.
  Now, in the post-September 11th world, the renewed conflict in the 
Middle East shows us that we cannot continue to rely on imported oil 
from that region. When my father, Stewart Udall, was Secretary of the 
Interior, the U.S. imported 20% of its oil. My father argued that we 
shouldn't import more than 20% of our oil on national security grounds. 
Today, we import 53% of our oil, 47% of which comes from OPEC 
countries; by 2020, the United States will import 62% of its oil.
  Even more frightening, world production is expected to peak some time 
in the next few decades, possibly as early as 2007. That means that as 
energy demand increases more and more rapidly, the world's oil supply 
will be proportionally diminished.
  While energy production has brought tremendous prosperity and allowed 
us to grow our economy at unprecedented rates, nonrenewable forms of 
energy are responsible for many of the greatest environmental threats 
to America's well-being.
  Consider this, less than 2% of this nation's electricity is generated 
by non-traditional sources of power such as wind, solar, and geothermal 
energy. During the period from 1973-1991, smart investments were made 
to develop new technologies that made our energy use more efficient 
without affecting economic output. These investments curbed the 
projected growth rates of energy use in the United States by 18% from 
what they would have been without the investments.
  Unfortunately, the U.S. spends only one-half of 1% of its energy bill 
on research and development. Sixty percent of that money is wasted on 
the country's failed experiment in nuclear energy. Less than one-third 
of the nation's tiny research and development budget is spent on 
renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
  Mr. Speaker, I am particularly interested in Renewable Portfolio 
Standards (RPS), which I believe paves the road for the development and 
investment in clean energy technologies and local economic development. 
RPS, in my mind, clearly serves as model for tomorrow's small and 
medium businesses to draw a profit from their own environmental 
responsibility.
  In the Senate version of H.R. 4 there is a provision, which proposes 
that retail electricity suppliers (except for municipal and cooperative 
utilities) be required to obtain a minimum percentage of their power 
production from a portfolio of new renewable energy resources. The 
minimum energy target or ``standard'' would start at 1% in 2005, rise 
at a rate of about 1.2% every two years, and peak at 10% in 2019.
  I applaud the Senate for including an RPS provision in the Energy 
bill, which the House failed to include in our energy package. However, 
I believe that we are capable of going further than the 10% peak in 
2020 and believe we should set the standard higher to around 20%. As I 
mentioned earlier, less than 2% of this nation's electricity is 
generated by non-traditional sources of power such as wind, solar, 
geothermal, etc.
  My legislation would add an additional 10% on top of the 10% set to 
peak in 2020, and would achieve this goal within 5 years. Consequently, 
20% of retail electricity supplier's power production would be from a 
portfolio of new renewable energy sources in 2025.
  Consider the following:
  Wind farms in the Pacific Northwest are producing energy at a price 
of 3 cents per kilowatt-hour. This is less than the current price of 
power from natural gas. With a little encouragement, wind energy could 
become economically viable around the country, and this means a 
tremendous level of energy self-sufficiency for the U.S. Using wind as 
an energy source, twelve Midwest states alone could generate three 
times the total U.S. electricity consumption.
  Solar power, one of the most well known forms of renewable energy, 
also has potential for the future. The cost of solar energy has dropped 
by 90% since the early 1970s, and scientists and industry groups 
predict the price will drop another 66% by 2020. Solar energy, if 
properly developed, could go a long way towards freeing the U.S. from 
its dependence on coal. Just 10,000 square miles of solar panels would 
supply all of the nation's electricity needs.
  And just a few weeks ago, the Public Service Company of New Mexico 
and FPL Energy LLC, based in Florida, signed an agreement to build in 
my congressional district one of the nation's largest wind generation 
fields near Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico. Harnessed by 136 
twirling turbines, wind will be used to create electricity in the first 
large-scale renewable energy operation in the state.
  Wind will make up less than 4 percent of the power generated by PNM, 
and this project has the hope of becoming the first of many wind farms 
in the state and an example of using and developing new technologies 
for renewable energy use.
  A RPS makes good economic sense to help states diversify their energy 
market, increase their work force, and help revitalize communities who 
have little to no economic development.
  Currently, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission is working on 
passing a Renewable Portfolio Standard for New Mexico that would 
require electric utilities to generate 10% of their electricity from 
renewable energy sources by 2007.
  Mr. Speaker, our dependence on coal, oil and other traditional energy 
sources is unsustainable. To protect our environment and our economy, 
we must turn off the dead end street that our energy non-policy has 
been leading us down, and start down a path of energy productivity and 
sustainable, environmentally sound production.

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