[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 41 (Thursday, March 13, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E455-E456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ESTABLISH FEDERAL RENEWABLE ENERGY PORTFOLIO STANDARDS FOR CERTAIN 
                       RETAIL ELECTRIC UTILITIES

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 13, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, along with my cousin and 
colleague, Representative Mark Udall of Colorado, I am today 
introducing legislation that amends title VI of the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish Federal renewable energy 
portfolio standard, RPS, for certain retail electric utilities.
  I would like to thank Representatives Berman, Cardin, Hinchey, Leach, 
George Miller, Owens, Pallone, Tierney, and especially Representative 
Henry Waxman who share the vision that we in Congress can develop a 
national energy policy that is founded on two key principles: renewable 
energy and energy efficiency. I am especially proud that this is a 
bipartisan effort.
  Mr. Speaker there are some who say that a long-term sustainable 
energy plan is impossible. Or that renewable energy and energy 
efficiency are pipe dreams, and that 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, and as we are on the brink of 
war with Iraq, 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 percent of its oil. My father argued that we shouldn't import more 
than 20 percent of our oil on national security grounds. Today, we 
import 53 percent of our oil, 47 percent of which comes from OPEC 
countries; by 2020, the United States will import 62 percent of its oil 
unless we act to change the way we produce energy.
  Even more frightening, world production is expected to peak some time 
in the next few decades; some even say 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 percent 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 
percent from what they would have been without the investments.

  Unfortunately, the U.S. spends only one half of 1 percent of its 
energy bill on research and development. 60 percent of that money is 
wasted on the country's failed experiment in nuclear energy. Less than 
\1/3\ 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.
  During the 107th Congress, in the Senate version of H.R. 4, there was 
a provision, which proposed 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 percent in 2005, rise at a rate of about 1.2 percent 
every two years, and peak at 10 percent 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 percent peak 
in 2020 and believe we should set the standard higher to around 20 
percent. As I mentioned earlier, less than 2 percent of this nation's 
electricity is generated by non-traditional sources of power such as 
wind, solar, geothermal, etc.
  Why is this legislation so important now Mr. Speaker? It's important 
because the Department of Energy's total energy efficiency and 
renewable energy budget would remain essentially unchanged at $1.3 
billion for fiscal 2004. For example, Biomass and biorefinery systems 
would see the biggest cut, down 19

[[Page E456]]

percent, to $70 million. Solar is flat at $79.6 million; wind is down 6 
percent, to $41.6 million; hydropower is unchanged at $7.4 million; and 
geothermal is down 4 percent, to $25.5 million.
  It's important because yesterday Secretary Gale Norton came before 
the House Resources Committee, of which I am a member, to make the case 
for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's important 
because the House will pass an energy bill, thanks to the help of the 
Rules Committee, to open the 1.5-million-acre ANWR coastal plain to oil 
development.
  Mr. Speaker, we are a nation of ``petroholics.'' Instead of pushing 
for the exploration of oil development and contributing to this 
country's addiction to oil, we should be pushing for the exploration of 
renewable energy development. This is what this legislation does, Mr. 
Speaker. And I have no doubt that whatever energy bill the majority 
brings before the House that it will not contain language to promote 
and expand renewable energy development in this county.
  Our legislation is the first step toward encouraging greater use of 
our country's clean and domestic renewable energy resources. Our 
legislation would:
  Encourage the use of renewable energy by establishing a nationwide, 
market-based program that would set fair, achievable and affordable 
clean energy goals for each state;
  Give states flexibility to achieve renewable energy goals;
  Benefit farmers and save consumers money; and
  Reduce air pollution and the threat of global warming.
  Our legislation would require that retail electricity suppliers--
except for municipal and cooperative utilities--be required to obtain 
15 percent of their power production from a portfolio of new renewable 
energy resources by 2020 and within 5 years add an additional 5 
percent, so by 2025, 20 percent of retail electricity suppliers' power 
production would be derived from a portfolio of new renewable energy 
resources.
  Mr. Speaker 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 percent since the early 1970s, and scientists and industry groups 
predict the price will drop another 66 percent 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 several months ago, the Public Service Company of New Mexico and 
FPL Energy LLC, based in Florida, signed an agreement to build one of 
the nation's largest wind generation fields in my congressional 
district 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 strong 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.
  Even 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 percent 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.
  I encourage my colleagues in the House to support this legislation 
and support building solid renewable energy provisions within whatever 
energy bill comes before the House.

                          ____________________