Category Archives: Legislation

Help renewables get to one third

Last year, California came close to passing legislation that would have increased its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) from 20% to 33%. The RPS is the percentage of electricity utilities must generate from renewable resources like wind and solar. The California … Continue reading

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Santa’s in the House (and the Senate)

Our holiday wish came true–Congress voted to extend the Treasury Grant Program (which was set to expire this year) through 2012. This means that, for at least two more years, investors and businesses will have a big tax incentive to … Continue reading

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FITs and starts

How would you like it if your utility paid you a fair price for all the extra solar energy your rooftop system produced?  Would you be inclined to, say, supersize your system and generate solar power for your neigbhors?  Of … Continue reading

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Just say no to the ‘biomass’ boondoggle

Climate activists and policy wonks are gathered in Cancun this week for the latest round of global climate talks.  Expectations are low.  In the meantime, one bright spot is California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, which survived a fierce oil industry … Continue reading

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The little program that could

The Treasury Grant Program (TGP) is a small, little-known component of the 2009 Recovery Act. TGP provides businesses that invest in renewable energy a 30% cash grant  (parallel to the 30% tax credit tax credit individual taxpayers get when they … Continue reading

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