Testimonials
(in chronological order, PDF format)
Georgia
NOx Reduction
Adopting a Georgia energy efficiency and
renewable energy set aside. Submitted to the Georgia Environmental
Protection Division, Air Protection Branch, as part of the
Regional NOX SIP Public Comment Process. July
15, 2002.
Florida
Renewable Energy
Comments submitted
to the Florida Public Service Commission undocketed workshop
on Florida Renewable Technologies Assessment. Tallahassee,
FL. July 2, 2002.
National Renewable Energy Policy
In comments titled "Energy: Maximizing Resources;
Meeting Our Needs; Retaining Jobs", Exec. Director George
Sterzinger testified to the House Government Reform Committee,
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources and Regulatory
Affairs. June
17, 2002.
Nevada RPS
Nevada
Testimonial #2
AFL-CIO
testimony to Nevada Public Service Commission, April 29,
2002.
Nevada
Testimonial #1
AFL-CIO
testimony to Nevada Public Service Commission, January
18, 2002.
Publications
(in chronological order, PDF format)
Wind
Energy for Electric Power (August
2003)
This REPP issue
brief presents a general background on utility-scale wind
power and provides a solid foundation for further understanding
of the technical, economic, and policy dimensions of wind
power development world wide.
The
Effect of Wind Development on Property Values
(May
2003)
This report finds that statistical
evidence does not support the contention that property values
within the view shed of wind developments suffer or perform
poorer than in a comparable region.
Renewable
Energy for California: Benefits, Status and Potential
(March 2002)
This report discusses the importance of renewable
energy to Californian's concerned about price, reliability
and environmental quality and estimates future
potential for renewable energy in California.
Powering
the South: A Clean and Affordable Energy Plan for the Southern
United States (January
2002)
This report offers a path to clean, affordable power system,
one that reduces the harmful pollution of the current power
system while still assuring that power remains affordable
and reliable.
Energy
Smart Data Centers: Applying Energy Efficient Design and
Technology to the Digital Information Sector
(November
2001)
This report demonstrates that computer data center power
demands could be reduced by 20% with minimal efficiency
efforts, and by 50% with more aggressive efficiency measures.
The
Work That Goes Into Renewable Energy (November
2001)
This report uses survey data to estimate direct jobs created by wind, photovoltaics, and biomass co-firing energy projects. Jobs are reported by skill type and occupational category.
Blending
Wind and Solar into the Diesel Generator Market (Winter
2001)
Diesel generators are a significant source of air pollution
in the United States. This is the first comprehensive look
at diesel's environmental impacts and recommended renewable
energy solutions.
Resolution
on Sustainable Energy and Low-Income and Minority Communities
(Fall 2000)
Over 50 diverse groups from across the United States have
come together to express common concerns and solutions for
our energy system. The accompanying fact sheet provides
background material and context for the resolution. [html
format]
Federal
Energy Subsidies: Not All Technologies Are Created Equal
(July 2000)
This report examines Federal subsidies to wind, solar, and nuclear power programs and finds that while nuclear energy received the majority of subsidies, wind energy provided more energy per dollar spent in the first 10 years. [Supporting
Tables]
Build
it Right: Cleaner Energy for Better Buildings (May
2000)
Buildings have a large environmental footprint and influence our comfort and productivity. Growing the
market for clean, affordable buildings will require numerous
steps on the part of many actors, but it will have a significant
payoff.
The
Environmental Imperative for Renewable Energy: An Update
(April 2000)
Every option for generating electricity affects
the environment. As this survey makes clear, conventional
generating options can damage our air, climate, water, land
and wildlife, as well as raising levels of harmful radiation.
Renewable technologies are substantially safer. The environmental
imperative remains clear: the future must be renewable.
[html format]
A
Guide to the Clean Air Act for the Renewable Energy Community
(February 2000)
Renewable energy is a clean energy source. However, air
regulations have furnished limited benefits to renewable
energy markets. By understanding
how air regulation works, the renewable energy community
can help shape effective policy, assure that renewables
cut air pollution, and secure financial benefits.[html
format]
A
Sustainable Energy Industry Cluster for Mesa Del Sol
(January 2000)
A sustainable energy industry cluster such as the one
investigated for Mesa Del Sol can provide two benefits:
an expanded opportunity for citizens to choose clean energy
at home and jobs from manufacturing sustainable energy products
for out-of-state and foreign sale.
Rural
Electrification with Solar Energy as a Climate Protection
Strategy (January 2000)
As the world struggles to control energy-related greenhouse
gases, electricity-starved rural families in the developing
world toil to build decent lives. Photovoltaic systems provide
a unified solution, bringing power to those that need it,
while making a moderate but important contribution to climate
protection. [html
format]
Renewable
Energy Policy Outside the United States (October
1999)
Many industrialized nations have enacted a variety of policies
to commercialize renewable energy. The U.S. can learn from
all of them to expand its own domestic renewable energy
market. But if the U.S. does not commit to a multi-year,
diverse mix of commercialization strategies soon, it will
continue to lose its share of a growing global market. [html
format]
Power
Switch: Will the Restructured Electric Utility Help the
Environment? (September 1999)
Consumers across the U.S. are discovering that changes are
underway in the electric power industry. What do these changes
mean for the environment?
Electrofinance
(August 1999)
The American insurance industry could lose billions of dollars
from weather disasters related to climate change. "Electrofinance"
represents an innovative consumer product that profit-minded
insurers could offer; it would bundle electricity, a retirement
annuity, energy efficiency and renewable energy. By selling
electrofinance, insurers can take modest, but important,
initial steps in helping to control carbon emissions, and
thereby reduce climate change. [html
format]
Financing
Solar Energy in the U.S. (July 1999)
This scoping paper establishes a frame work for a potential
future project on the "financeability" of solar energy.
It considers solar energy from the point of view of potential
lenders, who assess the likelihood of repayment, first from
the borrower's cash flow and good character; second from
the solar system's collateral value; and finally from third-party
guarantees.
The
Grassroots Are Greener: A Community-Based Approach to Marketing
Green Power (June 1999)
One of the most successful green pricing programs in the
country resulted from an innovative partnership between
the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies and Public Service
Company of Colorado, in which an environmental group helps
market an electric utility's green power product. [html
format]
Clean
Government: Options for Governments to Buy Renewable Energy
(May 1999)
For many reasons, governments should purchase renewable
energy technologies and green power for their own needs.
At its best, government procurement can prepare renewable
energy forms for the consumer markets on which they ultimately
will have to depend, but only as long as governments follow
certain policies that will not permanently distract firms
into a unique government market. [html
format]
Evaluation
of a Proposal for Green Power Price Insurance (May
1999)
The green power market faces a constraint: customers
will sign only short-term purchase contracts, yet renewable
energy project developers require long-term purchase commitments
to obtain financing. This report concludes that green power
price "insurance" can address this asymmetry, offering great
potential to stimulate a market at an acceptable level of
financial risk. [html
format]
Winner,
Loser or Innocent Victim: Has Renewable Energy Performed
as Expected? (April 1999)
This study evaluates the performance of renewable technologies for electricity generation
measured against stated projections that helped shape public policy goals over the last
three decades and the performance against projections and trends in conventional
electric power generation.
[html
format]
Calculating,
Monitoring, and Evaluating Greenhouse Gas Benefits (April
1999)
A draft working paper prepared as part REPP's assessment of solar home system (SHS) dissemination as an activity for mitigating climate change. The paper reviews quantification, monitoring, and evaluation of SHS projects under Global Environmental Facility and Activities Implemented Joinly programs.
Expanding
Markets for Photovoltaics: What To Do Next (December
1998)
Notwithstanding economic progress, markets for photovoltaics
(PV) remain small and scattered. Based on extensive research
and professional review, we support a product path to
expand PV markets, as described in a ten-point package of
recommendations. [html
format] [Supporting
Reports]
Expanding
Wind Power: Can Americans Afford It? (October
1998)
This report examines the potential impacts of large-scale
wind commercialization on the electricity supply network
and on electric rates. [html
format]
Putting
It Together: Whole Buildings and a Whole Building Policy
(Sept. 1998)
This report explains why energy-conscious builders and architects
need to consider "whole buildings" that use energy efficiently
and cleanly. The report suggests that whole buildings ought
to form the basis of federal buildings policy. [html
format]
Transforming
the Market for Solar Water Heathers: A New Model to Build
a Permanent Sales Force (August 1998)
This report explores the application of the market transformation
techniques developed for energy-efficient technologies to
solar water heaters, and proposes new market mechanisms
to build a market chain for this renewable technology. [html
format]
Climate
Opportunity: Renewable Energy after Kyoto (July
1998)
This report discusses the business opportunities for renewable
energy opened by ongoing international climate negotiations,
and considers who has to accomplish what to take advantage
of those opportunities. [html
format]
Renewable
Energy in Indian Country: Options for Tribal Governments
(May 1998)
This report proposes concrete means by which Native Americans
can use renewable energy projects to develop local economies,
produce "green power" and export product and preserve local
environments. [html
format]
Cooperative
Wind: How Co-ops and Advocates Expanded Wind Power In Minnesota
(April 1998)
This report describes how a rural electric cooperative worked
with a group of Minnesota clean energy advocates and the
Union of Concerned Scientists to install wind turbines and
offer green power to co-op member.[html
format]
Action
Recommendations for a Project on Expanding Market for Photovoltaics
(April 1998)
This scoping document for the REPP PV Markets research project
identifies seven major factors that can expand the market
for photovoltaics. The paper is a result of extensive interviews
with experts in and member of the PV field. [html
format]
Electricity
Sector Reform In Developing Countries: Implications for
Renewable Energy (March 1998)
This report considers how different electricity sector reforms
in the developing world will affect markets for bulk and
distributed renewable energy, and recommends ways to ensure
that electricity reform benefits renewables. [html
format]
Power
to the People: How Local Governments Can Build Green Electricity
Markets (January 1998)
This report discusses whether and how local governments can
group citizens into "buyers club" for power generated from
renewable resources. [html
format]
Green
Power for Business: Good News from Traverse City (July
1997)
This report presents lessons learned from business participation in a utility green pricing program in Traverse City, Michigan.
[html
format]
Natural
Gas: Bridge to a Renewable Energy Future (May
1997)
This report finds that competition between natural
gas and renewables does not preclude cooperation since both
technologies will benefit from similar policies and market
structures. In the long term, natural gas can serve as a
bridge to a renewable energy future if each community, acting
in its own interest, supports the development of the other.
[html
format]
Clean
Hydrogen Transportation: A Market Opportunity for Renewable
Energy (April 1997)
This report examines market opportunities for renewables-based hydrogen
vehicles that could reduce
automotive pollution and bolster national energy security.
[html
format]
Dying
Needlessly: Sickness and Death Due to Energy-related Air
Pollution (February 1997)
Clean, renewable sources of energy can alleviate the air
pollutin that afflicts millons of Americans, and even greater
number of people in the developing world. This report identifies
six major air pollutants and summarizes emerging medical
evidence indicating that current legal levels of pollution
cause sickness and even death. [html
format]
Disclosure
and Certification: Truth and Labeling for Electric Power
(January 1997)
To ensure consumer choice of power provider lowers the total social cost
of electricity, customers need to know how their power is
generated and they need assurance that power sold as "green"
really is so. [html
format]
Wind
Clusters: Expanding the Market Appeal of Wind Energy Systems
(November 1996)
This report examines the applicability of European-style wind development,
featuring small clusters of one to five turbines owned
and operated by local residents, the the U.S. market.
Wind clusters can involve communities in their own energy development,
bolster local economies, reduce problematic visual impacts,
and create relatively little strain on transmission and
distribution systems. [html
format]
Energy
and the Environment: The Public View (October
1996)
This report shows that in surveys over the past eighteen years, majorities of the
public have chosen renewable energy and energy efficiency
over other energy alternatives - a finding important to
local, state and federal legislators; utility companies
and regulators; environmental organizations; and the renewables
and efficiency industries. [html
format]
Net
Metering: New Opportunities for Home Power (September
1996)
Growing numbers of Americans seek to lower their monthly
electricity bills and soften the environmental impact of
their energy use by installing photovoltaic panels, solar
water heaters, and small wind and water turbines. Net metering,
a technique for calculating a household's resulting electric
bill, can boost the financial appeal of renewable energy
technologies. [html
format]
Renewable
Energy in Competitive Electricity Markets (June
1996)
This report discusses how the renewable energy
community can prepare to adapt to increasing customer choice
under electricity system
restructuring. [html
format]
The
Environmental Imperative: A Driving Force in the Development
and Deployment of Renewable Energy Technologies (April
1996)
This report outlines the environmental imperative of accelerating
the exploitation of renewable resources. In particular,
the report argues that well-designed energy policies, such
as those promoting renewable energy, would help prevent
serious environmental degradation. [html
format]
