We need to have “the talk” about solar power and equity, because ignoring uncomfortable questions will invite misinformation and bad decisions. We need an informed dialogue about how local solar power can impact low-income communities and communities of color in the U.S. We need to talk about “all the good things, and the bad things,… Keep reading →
For 100 years, Americans have lived with what amounts to a corner store for electricity, but the smart grid means someone, somewhere, will start building Walmarts.
And the Sam Waltons of the power grid won’t wait for a regulatory invitation to start.
Steve Corneli, Senior Vice President, Policy and Strategy of NRG, challenged the experts gathered at GridWeek 2012 in Washington, DC last week to think of the smart grid as an interstate highway that will enable entire new forms of commerce. Keep reading →
For most people the issue of corporate taxation is both intriguing and offputting in equal measure. The complex and often contradictory nature of the enormous US tax code allows for a combination of passion and boredom that extends to almost no other region of policy.
That is part of what has made attacking the US tax code in an effort to simplify it or make it reflect policy goals so challenging; companies with tax lawyers on call can take advantage of seemingly innocuous or even beneficial tax policy, only to be accused later of corruptly using ‘loopholes’ or ‘subsidies’ to run their businesses. At the same time, financiers and corporations build otherwise unsustainable business models around the tax code rather than at the intersection of supply and demand, in turn warping the very markets they intend to serve. Keep reading →
While for many its a time of celebration, this holiday season is making many in the wind industry nervous.
The production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy–the primary federal financial support mechanism for wind, which rewards developers and investors with 2.2 cents per kWh over 10 years–is set to expire in just about a year, on midnight December 31, 2012. Keep reading →
Hundreds of millions of federal dollars from a flagship clean energy grant program were awarded to projects that were well under way before Barack Obama was inaugurated, despite the aim of the 1603 grant program to “primarily” stimulate new projects.
“When the financial crisis hit many developers found that they didn’t have the tax liability that would allow them to claim the credits, so the program was developed to offer an alternative way to continue to incentivize renewable energy development,” a Treasury spokeswoman said. “So, the 1603 program was primarily meant to incentivize new renewable energy projects, but it also supported some existing investments.” Keep reading →
The fourth annual National Clean Energy Summit teleconference was a scattered and at times a biting preview of the upcoming full-day summit set to take place on August 30 in Las Vegas.
Shaped by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the teleconference was rife with complaints about Republicans that have according to Reid done little in the way of creating jobs and much in the way of blocking various environmental and energy policies. Keep reading →
