by Wallace McMullen
Environmental activists with an interest in clean air know that Missouri’s electric generating plants contribute greatly to smog and ozone problems in our urban areas, and that they dump more that 70 millions tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. We know those emissions intensify global warming, which endangers life as we know it for the next generation. And we know that solar and wind power can generate electricity without burning fossil fuel and causing these harmful emissions.
| Electricity Generation in Missouri | |||
| Coal | Nuclear | Hydro | Other |
| 82% | 13% | 4% | 1% |
So concerned environmentalists are trying to promote the use of renewable energy in this state. But there are multitudinous barriers, both for the adventurous homeowner interested in trying it out, and for those who would like to promote large-scale utility use of solar and wind.
A group of interested activists in the Sierra Club, the Missouiri Coalition for the Environment, and the League of Women Voters joined forces last November to pursue the quest for more renewable energy. Heartland Renewable Energy Society, and the Mid-Missouri Green Party soon joined in. The Citizens Energy/Labor Coalition, MOFARES, Bridging the Gap, and MOPIRG have participated or attended meetings as well.
Utility-Scale Renewable Energy
It is essential to create a definite market to get the renewable energy industry off the ground in the realm of larger scale generation. The best way to do this is to create a requirement for all utilities to buy or generate a small portion of the electricity they sell from renewable sources. Such a requirement is known as a renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
Jenee Lowe and Joan Bray have introduced a bill which contained such a requirement in the past two legislative sessions. We were able to bring in an expert witness to testify in favor of a renewable portfolio standard during the hearing on the bill this year, and Han Detweiler from the Environmental Law and Policy Center presented some nice economic analysis in favor of the legislation. However, conversations with legislators afterward indicate that they were not convinced, and the House Energy and Environment Committee struck out those provisions when they acted on the bill.
| Harmful Emissions from Missouri Power Plants 1999, in tons | |||
| Pollutant | SOx | CO2 | NOx |
| Amount | 256,274 | 71,543,029 | 181,655 |
| Causes | Acid Rain | Global Warming | Smog |
Missouri imports virtually all of its energy at present, to the tune of about 12 billion dollars a year. So developing in-state renewable energy can be expected to improve the states economy. And renewable energy generation sources create more local jobs than the fossil-fuel power plants. The arguments for renewable energy are strong, if we can get the attention of policy makers, and overcome the influence of the entrenched fossil fuel interests.
Renewable Energy for Homeowners/Small Farmers
Homeowners can not experiment with renewable energy supplying some of their needs and still get electricity from the main grid in this state. The utilities will not allow it unless you are willing to pay for engineering studies, enormous amounts of insurance, sign frightening long contracts making you liable for all problems within 3 counties, and buy expensive electrical hardware for interfaces and lockout switchgear outside your house.
Two pieces of legislation were introduced this year to allow homeowner use of renewable energy. One was introduced by Senator Pat Dougherty, the other by Representatives Jenee Lowe and Joan Bray. Our coalition did well at turning out supporters for the hearings on both bills. Both the House and Senate bills had so many supporters testify that another session had to be scheduled for the opponents to speak.
| Terms to know: Net metering. The term for the policy and rules about interconnecting to the electric grid if you have renewable generation equipment. The name comes from the issue of potentially getting credit for spinning your meter backward when the renewable source generates more than the home is using. Renewable Portfolio Standard. A requirement for all utilities to buy or generate a small portion of all the electricity they sell from renewable sources. Typically proposed to start very small and then ramp up, for example, 3% by 2005, 10% by 2012, 20% by 2002. |
However, the utilities were able to get more legislative support for their bill, sponsored by Sen. Childers, which would enact into law all the barriers to grid interconnection mentioned above. Every member of the Senate Commerce and Environment Committee except Dougherty voted for Childers’ SB 1100.
In the House, the show of interest prompted the chair of the Energy and Environment Committee to form a subcommittee to consider the Lowe-Bray bill. The subcommittee created a substitute bill largely incorporating the anti-renewable energy features the utilities wanted, and the full committee then passed the substitute bill, which we were now opposing.
In the chaotic last week of the 2002 session the undesirable language of SB 1100 was amended onto HB 1402, a bill about municipalities offering cable TV service and Internet pornography in libraries, and the legislature passed it.
We Must Overcome the Influence of the Entrenched Fossil Fuel Interests. That will not happen easily. Although we may have a long struggle before solar and wind power are a major portion of Missouri’s energy mix, environmentalists can help by learning about the electric power issues, telling other people about the environmental impact of these issues, and bending the ear of legislators at every opportunity.