Panel: Renewable energy use still hampered

Kevin Rademacher

Friday, March 4, 2005 | 10:59 a.m.

In Thursday's closing event at this week's Power-Gen Renewable Energy conference, panelists from various industry sectors discussed a variety of obstacles in the way of widespread acceptance.

Not the least of which, some said, was finding a way to make sure their differing agendas do not prevent a unified front.

One example of a persistent gap in ideology came when discussion turned to a possible national renewable energy portfolio standard. Such a plan has been discussed in Congress and would act similar to that of Nevada's standard, which mandates that an increasing percentage of electricity used to serve customers comes from renewable sources, topping out at 15 percent in 2013.

On Thursday, however, Julia Judd, director of the Solar Electric Power Association, said her organization could have a problem with a national standard.

"If utilities are forced to use renewables, let's face it, they are going to go for the cheapest option," she said, pointing out that solar power is by far the most expensive renewable energy option. "There's going to be nothing to drive them to solar."

Those divisions within the industry, other officials said, must be hammered out in order to move forward productively.

"We need to get together with a coherent proposal," said Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association. "I'm not sure we have one now."

Other officials said that a national standard is necessary in order to solve uncertainty in the market created by an on-again, off-again production tax credit. That subsidy for renewable developers has helped them secure financing, but it has been reinstated and withdrawn several times in recent years, muddying the financial waters for developers.

"It has just been debilitating on the industry," said Randy Swisher, director of the American Wind Energy Association.

Other pressing issues include a nationwide transmission problem.

Many renewable projects, such as a proposed wind-powered generating station near Ely, are in rural areas that lack the necessary transmission lines needed to get the power into a commercial system.

"Long-term, this industry is transmission constrained," Swisher said.

Tim Carlson, who is developing the Ely wind plant, agreed.

"That's going to be a significant issue," said Carlson, who along with state political leaders, utility executives and financiers just last year came up with a plan to shore up financing for Nevada renewable projects.

"How we solved the (financing) problem was having all of us working together," he added.