Your Support Needed For Renewable Energy Bills

It was two years ago tomorrow that the General Assembly made history by making Delaware the first state to approve an offshore wind project. Three renewable energy bills that are due to come up for a vote in the Delaware House of Representative as early as today could have an equivalent impact in promoting renewable energy and cleaning Delaware's air.

SB 266 would give the DNREC secretary greater flexibility in administering the Green Energy Fund, and help ensure that funding is provided to end users more quickly. SB 267 would make it possible for customers (individually or collectively) to finance and build larger renewable energy installations.

The most significant bill on the agenda is Senate Substitute 1 for SB 119, which would extend and expand the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) so that 25 percent of Delaware's electricity would come from renewable sources by the year 2025. The bill also includes a stronger solar energy requirement and incentives for local labor and manufacture of renewable energy systems.

SS 1 to SB 119 would reduce Delaware's use of fossil fuels for electricity from 97.6 percent in 2008 to less than 75 percent in the next 15 years. The bill would further provide for the inclusion of the municipal energy providers and the Delaware Electric Cooperative (which provide half of Delaware's electricity) in the RPS for the first time.

Increasing the RPS will have economic benefits for Delaware by moving us away from our reliance on fossil fuels with their inherent price volatility. Delaware is not in the fossil fuel extraction business. But Delaware is in the solar panel business. Motech Americas has grown from 75 to 140 jobs since taking over the solar panel factory in Newark last winter. We should all agree that more of our energy dollars should go to building the renewable energy business here in Delaware than to the continuing extraction of fossil fuels elsewhere.

Passage of these bills would be the biggest legislative step towards reducing air emissions since the approval of the Bluewater Wind proposal two years ago. Two years ago, citizens made the difference on wind power, and citizens can make the difference by urging action on these three bills.

With only four more legislative days in the session, I am asking you to contact your state representative right away to urge them to vote for these important renewable energy bills. Tell 'em TommyWonk sent you.