Soft mandate: Bill would do little to boost renewable energy

Soft mandate: Bill would do little to boost renewable energy

Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

Obviously, Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, believes renewable energy is a good thing and its development would be positive for Utah. He just doesn't believe it very strongly.
Bramble touts his Senate Bill 202 as the Legislature's best effort to reduce carbon emissions by encouraging development of non-carbon energy sources. But it is unlikely to have much impact on carbon dioxide pollution, the major cause of global warming.
The bill would require utility companies to incorporate renewables such as wind, geothermal and solar energy - and coal-powered power if they use carbon sequestration, an unproven process still under development - in their mix of power sources, with a big loophole. The "requirement" can be ignored if adding renewables would not be "cost effective."
Patterned after a Rocky Mountain Power proposal, SB202 would let public and corporate utility companies off the hook if they can show that meeting the bill's target of a mix of power that includes 20 percent from renewable energy sources by 2025 would be too costly.
It would also allow companies to pass on the costs of producing power from renewable sources to consumers.
In other words, if a company has to sacrifice revenue, or pay the costs for new technology beyond what they pass on to consumers in order to meet the target of Bramble's bill, they can simply ignore it.
That's hardly a Carbon Emission Reduction Initiative, as this bill is titled.
Gov. Jon Huntsman's Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change, charged with recommending the best ways to cut carbon emissions in Utah, twice rejected Rocky Mountain Power's proposal.
Still, Bramble's bill was endorsed unanimously by a Senate committee, while another committee killed a bill sponsored by Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, that might actually have made a difference.
The only way to promote renewable energy development and truly cut carbon emissions is to reward companies for such development and financially penalize them for continuing to rely on polluting energy sources such as coal.
Carbon dioxide emissions are increasing faster in Utah than in the rest of the country. We need immediate and decisive action, not a bill that panders to utility companies.
We need immediate and decisive action, not a bill that panders to utility companies.