September 5, 2007—Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner recently signed three energy- related bills into law. According to a report from the US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the original 2005 requirement called on the state’s electric utilities to draw on renewable energy for 10% of their electricity supply by 2019. Senate Bill 19 doubles that requirement to 20%, starting at 1% this year and increasing each year through 2019. The bill also specifies a minimum percentage of solar power needed to meet the overall requirement, starting at 0.03% of each utility’s electricity sales in 2009 and increasing to 2% of sales by 2019. The requirement is structured to encourage the utilities to buy renewable energy credits (RECs) from Delaware businesses that install solar power systems.
A related bill, Senate Bill 8, specifies that utility customers retain ownership of the RECs associated with their net-metered renewable energy systems, so utilities must buy the RECs from the customers. It also allows utilities to stop offering net metering when the total customer-owned capacity equals 1% of the utility’s peak load.
The governor also signed Senate Bill 35, which doubles the funding for the state’s Green Energy Fund. The fund helps to stimulate the local renewable energy sector by providing grants for renewable energy installations, technology demonstrations, and research and development projects.
In addition, Governor Minner signed Senate Bill 18 to create a “Sustainable Energy Utility” (SEU) within the state. The SEU will be a public and private partnership that will use a market-based approach to promote energy efficiency, energy conservation, and renewable energy use within the state.
According to the governor, the SEU builds on similar initiatives in Vermont and New Jersey and would include packaged services designed by the SEU and delivered by competitively selected contractors. These services could include one-stop shopping for efficient appliances, energy audits, financing for green buildings, clean vehicle incentives, and critical information about cost-saving energy options. The SEU will have the authority to sell bonds to finance the program and can later repay the bonds through energy savings or by selling RECs.
