October 20, 2008—Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has approved an energy package that includes a requirement for 10% of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2015, according to a newsletter from the US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Senate Bill 213 requires utilities to obtain renewable energy credits (RECs) equal to 2% of their electricity supply in 2012, increasing each year until the number of RECs equal 10% of their electricity supply in 2015 and thereafter.
The bill also allows the use of industrial cogeneration to meet up to 10% of the renewable energy requirement, and other advanced energy systems, load management programs, or energy efficiency programs could be used to meet that portion of the requirement.
In addition to the REC requirements, utilities with 1-2 million retail customers must have 200 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy capacity in their energy portfolios by the end of 2013 and 500 MW of new renewable capacity by the end of 2015. Utilities with more than 2 million retail customers must add 300 MW of renewable capacity by the end of 2013 and must add another 300 MW by the end of 2015, for a total of 600 MW of new renewable power capacity.
