March 5, 2003—The American Public Power Association strongly supports H.R. 671 and S. 421, legislation recently introduced to reauthorize and reform the Renewable Energy Production Incentive (REPI) program. Under a reformed and fully funded program, public power systems and the communities they serve will benefit from the air quality resulting from the accelerated use of sustainable and emissions-free energy resources, says the Association, which is the national service organization representing the nation’s more than 2,000 community- and state-owned electric utilities.
REPI is the only incentive available to locally owned, not-for-profit utilities to make new investments in renewable energy projects. If REPI were fully funded, it would provide public power with the certainty and economic incentive needed to commit to the long-term, capital-intensive decisions of building renewable generation, according to the Association.
Congress implemented this program with two goals in mind: 1) to assist public power utilities in overcoming economic barriers to greater renewable energy use; and 2) to ensure equity between investor-owned utilities that receive energy tax credits and not-for-profit utilities that are unable to do so.
The REPI program was created by the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to authorize the Department of Energy to make direct payments to publicly and cooperatively owned electric utilities at the rate of 1.5 cent/kWh (indexed for inflation) for electricity generated from solar, wind, and certain geothermal and biomass electric projects.
Since its inception, funding for the REPI program has been woefully inadequate, says the power association. The 1999 budget nearly eliminated funding for the program entirely. Since that time, the program has been funded at a level of approximately $4 million annually, far below the nearly $40 million needed to fully fund the projects eligible for incentive payments.
The legislation was introduced by Reps. Mary Bono (R-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), and Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), and cosponsored in the House by: Reps. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Ken Calvert (RCA); and in the Senate by: Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Dianne Feinstein.
