Climate and energy

How do you know what is a good state energy policy – and what isn’t? (And if you are in a rush, check out the short answer here.)

Ten years ago, that might have been a tough question to answer. These days, it isn’t. Other states have been putting these policies together for the last decade or so.

Kansas is far behind on developing a comprehensive energy policy. However, the good news is we have lots of other examples to look at.

Many other states put together policies that have attracted new industries and jobs, even during an economic downtown. According to a recent report, Kansas too could bring in more than 11,000 new jobs by developing renewables and manufacturing. A good energy policy isn’t just about making money, though. It is also about avoiding risks. Unquestionably, carbon regulation looms as a major financial risk in today’s economic environment.

So. How are we doing? Answer – hmm.

CEP is delighted that the energy discussion continues to broaden in terms of stakeholders. We also appreciate the transparency of the discussion.

However, when it comes to meeting even a baseline of best practices in state energy policy, Kansas still has a long ways to go. When it comes to policy and jobs, Colorado far outstrips us. So does Ohio. And Iowa, and Arkansas, and some say even Missouri.

That’s not good.

What would good state energy policy look like? The main ingredients include:

Energy Efficiency Resource Standard – policy that sets goals for reducing energy consumption, so utilities do not have to build new generation. (Energy efficiency programs cost 3 cents per kilowatt hour. New generation under carbon regulation will cost anywhere from 10-12 cents. This is surely a no brainer.)

A meaningful and significant Renewable Portfolio Standard that sends clear, renewables-friendly message to the wind industry and manufacturers.

Net metering that meets the traditional definition of net metering as established by IREC and DOE, and incents rather than discourages customer on-site generation.

And now there’s a new player on energy policy, a new sheriff in town – the federal government. There’s lots of energy dollars in the economic stimulus package, and Kansas will automatically qualify for a chunk of it.

However, the remainder – $2.1 billion – comes in the form of competitive grant funds, and Kansas does not have the basic energy policies to qualify for the competitive funds. The requirements:

• integrated resource planning
• rate design that reimburses energy efficiency (decoupling)
• residential and commercial energy efficiency building codes
• rate recovery for smart grid investments
• time-based pricing, etc.

Nor does any provision of the current coal bill help the state meet these criteria.

The legislative session is drawing to an end. Competition for these federal funds will start soon – and the competition for renewables manufacturers is always raging on.

What are you going to do, Kansas?

—- Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org

For CEP’s full best practices document on state energy policy, click here. For the one page summary, click here.

Don’t just take CEP’s word for all this – go ahead, check out the same sources we did, the user-friendly maps at DSIRE and Pew Climate.

• If you would like to find your legislator and contact them about any specific piece of legislation, click here.
• For specific bill tracking, check out KNRC.
• For political updates on energy issues, check out gpace.org and/or kansas.sierraclub.org
  
• For questions on the legislative process, call the Kansas Legislative Hotline – 1-800-432-3924, or check out the legislature’s website.