The joys of spending
MASSACHUSETTS is one of several states that have given a boost to renewable energy by requiring that electric utilities get a certain percentage of their power from wind, solar, landfill gas, biomass, or other such sources. But a provision in the economic stimulus bill could undercut that worthy goal by allowing existing hydroelectric facilities to qualify. Governor Mitt Romney should use his line-item veto to strike this clause and demonstrate that, despite his ill-considered opposition to the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound, he is a supporter of renewable energy.
Hydropower is a pollution-free, renewable way to produce electricity. But the purpose of the renewable energy requirement for utilities is to spur development of new sources of clean power, not to reward owners of facilities that often were built generations ago. Inclusion of old hydro facilities under the requirement that utilities get 2.5 percent of their power from new renewable sources now and 4 percent by 2009 would have a chilling effect on renewable-energy producers.
Supporters of the provision favoring hydro dam owners specify that only Massachusetts facilities would be eligible. But that is open to challenge under the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution. Suits would be likely from hydropower producers in other states, and even Canada, which could demand access to this market under NAFTA. If they win their cases, their electricity would qualify as well, leaving utilities with little incentive to seek power from pioneering wind- or solar-power producers.
The economic stimulus bill would also include under the 4 percent requirement an increase in hydropower that can be gained by installing a new turbine or making some other improvement. Since that is new power, it should be eligible, but to ensure that even more renewables come on line, legislators should gradually expand the renewable requirement for each utility, as the bill would do for existing hydropower.
New England's electric grid operators have warned repeatedly in recent months that the region needs new power capacity or a combination of new capacity and reduction in electricity demand. The 4 percent requirement is an effective way to ensure that new power comes from renewable sources and not from fossil fuels, whose carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global warming.
But the requirement will not fully achieve its purpose if utilities can meet it in part by maintaining the hydropower facilities they have now or importing hydropower from other states or Canada. For the sake of a better environment, Romney should not hesitate to reject it.
