March 2010 News and Updates
Renew Missouri Receives Honor
March 31, 2010
Renew Missouri was honored by the St. Louis Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council for efforts to advance energy and efficiency legislation in Missouri.
Renew Missouri was honored by the St. Louis Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council for efforts to advance energy and efficiency legislation in Missouri.
PACE Symposium
March 29, 2010
Renew Missouri will be holding a symposium March 29 on PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy), in House Hearing Room #4 from 11:00am – 1:00pm.
Those in attendance will learn how PACE will:
Those who will be unable to attend, but are still interested in helping, can distribute the invitation to their networks, sign the support form on the back of the PACE fact-sheet, or contact their State Representative and voice their support of PACE or House Speaker Ron Richard (573-751-2173) and ask that he assign PACE to committee. A template letter of support to your representative can be found here.
Renew Missouri will be holding a symposium March 29 on PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy), in House Hearing Room #4 from 11:00am – 1:00pm.
Those in attendance will learn how PACE will:
- Put Missourians to work
- Pay the upfront costs of energy efficiency & renewable energy retrofits to Missouri homes & businesses allowing Missourians to pay back the costs over time on their property tax.
- Save Missourians money on energy bills
- Not take away funds from existing programs
- Be controlled at the local level (municipalities & counties)
Those who will be unable to attend, but are still interested in helping, can distribute the invitation to their networks, sign the support form on the back of the PACE fact-sheet, or contact their State Representative and voice their support of PACE or House Speaker Ron Richard (573-751-2173) and ask that he assign PACE to committee. A template letter of support to your representative can be found here.
Empire Electric Challenged for Failing to Offer Customers the Prop C Solar Rebate
March 15, 2010
At the November, 2008 election, Missouri voters passed Proposition C, the Renewable Energy Standard, with 66% support. The ballot initiative set renewable energy targets for the state’s investor-owned utilities. In addition, the utilities are required to meet 2% of their targets with solar energy, and to offer a rebate to customers who want to install their own solar panels.
But in May, 2008, at the end of the legislative session, Joplin-based Empire District Electric had preemptively slipped a bill through the legislature that declared it exempt from the solar energy requirements of Proposition C. When the solar rebate went into effect at the beginning of 2010,Empire was not offering the incentive to its customers. In their corner of the state, benefits conferred by the voters are being denied.
On March 15, Great Rivers Environmental Law Center filed suit in Cole County Circuit Court to strike down the Empire exemption. “Empire tried to thwart the will of the voters in advance,”said Henry Robertson, attorney at Great Rivers. “Unfortunately for them, their law is useless. The legislature doesn’t have authority to amend an initiative before it’s voted on. Even if it did, this law was repealed by the passage of Prop C, which says Empire has to offer the rebate.”
Great Rivers represents Jim Evans, a retired school teacher from Republic, and Kelly Cardin, a Springfield fireman, both Empire customers who want to put solar panels on their property. Power Source Solar of Springfield, an installer of small solar and wind systems, is also a plaintiff. The defendants are Empire and the Missouri Public Service Commission, the agency charged with enforcing Prop C. The declaratory judgment suit asks the court to declare the Empire exemption invalid and order Empire to abide by Prop C.
Great Rivers is a nonprofit public interest environmental law firm in St. Louis that provides free and reduced-fee legal services to those working to promote preservation of open space, clean energy, clean air and clean water. Its web address is: www.greatriverslaw.org.
At the November, 2008 election, Missouri voters passed Proposition C, the Renewable Energy Standard, with 66% support. The ballot initiative set renewable energy targets for the state’s investor-owned utilities. In addition, the utilities are required to meet 2% of their targets with solar energy, and to offer a rebate to customers who want to install their own solar panels.
But in May, 2008, at the end of the legislative session, Joplin-based Empire District Electric had preemptively slipped a bill through the legislature that declared it exempt from the solar energy requirements of Proposition C. When the solar rebate went into effect at the beginning of 2010,Empire was not offering the incentive to its customers. In their corner of the state, benefits conferred by the voters are being denied.
On March 15, Great Rivers Environmental Law Center filed suit in Cole County Circuit Court to strike down the Empire exemption. “Empire tried to thwart the will of the voters in advance,”said Henry Robertson, attorney at Great Rivers. “Unfortunately for them, their law is useless. The legislature doesn’t have authority to amend an initiative before it’s voted on. Even if it did, this law was repealed by the passage of Prop C, which says Empire has to offer the rebate.”
Great Rivers represents Jim Evans, a retired school teacher from Republic, and Kelly Cardin, a Springfield fireman, both Empire customers who want to put solar panels on their property. Power Source Solar of Springfield, an installer of small solar and wind systems, is also a plaintiff. The defendants are Empire and the Missouri Public Service Commission, the agency charged with enforcing Prop C. The declaratory judgment suit asks the court to declare the Empire exemption invalid and order Empire to abide by Prop C.
Great Rivers is a nonprofit public interest environmental law firm in St. Louis that provides free and reduced-fee legal services to those working to promote preservation of open space, clean energy, clean air and clean water. Its web address is: www.greatriverslaw.org.
Combined Heat and Power Symposium
March 1, 2010
Jefferson City -The Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Symposium, held March 1 in House Hearing Room 1, saw representatives of the utilities and industrials, regional CHP experts, legislators, and other stake holders come together to discuss passing legislation that would make implementing CHP in Missouri more appealing.
Cliff Haefke from the U.S. DOE Midwest Clean Energy Application Center and Mellissa Mullarkey from Recycled Energy Development both gave informative PowerPoint presentations outlining the current CHP capacity in the State, barriers preventing greater adoption of CHP, and strategies for mitigating these barriers. Afterwards, participants were encouraged to ask question and to talk about CHP from their perspective and based on their experiences. A lively and informative thirty minute discussion followed, during which multiple views were presented and variety of issues were addressed -such as price, transmission, and the role of the government. Though the session did not provide solutions to all of the challenges surrounding CHP, it did clearly provide momentum going forward in this legislative session.
Presentation: Clifford Haefke - Senior Research Engineer Energy Resources Center (ERC)
Presentation: Melissa Mullarkey - Recycled Energy Development, LLC
Jefferson City -The Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Symposium, held March 1 in House Hearing Room 1, saw representatives of the utilities and industrials, regional CHP experts, legislators, and other stake holders come together to discuss passing legislation that would make implementing CHP in Missouri more appealing.
Cliff Haefke from the U.S. DOE Midwest Clean Energy Application Center and Mellissa Mullarkey from Recycled Energy Development both gave informative PowerPoint presentations outlining the current CHP capacity in the State, barriers preventing greater adoption of CHP, and strategies for mitigating these barriers. Afterwards, participants were encouraged to ask question and to talk about CHP from their perspective and based on their experiences. A lively and informative thirty minute discussion followed, during which multiple views were presented and variety of issues were addressed -such as price, transmission, and the role of the government. Though the session did not provide solutions to all of the challenges surrounding CHP, it did clearly provide momentum going forward in this legislative session.
Presentation: Clifford Haefke - Senior Research Engineer Energy Resources Center (ERC)
Presentation: Melissa Mullarkey - Recycled Energy Development, LLC
