News

Department of Energy Study Confirms RES Would Reduce Fuel Costs and Stabilize Electricity Rates

AWEA - April 30, 2009 -
>
> This week, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) welcomed a
> report by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information
> Administration
> (EIA) -- the fifth such study in as many years -- showing that a
> national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) would reduce fuel prices
> for all sectors, have minimal cost impact on power prices, and reduce
> carbon dioxide emissions immediately.
>
> "This is one more independent study finding that a national RES
> is a no-regrets down payment policy with immediate benefits on three
> national priorities - economic growth, energy security, and
> environmental stability,"
> said Denise Bode, AWEA's CEO. "A strong RES enacted swiftly will help
> the Obama Administration waste no time in reaching its dual goals of a
> 14% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and doubling
> renewable energy use in three years."
>
> The EIA study, requested by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), analyzes
> his proposed RES bill, which would require that 25% of the U.S.
> electricity
> supply come from renewable generation by 2025. EIA's analysis found
> that the impact on power prices would be negligible (increase less
> than 1% by
> 2030)
> while natural gas and coal prices would be reduced as much as 4%.
> Natural
> gas is used for one-fifth of U.S. power generation and is also used in
> other sectors, particularly home heating and industrial processes,
> meaning that cost savings would extend into many sectors of the
> economy as natural gas prices come down.
>
> Over the last five years, EIA has released four other studies
> that come to the same conclusion: a national RES would decrease fuel
> prices across all sectors and would have minimal impact on power
> prices, often resulting in a net savings to consumers on the order of
> hundreds of millions of dollars. Similarly, emission reductions
> occurred on the magnitude of 4%-20% below business-as-usual scenarios
> in these additional studies.
>
> A 25% RES by 2025 would reduce power sector CO2 emissions by 56
> million tons, roughly 4.7% below 2005 levels, according to EIA.
> Currently
> proposed climate legislation includes emission reductions of 6% to 20%
> below
> 2005 levels by 2020. It is clear that the RES will be a critical,
> low-cost, and immediate part of reaching emission reductions goals. At
> the same time, the RES will provide consumers a reprieve from volatile
> fuel prices and help stabilize electricity costs.
>
> A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that a
> 25% RES by 2025 would generate cost savings on the order of $95.5
> billion by 2030, repeating the same strong cost savings results from
> their two previous studies in 2007.
>
> ##
>
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> power a cleaner, stronger America. Look up information on wind energy
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>