Advisory: NNEC Releases New Report at the National Press Club (November 16 - 1pm EST)
Chris Cooper
Freeing the Grid:
How Effective State Net Metering Laws Can
Revolutionize U.S. Energy Policy
(click the link above for full copy of the report)
This is the first report to rank and grade the effectiveness of state net metering programs using DOE data on actual participation rates. NNEC had identified the best (New Jersey) and worst (Arkansas, Indiana & Oklahoma) practices and uncovered some remarkable stories:
• Electricity companies often undermine the intentions of state legislators during the rulemaking process.
• To appease electricity companies, many state utility commissions adopt minor rule changes that end up destroying the entire program.
• Efforts to protect the economic interests of the electricity sector within the state end up hurting other state industries (like manufacturing).
• Model state statutes and regulations (developed by Vermont Law School’s Institute for Energy & the Environment) can help states avoid pitfalls and implement programs that could radically alter how electricity is generated.
The report includes a forward (and model regulations) by former Vermont Public Service Board Chairman Michael Dworkin, who until this year chaired the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioner’s Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment.
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB EVENT
NOVEMBER 16th – 1pm EST
What will happen to energy policy after the elections?
What: Press Conference with National Electricity Experts
When: Thursday, November 16th • 1pm – 2:30pm EST
Where: National Press Club – Zenger Room
529 14th Street, NW
Who:
Chris Cooper – Executive Director,
Network for New Energy Choices
Rep. James Covey (D-OK-District 57) - Vice Chair
Environment & Natural Resources Committee
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Michael Dworkin - Former Chair,
Comm. on Energy Resources & Environment
National Assoc. of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
Gordian Raacke – Executive Director,
Renewable Energy Long Island
(and a net metered homeowner)
-OR-
NATIONAL MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL
NOVEMBER 16th – 3pm EST
When: Thursday, November 16th • 3pm – 4pm EST
Number: 1-800-708-7127
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Michael Dworkin, Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School, has also been a litigator for US EPA, a management partner in an engineering firm, and a utility regulator.
Professor Dworkin was Chair of the Vermont Public Service Board from 1999 to 2005 and he chaired the national utility commissioners’ Committee on Energy Resources & the Environment. In 2003, on behalf of the Public Service Board, he received the “Innovations in American Government Award” from the Kennedy School of Government for helping oversee Efficiency Vermont’s development into one of America’s five most innovative and effective public service programs.
Michael is now a non-utility Trustee of the Electric Power Research Institute and was recently elected to Board of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. For many years, he has helped pursue more sustainable energy portfolios, with special emphasis on energy-efficiency and renewable energy choices, including rural and agricultural options.
Chris Cooper, Director, Network for New Energy Choices founded the Network for New Energy Choices to expand the sustainable energy work of the GrassRoots Action Center for the Environment (GRACE). For GRACE, Chris has coordinated policy and advocacy campaigns on sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and nuclear weapons, including spearheading the media campaigns surrounding the 2005 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations, the U.S. mad cow outbreaks in 2005, and the award-winning Meatrix flash animation.
Prior to GRACE, Chris worked for the American Planning Association promoting professional planners and their work to create sustainable communities and for the Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition promoting the safe recovery of energy from industrial wastes in the cement industry. Chris’s articles on energy policy are regularly published in the energy trade press and national media.
Gordian Raacke, Executive Director, is the founder and of Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI), the leading not-for-profit organization promoting clean, sustainable energy use and generation for the region's 3 million inhabitants. He was instrumental in getting the proposed Long Island offshore wind park under way and has worked effectively to foster public understanding for wind energy on Long Island. In 1999, Gordian co-authored the PowerChoices report, which called for a Long Island offshore wind potential study. The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) then agreed to conduct such a study which led to the wind park proposal. He assembled a coalition of organizations in support of offshore wind energy development which continues to play an instrumental role in generating public and community support for the planned project. Gordian holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering.
Rep. James Covey (D-OK-District 57), Oklahoma House of Representatives, Vice-Chair, Environment & Natural Resources Committee and Assistant Democratic Floor Leader has been introducing net metering legislation in the Oklahoma State House every year since 1999. Every year he is rebuffed. This year, his legislation again languishes in committee without a hearing.
Oklahoma is ranked dead-last in NNEC’s “Freeing the Grid,” ranking. Find out why at NNEC’s press conference.
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