Saving money, cloudy politics, to affect U.S. green energy buys - By Doug Mohney

Views and Opinions on Green IT (Nov 10 2010)

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   A combination of protecting consumers from higher bills and taxes and cloudy politics will likely bite green energy purchasing in the U.S. over the next two years.

   Depending on the source and type, buying green energy will simply cost more money -- but money few politicians are willing to spend during a recession.  The New York Times reports that a growing number of renewable power projects are being canceled or delayed because state regulators don't want hike electric rates.   A wind power deal in Virginia recently fell through because it would have increased teh monthly bill of a typical residential customer by 0.2 percent.

   Not helping matters for U.S. renewable power are lower prices on natural gas and other fossil fuels, due in part because of new drilling techniques for natural gas and a general drop in demand due to the recession.

   If straight price wasn't bad enough to hinder renewable energy, the upcoming political changes in Washington aren't likely to help.   Currently, a combination of state mandates and federal tax credits have encouraged the development and purchase energy from renewable sources. Efforts to put in a national carbon cap-and-trade mechanism in place went nowhere.

   With the House of Representatives going to the Republicans and the Senate barely controlled by the Democrats,  fighting over energy policy is likely to be heated.   Renewable energy advocates fear that Republicans will eliminate tax credits for green energy production and block other measures to promote the product of green power.  The solar, wind, and geothermal industries are all deeply concerned.

   About the only common ground that Republicans may find with some Democrats and President Obama are efforts to reboot the nuclear industry and boosting "clean coal" projects.   Incoming Republicans are big on reducing dependence on foreign energy sources, such as oil and gas,  so building more nuclear power plants will get a big push, as well as anything to promote the use of more coal.

   Still, it is unclear how much common ground both parties can find and how effective they can be in implementing compromises on energy policy without being derailed by extreme elements on either side.  Clean-coal and nuclear-loving Republicans might find themselves counterbalanced by hard-core environment Democrats with a no-compromise chip on their shoulder.

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