Jeff Bingaman

Mr. BINGAMAN

Mr. BINGAMAN. This is a wholesale cost figure I just gave you, 4.3 cents. We are glad to share the information with you. He says that we don't have hydro in here. We do have hydro as one of the items that a utility gets credit for when determining the base against which the percentage applies. So that we give them full credit for hydro in that. Then we say, taking that base to the extent that they expand their energy generation from increments of hydropower, that those will count.

Mr. BINGAMAN. There is nothing in this analysis that acknowledges that most, if not all, of the utilities that have been mentioned produce renewable power from renewable sources now and have great ability to add to that as the years progress, is that not right?

Mr. BINGAMAN. To buy this on the assumption they are producing nothing from renewable power, is that correct?

Mr. BINGAMAN. As I understand these figures, they are calculations of what it would cost these utilities to buy 10 percent of their power now.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Would the sponsor of the amendment yield for another question?

Mr. BINGAMAN. I will be glad to yield.

Mr. BINGAMAN. That will be fine. I yield 10 minutes to the Senator from Louisiana.

Mr. BINGAMAN. How much time does the Senator from Louisiana intend to use?

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, how much time remains?

Mr. BINGAMAN. The information I have been given--and I am interested if this is accurate, as the Senator from Texas understands it--Texas also excludes from their requirement municipals and co-ops, just as we are doing in this bill.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. BINGAMAN. There will be other opportunities for me to speak. I know I have some colleagues who wish to speak at this point. I yield the floor.

Mr. BINGAMAN. That was what I understood him to say. The truth is, many of the utilities--I don't know about all of them--he named are not going to have to buy any credits. They are already producing power from renewable sources, substantial amounts of power. To suggest that PG&E in California is going to have to be going out and buying credits at the highest possible price is just not the real world. PG&E already produces power from renewables. Arizona Public Service is another example. He mentioned MidAmerican and how this would cost MidAmerican $40-some-odd million. I have a letter here from David Sokol, chairman and chief executive officer of MidAmerican, where he writes: Dear Chairman Bingaman: I am pleased to write in support of your efforts to include provisions to promote the development of renewable energy resources for electric generation in the Senate's comprehensive energy bill. Then he goes on to write that his company is ``one of the world's largest developers of renewable energy, including geothermal, wind, biomass and solar.'' Continuing from the letter: Renewable electricity can play a critical role in diversifying the nation's fuel mix and providing emissions- free electricity for American consumers.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, regaining the floor, I agree that it is not. That is for a very simple reason. If you do count existing hydro in that 10 percent, certain States, particularly in the northwest part of the country--and also Maine--far exceed that. There would be a tremendous disparity between the extent of the renewables they have in their base or that they get credit for as compared to the rest of the country. What we are trying to do with the Bingaman amendment is to provide an incentive for the addition of additional renewable power. To the extent they can do that with hydro, we give them credit for it. Let me talk about some of the figures. I would be anxious to see the calculation to which the Senator from Oklahoma was referring. As I understood his explanation, he gave us figures for what each of these utilities would have to pay in order to comply with this provision, assuming they had to buy all their credits.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I yield myself 5 minutes. I know I have a couple colleagues here who also want to speak. I know there are also, perhaps, Members on the other side. First of all, the Kyl amendment is a stark contrast with what we are otherwise trying to do with a renewable portfolio standard. The Kyl amendment is very simple in that it says: Each electric utility shall offer to retail customers electricity produced from renewable sources to the extent that it is available. That is fine, but ``to the extent it is available.'' And they do that today. They offer electricity produced from renewable resources or sources to the extent that it is available. What we are trying to do with the Bingaman amendment, with establishing a renewable portfolio standard, is to provide some assurance that it will be available so that some portion of the power produced by large utilities will, in fact, be produced from renewable sources. My colleague from Oklahoma says usually the price of electricity is 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour. I think that was the figure he mentioned. According to the figures we were given by the Energy Information Agency, the average cost in this country for electricity is 4.3 cents per kilowatt hour, not 2.2.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, how much time remains on the two sides?

Mr. BINGAMAN. That is correct.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, it does not include either public power or co-ops. Of course, the pending amendment is the Kyl amendment, which is a substitute for the amendment I proposed, which is also a change from the underlying bill to which the Senator is referring.

Mr. BINGAMAN

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senators be allowed to speak as in morning business.

Mr. BINGAMAN

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I have a unanimous consent request, that amendment No. 3023 be modified with the language that is at the desk. This modification is technical in nature.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I know my colleague from Nevada is here to speak on this amendment, so I yield the floor to him.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I am not in a position to commit to that without the assistant majority leader, floor leader, to talk about that. I don't know what the procedure is. Since we are jumping from the energy bill to the campaign finance reform bill and back every few minutes, it is very difficult for me to commit to that.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Let me respond: There clearly are some challenges for some States in this legislation, but I am persuaded that there are ways for them to meet those challenges through coal-fired generation, using biomass. That is one way to do it. We are glad to work with the Senator to be sure that the legislation has the flexibility in it so that this is a goal that can be achieved in his State by utilities operating in his State. I think it can be. If I could just conclude the description of this study, this is the study by the Energy Information Administration, it concludes: . . . that the retail price impacts of a requirement that electricity generators provide at least 10 percent of their output from renewable sources by 2020 ``are projected to be small because the price impact of [the program] is projected to be relatively small when compared with the total electricity costs and to be mostly offset by lower gas prices.'' Then they go on to say: The study, which was requested by Sen. Frank Murkowski of Alaska . . . concludes that increased electricity generation from renewables would have the biggest impact on natural gas- fired prices, which EIA said would drop as a result of competitive pressure from renewables. So the chart my friend from Ohio put up showing gas prices going through the ceiling, as they did 18 months ago, that would be less likely if there were other sources from which energy was being generated. Mr. President, I have other points I can make. I know there are several Senators who have been waiting quite a while to speak. I may have an opportunity later on before the vote to conclude my comments. Mr. President, I have a series of letters in support of the underlying Bingaman amendment that Senator Kyl would wipe out with his amendment. I ask unanimous consent those letters be printed in the Record.

Mr. BINGAMAN. I am pleased to yield.

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, let me just speak for a few more minutes and conclude my comments. I know there are others waiting to speak on this Kyl amendment. One of the issues that was raised by the Senator from Georgia was a concern about whether or not this preempted States from doing what they wanted to do about renewable energy generation. It does not do that. There is no way that we in any way preempt a State from taking action. There are many States that have taken action which far exceeds the standards to which we would be holding them. So this is not in any way an effort to preempt States. It is an effort to move them along this road, and some of them are already a great deal of distance down this road. Let me also discuss the idea of wealth transfer. My colleague from Arizona has said repeatedly that this is a terrible thing because some States are at such a terrible disadvantage. The truth is--and the various maps that my friend from North Dakota showed earlier make the point very clearly--we do not specify in this legislation which type of renewable resource be used. Instead, we allow each State to use whatever is available to them. There are a great many different resources available. Finally, let me talk about cost. There has been a real concern that the cost of this provision would be substantial for ratepayers, for various individuals. I have the Energy Daily, which is a well-known publication in town and around the country. This is dated March 12. There is an article entitled ``EIA Sees RPS Having Little Impact On Prices.'' What that means is that the Energy Information Administration was asked by my colleague, Senator Murkowski, to do a study on what would be the impact of this provision on prices?