Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) are seeking support from their Senate colleagues on a letter to Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resource (ENR) Committee, Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Ranking Member Pete Domenici (R-NM) in support of a strong federal renewable portfolio standard. The letter state that a "market-based mechanism will promote the production and consumption of electricity generated with renewable resources such as wind, solar, biomass and geothermal." The letter states that such a standard has been passed by the Senate on three separate occasions: "in H.R. 4 from the 107th Congress, and in H.R. 6 in both the 108th and 109th Congress."
The Senators urge that any energy bill that emerges from the Senate ENR Committee should include a strong RPS. A final version of the letter will be sent to NEPPA members when it's sent to the ENR Committee.