On February 14, Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) joined Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in introducing the American Renewable Energy Act, which includes long-term extensions of renewable energy and energy efficiency tax incentives and a federal renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
The bill includes the Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) extension approved by the Senate Finance Committee last year. Specifically, it extends the CREB program for four years and authorizes $900 million in annual allocations, with 60 % of that going to governmental entities and at least half of that going to projects over $10 million. It would also allow transmission facilities to qualify for CREB financing.
The bill also includes the RPS advanced by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) last year that requires utility companies to produce at least 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by the year 2025. It includes public power but exempts utilities that sell less than four million megawatts of retail electric energy to consumers.