BILL REQ. #:  S-3566.2 

Read first time 01/14/2004.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Renewable energy supply brings fuel diversity benefits and mitigates market dominance by a very few energy fuel types in the nation's mix of energy supplies, enhances national security by reducing dependence on imported fuels, and decreases environmental impacts associated with traditional methods of electricity generation; and
     WHEREAS, Increasing public preference and consumer demand support cost-effective renewable energy product development and commercialization; and
     WHEREAS, Renewable energy production has steadily improved in cost-effectiveness and performance and promises continued improvement; and
     WHEREAS, Encouraging cost-effective use of renewable energy resources has been an important national goal since the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 1992; and
     WHEREAS, The United States Congress established the Renewable Energy Production Incentive (REPI) program in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to provide direct payments of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to public and not-for-profit utilities for energy produced by new renewable energy projects brought on-line between October 1993, and September 30, 2003, during the first ten years of the facility's operation; and
     WHEREAS, The United States Congress also established the energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) program in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to provide a wind production tax credit of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for energy produced from a new facility brought on-line after December 31, 1993, and before July 1, 1999, for the first ten years of the facility's operation; and
     WHEREAS, Congress has extended and expanded the PTC program twice over the past five years, in 1999 and again in 2001, but each time Congress has allowed the credit to expire before acting, and then approved only short-term extensions; and
     WHEREAS, Funding for the REPI program has remained far below the level needed to maximize the potential of the incentive, supporting only a fraction of the qualified renewable energy projects that apply each year; and
     WHEREAS, Authorization for the current REPI program expired on September 30, 2003, and authorization for the current PTC program expired on December 31, 2003; and
     WHEREAS, Given the two-to-three-year lead time required for bringing facilities on-line, the expiration of the REPI and PTC programs is currently slowing the implementation of hundreds of megawatts worth of future projects; and
     WHEREAS, Failure to extend the REPI and PTC programs means that contracts are put on hold, workers are laid off, and the growing momentum toward developing renewable energy markets is once again brought to a halt; and
     WHEREAS, Additional renewable technologies could also benefit from a production incentive or tax credit, just as solar, wind, geothermal, closed-loop biomass, and poultry waste have done through the existing REPI and PTC programs; and
     WHEREAS, Tradable tax credits for renewable energy, consisting of a production tax credit that a public or consumer-owned utility can accrue by developing and owning a renewable energy facility and then sell to the private sector, will facilitate public/private partnerships, benefit not-for-profit utilities by providing an alternative to the potentially under funded REPI, benefit private sector partners that desire to support renewable energy by providing tax credits against existing tax liabilities, and further facilitate the development of renewable energy in our region;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully urge the United States Congress to:
     (1) Acknowledge the value of the REPI and PTC programs to the continued development and commercialization of renewable technologies and markets;
     (2) Approve, at a minimum, the retroactive ten-year extension of the REPI program and three-year extension of the PTC program that are included in the proposed conference report of the Energy Policy Act of 2003;
     (3) Expand the eligible resources for the REPI program to include landfill gas and extend the benefits to additional public utilities and tribes;
     (4) Expand the eligible resources for the PTC program to include geothermal, solar, animal waste as a biomass feedstock, and incremental additions to hydropower output;
     (5) Authorize tradable tax credits for renewable energy; and
     (6) Act on this issue immediately, regardless of whether or when the comprehensive energy legislation will be taken up for consideration.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.