U.S. lawmakers wanted to increase incentives for nuclear power and energy efficiency in a measure that would require utilities to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources, according to Reuters. Presently, nuclear power is not considered a renewable energy source in the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee bill. Under the bill, a proportion of utilities' total power production would have to be dedicated to renewables.
The Senate committee implemented an amendment offered by Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski that expelled any increases in capacity at existing nuclear power plants and new nuclear plants from measures of utilities’ total production for the renewable electricity standard.
As per the amendment, power plants can increase energy production without also increasing the amount of renewable power those plants must generate. The amendment allowed power plants to raise their energy production without counting nuclear upgrades within utilities’ overall electricity output.
The panel voted down several other nuclear power amendments. One such amendment was offered by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. McCain’s measure would have counted all nuclear power as renewable energy. The proposed bill would require power plants to meet targets to steadily produce more renewable power, starting with 3% of their total production between 2011 and 2013 and rising to 15% between 2021 and 2039.
Power companies could meet about a quarter of their renewable requirements through energy efficiency gains. The panel voted down an amendment offered by Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana that would have removed the cap on how much energy efficiency can be used to comply with the renewable standard.
Other lawmakers stated that the renewable energy targets in the proposed bill were not strong enough. Committee chairman Jeff Bingaman’s initial draft would have required 20% of power from renewable energy in 2021-2039.
It seems to me we’ve come a long way in the wrong direction since November, said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey.
Senator Menendez is co-sponsoring an amendment written by Democratic Senator Mark Udall of Colorado that would direct utilities to produce 25% of electricity from renewable sources by 2025. The Senators plan to offer their measure before the full Senate.
The Senate’s renewable power mandate would address various issues including building efficiency, increasing electricity transmission and domestic energy production. The committee plans to vote on the complete package next week.