Jeff Bingaman: “this amendment I am offering is a substitute amendment for the provision that is in the bill at the current time related…”

“this amendment I am offering is a substitute amendment for the provision that is in the bill at the current time related to renewable portfolio standards. I am offering it today to ensure we establish a clear policy statement of our need as a nation to diversify our power generation sector. This amendment establishes a renewable portfolio standard for the electricity sector. This is the corollary, as I see it, to the renewable fuel standard that we have heard so many laudatory statements about yesterday. This amendment will ensure that all retail sellers of electricity have a portion of their generation--produce a portion of their generation from renewable resources. The amendment is modeled after the very successful Texas program that President Bush implemented when he was Governor of Texas. The basic outline is as follows. All retail sellers with annual sales greater than a million megawatt hours will be required to contract for and secure a certain amount of generation annually from eligible renewable resources. Most co-ops and municipals would be exempt. Beginning January 2005, 2 years after the date of enactment, retail suppliers will be required to include a minimum of 1 percent of renewables in their electricity sales. The percentage would increase annually by .6 percent until 2020. There are several adjustments to the calculation based on existing renewables.”