Jeff Bingaman: “A major criticism of the Bingaman amendment--which we have been talking about, as well as Senator Kyl's amendment--has…”

“A major criticism of the Bingaman amendment--which we have been talking about, as well as Senator Kyl's amendment--has been that the proponents of Senator Kyl's amendment--Senator Kyl, and others--believe that to require the generation of some portion of a utility's power from renewable sources is going to dramatically increase utility prices. All I will do is once again refer, as I did yesterday, to the study which Senator Murkowski, my colleague, the ranking member on the Energy Committee, requested of the Energy Information Administration. He asked them to study this exact issue. And he was very specific. He said: Please study this and do not consider any tax benefit we are providing for any of these renewable energy sources. They came back with their conclusion. They concluded--I am now quoting from an article in the Energy Daily dated March 12--``that a 10 percent renewable portfolio standard would have little impact on future electricity prices.''”