Don Nickles: “I have heard many people on the floor of the Senate say: Well, renewables don't cost anything. If renewables don't cost…”

“I have heard many people on the floor of the Senate say: Well, renewables don't cost anything. If renewables don't cost anything, why do we exempt Bonneville Power? Why do we exempt the city of Los Angeles? Why do we exempt TVA, the Tennessee Valley Authority? Why do we exempt public entities, period, if this is so good for the private sector? People say it does not cost anything, and renewables are so beneficial to the general well-being of a national energy policy. Why are we exempting such a large portion--rural co-ops, public powers, large municipalities? I fail to see the wisdom in it. It may well be that if we did it, those public entities would be screaming because we would be increasing their costs. I hope everybody understands, I support the Kyl amendment because it will not cost nearly as much as the underlying Bingaman proposal... I hope everybody realizes, if we do not adopt the Kyl amendment, or something close to it, we will be--by this act of Congress, by the Bingaman amendment, by the renewables mandate--increasing utility costs, electricity bills all across the country.”