GUEST COLUMN: Clean energy obvious choice

May 16, 2009

GUEST COLUMN: Clean energy obvious choice

BY SAM GOMBERG

It's time for us to unleash a tidal wave of opportunity for clean energy technologies with a national plan that reforms how we produce and use energy. Our leaders in Washington D.C. are currently debating clean energy legislation that will save Tennessee families and businesses money, create tens of thousands of new jobs in the state and protect Tennessee's rich natural heritage.

The plan includes national standards for renewable energy generation and energy savings through energy efficiency. The proposed renewable electricity standard (RES), for example, will help ensure that our country gets 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Researchers have found that achieving 25 percent renewable electricity by 2025 would save consumers $64 billion in lower energy bills and create nearly 300,000 jobs developing and managing renewable energy equipment in the U.S.

Tennessee has viable renewable energy options, including biopower, solar, hydro-power and wind potential, that will allow the state to tap into these economic benefits. Recently, two billion-dollar investments by solar manufacturing facilities highlighted the potential for Tennessee to tap into a green economy.

As we grapple with an economic crisis, renewable energy brings jobs and local revenue that can't be out-sourced or sent overseas. Money spent on local resources like biomass, wind and solar circulates in the state's economy, continuing to provide benefits beyond the initial investment.

The clean energy and jobs plan in Congress also includes goals for energy efficiency, helping us capture some of the energy that is wasted in Tennessee. The proposed energy efficiency resource standard (EERS) will reduce electricity use 15 percent and natural gas use 10 percent by 2020. These goals will save enough energy to meet the needs of more than 1.5 million homes while creating more than 5,000 jobs.

Saving energy clearly makes financial sense. Meeting our needs at an average cost of three or four cents per kilowatt-hour, (less than half the cost of building new generation), energy efficiency is as easy on the wallet as it is on our natural heritage and our public health.

Plenty of examples in the Southeast demonstrate the tremendous savings available through energy efficiency. The aluminum manufacturer Alcoa invested roughly $300,000 to upgrade its heating and cooling equipment at a facility in Tennessee and one in Florida. This one-time investment will save the company $310,000 every year on operation costs. Now the company has plans to make additional investments in efficiency with the goal of $100 million in annual savings.

While critics warn that families and businesses will face higher prices as we limit pollution, the truth is that energy efficiency will actually save us money despite rising costs for conventional energy.

Our country stands at an important crossroads. We can continue down the path of business as usual, risking the consequences to our economy and our climate. Or we can put our ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to work achieving energy independence and repowering our economy with clean energy. The choice is clear. Congress must support a clean energy and jobs plan that will kick-start our economy, diversify our energy mix and make us more secure.

Sam Gomberg is the Tennessee Valley Energy Policy associate for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. SACE works to promote renewable energy issues in five key states: Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. For additional information, visit www.cleanenergy.org.