Arizona and Nevada to Vote on Renewable Energy Initiatives

NextGen Climate Action, a political action group launched by environmentalist Tom Steyer's NextGen America, wants to see states adopt tougher Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) that would require energy utilities to derive a higher percentage of the electricity they sell from renewable sources by a target date in order to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 37 states and the District of Columbia had adopted RPS as of July 20, although eight had voluntary goals. The strongest were Hawaii, at 100 percent by 2045, and New York and California, at the goal set by NextGen: 50 percent by 2030. Last month, California joined Hawaii in adopting the same target when Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 100 by Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles).

"Roughly half of all growth in U.S. renewable electricity generation and capacity since 2000 is associated with state RPS requirements," according to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report [pdf] released in July 2017.

NextGen Climate Action chose three states, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan, all of which had existing RPS, to increase the required percentage of renewable energy to fifty percent by 2030.

• The campaign in Michigan, which has a 15 percent renewable energy standard by 2021 and a 35 percent goal by 2025, achieved success when the NextGen state group, "Clean Energy, Healthy Michigan," came to an agreement on May 18 with DTE Energy (formerly Detroit Edison) and Consumers Energy in setting a target goal "of at least 50 percent clean energy by 2030, to be achieved through a combination of investments in at least 25 percent renewable energy, and the remaining through energy efficiency," according to the Michigan Climate Action Network.

• The campaign in Nevada, which has a 25 percent RPS by 2025, required gathering signatures and going to the ballot. Question 6, the Renewable Energy Standards Initiative, is on the ballot on Nov. 6 as an initiated constitutional amendment. If it passes, electric utilities will be required to acquire 50 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2030.

The state's largest public utility, NV Energy, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary providing 90 percent of Nevada's electricity, had not taken a position on the initiative as of Sept. 24, according to James DeHaven of the Reno Gazette Journal. "The measure faces little organized opposition and is widely expected to pass in November. If so, it would have to survive a second vote in 2020 before becoming law."

The reason for the low profile appears to be it's heavy investment in fighting Question 3, also an initiated constitutional amendment, which "would kill NV Energy’s electric power monopoly and allow consumers to pick their own power provider by 2023," reported DeHaven on Oct. 8. The measure "is by far the best-funded, highest-profile measure on November’s ballot."

"A host of prominent clean energy and environmental groups have joined NV Energy in opposing Question 3," adds DeHaven on Sept. 24. "Question 6 enjoys support from a similar set of organizations, among them the Sierra Club, the Nevada Conservation League and Western Resource Advocates."

In Arizona, Proposition 127, an initiated constitutional amendment on the Nov. 6 ballot calling for 50 percent renewable energy generation by 2030 for public utilities, is being fiercely fought by the state's major utility, Arizona Public Service Co. (APS). The state's RPS calls for 15 percent renewables by 2025. Currently, the nation's sunniest state only gets 6 percent of its power from the sun.

The parent company of APS, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., has spent almost $22 million through Sept. 30 to oppose the initiative, while the NextGen group, Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona, has spent almost $18 million, according to Ryan Randazzo, business reporter for The Arizona Republic.

Renewable vs. carbon-free

Hat tip to Ballotpedia.