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Washington DC Feed-In Tariff Workshop

2 March 2008

In the past, the question was, “Who needs renewable energy?” Now the question is, “How are we going to get there?”. This change of sentiment was obvious at the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) workshop held on Sunday, March 2nd, in Washington DC. The World Future Council, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Worldwatch Institute co-hosted this workshop, which was centered on discussing strategy for the introduction and implementation of FIT legislation in the United States.

The workshop discussed the need and potential for FITs in the US, possible strategies for promoting FITs, and barriers to FITs on the state and federal level. Panelists included members of German, French, and Spanish ministries, US legislators, and experts in the field of renewable energy legislation.

Download the Workshop program here (PDF, 3 pages)

Panel summaries and videos

We have summarised here the proceedings of each of the four panel sessions from the workshop. Links to PDF versions of speaker presentations are given (where available).

In addition, the presentations were videoed by Marc Strassman of Etopia Media and are available here for you to watch online.

Panel I: Learning from FIT Success Stories

Janet Sawin gave a basic overview of FITs, succinctly explaining how they differ from Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and why they are the best renewable energy law.

Bernard Chabot explained why FITs are fair and efficient, described the French FIT system, and gave an example of how to best design a wind energy tariff system, explaining how to use the universal profitability scale to best target the values. An important conclusion from his presentation was that sharing experience, methods and tools can avoid delays and unnecessary or risky tests for FIT system designs.

Daniel Argyropolous explained the German FIT system, giving examples of the strong growth rate and proving that the additional costs of FIT laws will go down over time.

Hugo Lucas gave an overview of the growth of the Spanish renewable energy sector and described the evolution of Spanish FIT legislation. He explained that one of the most important issues is how to integrate renewable energy into the market in the long term.

Video - select from list to watch recordings from this session

Panel II: Leading States in Canada and the US – Practical Experience

John Geesman gave a presentation that emphasized the importance of realizing that the federal nature of our electric regulation system puts key authority in the hands of the states, so what they do will have an enormous impact on the system.

Kathleen Law gave a succinct and uplifting speech concerning the current status of the Michigan FIT legislation.

David Bly described the Minnesota FIT legislation, which is special because it promotes community-based energy production.

James White, as the only utility representative on the panel, gave an interesting presentation on the utilities' perspective, and proposed a system that decides the cost and amount, but not the timing. He also emphasized the importance of keeping the legislation simple.

Mike Nelson outlined how, in Washington, he achieved the highest tariff for photovaltaics in all of the US. He began working with utilities ten years ago, convincing them that encouraging growth of the solar energy industry was for their best self-interest.

Deb Doncaster spoke about Ontario's FIT law, which is called the “Standard Offer Program”. She compared what they asked for to what they had actually gotten, and warned us that if you do not have a government committed to renewable energy, you will not get anywhere.

Video - select from list to watch recordings from this session

Panel III: FITs in the US – Practical Solutions and Different Approaches

Paul Gipe gave a moving presentation on the effectiveness and success of FITs, giving a clear outline of the challenges and strategies for ensuring that good FITs are put into place in the US.

James Bradbury described the FIT bill that Jay Inslee is presenting to the US Congress on the federal level.

Aaron Peterson spoke on strategies for getting FIT legislation passed, and described the issues surrounding grid access and integration.

Video - select from list to watch recordings from this session

Panel IV: Perspectives from the Environmental Community

Alan Nogee described renewable energy standard (RES), which has had the most success in the US to date, and encouraged hybrid approaches to the issue.

Dave Hamilton spoke on how the new energy bill will be decided in Congress on January 1, 2009, and emphasized the importance of having a reserve margin of allowances and political support to get renewable energy efficiency.

Video - select from list to watch recordings from this session

See more interviews on feed-in tariffs and renewable energy topics at the Etopia News Network's Feed-In Tariff Channel