As an energy efficiency bill teeters on the verge of passage or collapse in the Senate, this past week not one but two renewable energy standard bills were introduced in that chamber. The Udall cousins, Mark (D-CO) and Tom (D-NM), joined forces with Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to introduce for the third go-around a requirement for 25% renewables by 2025. The bill, S. 1595, seeks to create hundreds of thousands of jobs while saving consumers money and cutting emissions. Senator Mark Udall’s home state of Colorado has an aggressive RPS of 30% by 202 for investor owned utilities. The same week, the newly-minted Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced his own bill, S. 1627, that would create a similar requirement while also seeking increased energy efficiency by gas and electric utilities of between 10-15% by 2025. Neither of these bills has a GOP co-sponsor and similar efforts have not appeared recently in the House. Without the expectation of passage in this Congress, we are pleased that these clean energy leaders are at least keeping the conversation alive.
