ACORE Praises Larger Role for Renewable Energy in Clean Power Plan

Newly announced final rule calls for greater amount of renewable energy generation capacity, 28% by 2030, as part of U.S. transition to a low-carbon energy economy.

Washington, D.C. – Today, the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Clean Power Plan, a groundbreaking rule to significantly reduce carbon emissions in the electricity sector. As the business voice for renewable energy, the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) commends the Administration for recognizing the importance of increasing amounts of renewable energy generation as a central part of the nation’s strategy to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change, while ensuring a reliable, resilient and affordable power system.

“By roughly doubling U.S. renewable generation capacity in the next 15 years, the Clean Power Plan will help accelerate the transformation of our energy sector, diversifying the nation’s electricity portfolio, modernizing the grid, and reducing emissions,” said Dan Reicher, interim President and CEO of ACORE and Executive Director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy & Finance at Stanford University. “Renewable energy businesses are rapidly cutting costs and deploying increasing amounts of reliable, resilient, and cost-competitive power. This rule, if properly implemented, should give a serious boost to renewables and in the process be good for the economy and the environment. And voting with their feet, many of America’s largest companies, which are already shifting to renewable power, will have a further incentive.”

The Clean Power Plan includes a number of provisions to encourage greater deployment of renewable energy. A White House fact sheet notes that the share of renewable energy generation capacity in 2030 is projected to be over 25 percent higher than in the proposed rule, at 28 percent, compared to 22 percent.

“Policy has long established the rules of the road for our nation’s power markets and signals to the private sector where to allocate resources,” said Todd Foley, Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President for Policy at ACORE. “The Clean Power Plan aims to provide states with flexibility to harness their renewable energy resources, and industry with a long-term market signal to promote investment and infrastructure development. ACORE looks forward to working with the Administration, the states and industry on effective implementation of the Clean Power Plan to drive private investment and increase renewable energy generation.”

Recent policy analysis by ACORE expands on Clean Power Plan objectives by highlighting the need for complementary federal tax policy, state policy, and new market drivers like Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) for renewables. ACORE urges the Administration and Congress to work together to build a policy environment that effectively facilitates greater deployment of low-cost, zero-carbon renewable energy.

“Given the dramatic drop in costs across the board for renewable energy in recent years, increasing the amount of renewable energy generation called for in the President’s Clean Power Plan will be both good for business and good for the consumer,” said Steve Morgan, CEO of American Clean Energy, and a member of ACORE’s Board of Directors. “This plan puts our nation’s energy policy on the right side of history and will help ensure America’s competitive advantage worldwide for years to come.”

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About ACORE:
ACORE, a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization, is dedicated to building a secure and prosperous America with clean, renewable energy. ACORE seeks to advance renewable energy through finance, policy, technology, and market development and is concentrating its member focus in 2015 on National Defense & Security, Power Generation & Infrastructure, and Transportation. Additional information is available at www.acore.org

ACORE Media Contact:
Kevin Haley, ACORE
haley@acore.org, (202) 777-7584