Panel urges renewable energy as key to Michigan's future

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by Cynthia Price
Legal News

Two attorneys who took very different paths in their careers came together Wednesday as part of a panel which discussed an area important to both: renewable energy.

Scott Steiner of Rhoades McKee took the traditional path after receiving his J.D. from Wayne State Law School, and is now chair of the firm’s Environmental Law Practice Group and a core member of its Sustainability, Energy and Climate Change Practice Group. (See Grand Rapids Legal News 8/12/09.)

James Clift, another Wayne State Law School graduate (who also coincidentally attended the same undergraduate school, Central Michigan University, as Steiner), was more interested in policy. He has worked for Michigan Environmental Council as Policy Director since 1999, before which he was an environmental policy analyst with the Michigan Senate.

Clift is now a registered lobbyist with a passion for promoting alternative and renewable energy. He served on the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Council convened by Governor Jennifer Granholm.

Steiner and Clift came together as part of an informational panel discussion held at Muskegon Community College by West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) called “How Emerging Technologies are Impacting West Michigan’s Energy Future.” Rhoades McKee was one of the panel’s sponsors.

The overall message of the panel is that Michigan, in particular West Michigan, can become a regional leader in renewable and alternative energy technology, with concomitant benefits for both the economy and the environment; and that to some degree that industry has already started to develop, but it will need assistance in as many ways as possible.

In introduction to Steiner’s brief presentation, moderator John Kinch of Michigan Energy Options talked about the role environmental law has played in regulating energy sources, including the nuclear industry, as a possible driver of alternative an renewable energy production.

When Kinch asked about the obstacles this tension might pose, Steiner responded that with large-scale energy projects, “There is always a question of balancing the need for the renewable source versus protecting the greenfields as wetlands and wildlife habitat and for such services as sedimentation control. The way I look at it it’s necessary to find a balance between those two competing aims.” He felt the mandate to create an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for federal land projects, while time-intensive, helped address this. He spoke briefly about state efforts to fast-track EIS processes through pre-determining review standards.

However, Steiner said that in his practice he focuses more on the incentives side of regulations. “A lot of those incentives have been created,” he continued.

The businesses he counsels need a boost at the startup, and there are many ways to do this. For example, the state of Michigan has set up Renaissance Zones for renewable energy businesses. If determined to be qualified for siting in a zone, the company does not pay local and state taxes for 15 years, a sizable incentive. Steiner observed that one of the West Michigan companies mentioned by a previous panelist, LG Chem, is in an Alternative Energy Renaissance Zone.

Steiner added that the reuse of industrial brownfield sites for alternative energy has been the subject of “a focused and somewhat elaborate program” the federal government has developed over the last few years. This provides resources which often have a lot of the infrastructure already in place, including the necessary electrical transmission lines, along with protection from liability for cleanup of the brownfield. Michigan has explicitly adopted a brownfield incentive package for wind projects, though not other alternative or renewable sources.

Clift’s point of view is that energy policy must continue to change in order to reflect and encourage what so many companies want to do. Pointing to the initial success in creating industries and jobs of the 20%-by-2015 Renewable Portfolio Standard, part of the comprehensive 2008 energy bill passed in Michigan, he said, “Now is the time to increase those numbers, because they’re working.

“What’s going to hold us back a bit is the way we regulate utilities. When they produce the energy themselves, they have a guaranteed 11% return on their investments, and they’re able to just pass through costs for new plants. This is a a financial incentive for being somewhat resistant to change.”

However, Michigan utilities are making good progress in incorporating renewable sources into their energy portfolios. Clift wanted to be sure that people realized that the Feb. 15 MPSC report indicated that new contracts for renewable energy, primarily wind, are already costing less than traditional sources. This should result in reduced rates for taxpayers.

However, Clift indicated in a later interview that “MEC is intervening in the utility rate case to protect residential ratepayers and to ensure that Michigan’s clean energy legislation of 2008 is properly implemented.”

Panelists were adamant that to incentivize the development of these innovations and companies, energy distribution must move to the use of a smart grid. Well-known alternative energy advocate Tom Stanton, who used to be with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) and now works for the National Regulatory Research Institute, talked about the definition of  “smart grid”  for the audience of about 40 people. “What is called the smart grid means different things to different people so it’s hard to focus in on any one definition. Generally it involves taking information technology censors, controls, communications devices — and  integrating them with the electrical system so that, for one thing, energy demands and supply are better balanced and and the system can operate as efficiently as possible. and for another,  the wires, etc. He likened it to the move from centralized mainframe computers to individual desktop computers to the Internet. “Part of the smart grid is the idea that we should be able to put energy in or take it out at any point in the system.” The grid would facilitate alternative energy generation input.

Diane Miller, an account executive with Ameresco who works on energy audits, particularly at schools, emphasized the great contribution of energy efficiency, and Clift pointed out that energy optimization (EO) is less expensive. Audience members were also interested in conservation and  incentives they could access.

EO is also a lightning rod for technology development, and creates substantial employment.

The panelists heartily agreed with the statement of Bruce Adair from Lakeshore Advantage: “We have no idea where the next great energy idea is going to come from, and we need to be able to nurture it.”

Nick Occhipinti of WMEAC said questions panelists did not have time to answer will be addressed at its blog site,  http://exploringourenergyfuture.
org/forum-questions/


   

 

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