RENEWED ENERGY: Biomass Industry Looks To Obama For Boost

Cattlenetwork.com
11/11/2008 2:50:00 PM

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Developers of power plants fueled by wood chips, manure and other biological materials are hoping a new presidential administration will help usher in a new era for the industry.

Companies generating electricity by burning so-called biomass materials could get an outsized boost in some regions compared with their peers in solar and wind power if a federal renewable portfolio standard, or RPS, is enacted. Such a standard would require utilities to produce or buy a certain percentage of their electricity from sources other than fossil fuels or nuclear power. Electric utilities are lobbying against such a measure, arguing that it would result in higher rates for many consumers.

Although Southern utilities are developing biomass plants, wind farms and solar projects to hedge their bets against a possible federal mandate, these companies claim that a one-size-fits-all approach to renewable energy development would unfairly penalize rate payers in the Southeast. The region lacks the wind and solar resources that are available in other parts of the country, these utilities claim.

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