Renewable Energy

Senator José Rodríguez supports research, development and production of renewable energy as smart policy for the economy and the environment. The District Advisory Committee on Renewable Energy has as areas of interest energy efficiency, sustainability, and construction standards.

The committee is tackling the challenges affecting implementation of Senate Bills 1910 and 981 (Authorizing the El Paso Electric Co. to offer solar energy to its customers and relating to the regulation of distributed renewable generation of electricity, respectively) and the El Paso Electric Company’s rate case (#40094).

 

More information about the committee:

•Chair: Harry Schulte, President of the El Paso Solar Energy Association; Vice-Chairs are Blanca Moss and Robin Roberts.

•Staffed by: Cecilia Rodriguez

•Meeting Dates: the first Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

•Meeting Location: Senate district office (100 N. Ochoa St., Suite A, El Paso, TX 79901)

•Policy:

• Incentives (federal, state, local)
• Rebates (federal, state, local)
• Utility (rebates, REC payments)
• Smart grid (utility investments)
• Community awareness
• Renewable Energy Credits (RECS) (impact on consumer)
• Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)
• Distributed Generation System (DGS) (interconnection agreements)
• Rooftop solar

•Finance:

• Monitoring economic development
• Incentives
• Property Assessment Clean Energy (PACE) (conventional financing resistance)
• Identify potential funders
• Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA)
• Solar Host Agreement (SHA)

•Training:

• Standardization
• Secondary education
• Workforce development
• Post-secondary: community colleges and technical colleges
• State incentives for training without penalty of losing unemployment benefits
• Certification, licensing
• Community-based “boots on the roof”

•Construction Design:

• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)