CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A report outlines how federal efforts to bring solar energy to one in four American households could bring clean energy to communities of all colors, incomes and backgrounds.
Supporters of the 30 Million Solar Homes Initiative said boosting participation in the Rural Energy Savings Program and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program could help more residents, farmers, and small businesses finance solar panels.
Robert Fernatt, advisor to Solar United Neighbors and president of the West Virginia Electric Auto Association, said more West Virginians are seeing the benefits of clean energy.
"National-security advocates, faith-based groups, people that are interested in personal energy independence, disaster preparedness," Fernatt outlined. "We like to say that solar has a large tent: it attracts a lot of different people for different reasons that we can all get behind. "
More than 300 energy equity, climate, business, environmental, faith, and public health organizations have signed a letter calling on Congress to enact the policy recommendations outlined in the report.
Katie Kienbaum, senior researcher for the Energy Democracy Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, said communities have much to gain from reducing use of fossil fuels.
"In the form of savings on your electric bills, or maybe a new job or career opportunity," Kienbaum explained. "In certain communities with peaker power plants, maybe those can be retired, when more of our energy is coming locally from our rooftops and from our own communities."
Fernatt added he installed solar four years ago, and saw a dramatic dip in monthly energy costs.
"My energy bill is $5 a month, every month, so it certainly reduces my energy cost," Fernatt emphasized.
If the 30 Million Solar Homes package is implemented as a whole, the federal government would invest a total of $137 billion over the next five years to help install local rooftop and community solar systems across the country, according to the authors of the report.
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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said LanzaJet was already producing sustainable aviation fuel. It has plans to do so at this point. (8:30 AM MST, January 27, 2024)
Georgia is the nation's top forestry state, grappling with overproduction and the aftermath of severe storms which damaged timber supplies.
Industry leaders and policymakers are turning to
sustainable aviation fuel to boost the industry, create jobs and reduce carbon emissions.
Sen. Larry Walker, R-Perry, is on the Senate's committee for forestry innovation. He said the growing demand for sustainable aviation fuel from companies like Delta Air Lines highlights its potential. However, he emphasized expanding production requires strategic federal policies and research to ensure long-term growth.
"To invest in a facility that manufactures SAF, it's a huge investment. It's a long-term proposition," Walker stressed. "We need some certainty out of Washington what the public policy is going to be, what the incentives to create this industry are."
He explained a robust industry could have been an alternative use for storm-damaged timber from Hurricane Helene, potentially lessening the economic blow to rural communities. Walker added state lawmakers plan to introduce bills during the 2025 legislative session to support forestry innovation and expand sustainable aviation fuel production in the state.
Jimmy Samartzis is the CEO of LanzaJet, a company in Soperton, Georgia that plans to produce sustainable aviation fuel. He says SAF is cleaner and more efficient than traditional jet fuel, and it's made from existing carbon sources above ground. He thinks it could revitalize Georgia's timber industry and rural communities.
Samartzis says LanzaJet's facility has created at least 30 well-paying jobs, and can use forestry byproducts to produce ethanol for SAF, and potentially boost the local economy. He emphasizes further investment is crucial to addressing the challenges in building this industry from the ground up.
"We are finding, not just in the United States but abroad as well, government plays a really important role in trying to get a new industry off the ground, including the SAF industry," Samartzis noted. "To help offset some of the higher costs that exist with building these first plants and producing the first products."
He added while federal policies like the Inflation Reduction Act and the 45-Z clean fuel tax credit aimed to support sustainable aviation fuel, their implementation has created challenges for alcohol-to-jet technologies. Despite this, he sees rising global demand as an opportunity for Georgia to lead in clean energy innovation and expand its economic impact.
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Indiana lawmakers are advancing a plan to bring nuclear energy to the state.
House Bill 1007 would establish a framework for investing in advanced nuclear technology.
Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, chair of the House Utilities, Energy, and Telecommunications Committee, authored the bill after state energy officials warned of power shortage risks without new energy sources.
"If we are going to be telling the world we're going to onshore a lot of things that have been taken offshore, we've got to provide for it," Soliday contended. "We have to provide the infrastructure, and this is happening rapidly."
Critics cautioned the bill could raise electric bills for residents. Building nuclear reactors is costly, with estimates ranging from $2 billion to $3 billion per reactor. The bill failed to pass out of committee, but is set for a vote next week. It would allow utility companies to recover development costs through rate increases.
Under the proposal, utilities would need to justify development costs to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission before passing them on to customers.
Indiana Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources Suzanne Jaworoski said the bill is the foundation to bring much needed energy generation to the state.
"It attracts advanced nuclear energy which is the future of energy," Jaworoski asserted. "It is sustainable. It is affordable. It is reliable. It is resilient. It is environmentally sound."
Lawmakers are debating whether the long-term benefits of nuclear energy outweigh the financial burden it may place on Hoosiers. For now, the debate over Indiana's energy future continues.
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Montana is a U.S. leader in the growing industry of sustainable aviation fuel. Experts in the field, and in the agricultural sector, hope to see new policies to support its development.
Sustainable aviation fuel can be made from a variety of agricultural inputs, including seed crops, which produce oils processed into fuel with a low-carbon footprint. Industry growth could mean new buyers for ag producers in the state, where Montana Renewables was the highest domestic producer of sustainable aviation fuel last year.
Bruce Fleming, CEO of the company, said China and Brazil are outpacing U.S. growth.
"If we can get our policy figured out, if we can get American innovation going and not fall behind, then we've got solutions here that will benefit the ag sector, particularly the farmers and ranchers," Fleming explained.
In terms of policy, Fleming acknowledged the "goalposts keep moving," because they vary between agencies at the state and federal levels, making it difficult to plan. He hopes to see policies that embrace the SAF innovation, as the nation did for ethanol.
Nicole Rolf, senior director of government affairs for the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, said the opportunity for farmers to grow and market new commodities is enticing, but she will be watching for tax credits and other policies to support producers.
"How do we make sure that we put the right incentives in place so that we're truly using American-grown feedstocks, and crops and commodities, to feed these sustainable aviation-fuel suppliers?" Rolf asked.
The industry sees both challenges and benefits in Montana. For instance, there are currently no local oilseed crushers, so farmers must ship seeds for processing out-of-state. Rolf pointed out Montana is prepared to ship the finished product by rail and other means, as it already does for other energy products.
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