Update – 4/27/11: SB 297 has been pulled from consideration for the 2011 term! Thank you to everyone who sent in your comments and made phone calls!
Amendments to California’s Renewable Energy Legislation could destroy the undammed steep creeks of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades. Places like Brush Creek, Big Kimshew, South Silver, Deer and Mill Creeks could be at risk if these amendments to California’s Renewable Portfolio Standards are signed into law. If you want to keep hydro projects from impacting your favorite California creek, you need to take action now!
California’s major Renewable Portfolio Standards (“RPS”), which were signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on April 11, 2011, are already facing threats by members of the state’s senate. Anthony Cannella (R – 12th District) proposes amendments to the RPS legislation (also known as SB 2X) through SB 297, which threaten to undermine the intent of the RPS legislation and harm rivers throughout the state. California’s rivers need your e-mail to the Senate by April 26th, or your phone call by April 30th, stating your opposition to SB 297! Contact information is listed below.
SB 2X increased requirements for new renewable energy production in the state from 20% to 33% by 2020 and requires all electricity retailers in the state to comply with the RPS standards. It is a major stepping-stone in the state’s efforts to lead the country in reducing our carbon footprint, curbing global warming, and expanding the base of renewable energy production. The law recognizes that renewable energy goes beyond just keeping operations carbon-neutral, and protects the state’s rivers from additional threats of hydropower production by 1) requiring RPS eligible hydropower to be 30 megawatts or less and 2) exempting new hydroelectric facilities from RPS eligibility if they “will cause an adverse impact on instream beneficial uses or cause a change in the volume or timing of streamflow.”
SB 297 would undermine current RPS standards by removing both the 30 MW limit on hydropower and the exemption for facilities that would have an adverse impact streams and rivers. These changes would completely undermine the intent of SB2X by making thousands of megawatts of existing hydropower RPS eligible. SB2X was intended to create new sources of renewable energy to meet the 33% requirement rather than fill it with electricity that is already being produced. Additionally, California’s rivers cannot afford any additional hydropower impacts – all of the state’s major rivers are at their capacity for hydropower production, and SB 297 would create a run of new projects on every steep creek in California. The energy created by these smaller projects would result in minimal power production at great financial and environmental expense.
The bill would also allow for importation of hydropower from British Columbia to be considered RPS eligible. California cannot allow environmental destruction through large hydroelectric projects to occur hundreds or thousands of miles away in order to avoid developing new renewable sources of energy in the state. California is well known for its strong environmental standards, and SB 297 would undermine this reputation. Attempts to import hydropower from B.C. have been denied numerous times in the past in the Legislature and before the Air Resources Board in their recent renewable energy rulings.
How To Take Action
Update – 4/27/11: SB 297 has been pulled from consideration for the 2011 term! Thank you to everyone who sent in your comments and made phone calls!
American Whitewater urges all you river lovers to take action and voice your opposition to SB297! Your written comments are due April 26th, or you can call your Representatives by April 30th. Highlight the issues outlined above, and address your letter to Senator Alex Padilla; Chair, Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee, and email it to Kellie Smith, Chief Consultant, Senate Energy Committee kellie.smith@sen.ca.gov.
Send a copy to:
Senator Michael Rubio: cori.ayala@sen.ca.gov; phone: 916-651-4016
Senator Rod Wright: paul.donahue@sen.ca.gov; phone: 916-651-4025
Senator Kevin DeLeon: alfredo.medina@sen.ca.gov; phone: 916-651-4022
Senator Mark DeSaulnier: rosanna.carvacho@sen.ca.gov; phone: 916-651-4007
Senator Ellen Corbett: michael.jarred@sen.ca.gov; phone: 916-651-4010
Senator Fran Pavley: adrienne.alford@sen.ca.gov; phone: 916-651-4023
Senator Joseph Simitian: alan.gordon@sen.ca.gov; phone: 916-651-4011