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11/06/2008 12:20 PM
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Missouri Voters Approve 15% Renewables Standard
SustainableBusiness.com News
The Missouri Clean Energy Initiative was approved by a wide margin of voters in Tuesday's election.
Known as Proposition C, the initiative creates a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for the state, requiring investor-owned utilities to employ 15% renewable energy sources in their total output by 2021.
The proposition also limits rate increases to pay for the new supply to 1% per year. Three companies will be affected by the measure: AmerenUE, Kansas City Power & Light and Empire District Electric.
Approved energy sources include landfill gas, wind and solar power, biomass and hydroelectricity.
Some have suggested that the creation of a federal RPS, might be the first and simplest step for the U.S. to take under the new Obama administration to incentivize the clean energy industry and begin address global climate change.
In Related News...
Voters in Boulder County, Colorado, voted to allow homeowners and businesses to borrow money from the county to add renewable energy to their property or to make energy-efficient upgrades. The loans, which would come from up to $40 million in bonds sold by county, would be attached to the property and be repaid each year as part of the property taxes.
This type of financing, originally introduced in Berkeley, California, is growing in popularity around the country.
