Robust Feed-in Tariffs Subject of San Francisco Conference July 12, 2010

June 15, 2010

By Paul Gipe

A Who's Who of renewable energy advocates is gathering in San Francisco on July 12, 2010 for a one-day conference on how to design robust feed-in tariffs.

Titled "Feed-in Tariffs: A Time for Real Action on Renewable Energy," the program features experts on renewable energy policy from Europe, Canada, and the US.

Organizers say feed-in tariffs are the single most successful policy for the rapid development of renewable energy and are widely used around the world. Feed-in tariffs are responsible for 50% of all wind energy development worldwide, 75% of all solar energy development, and nearly 90% of all biogas development.

Sponsors of the workshop include Pacific Environment, the World Future Council, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Deutsche Bank, the Sierra Club, and the Alliance for Renewable Energy.

The objective, say organizers, is to launch a campaign for a comprehensive system of feed-in tariffs in California and other western states that will result in the rapid development of renewable energy. They suggest that public policy on renewable energy may have reached a tipping point with the recent defeat of Pacific Gas & Electric's ballot initiative against community power, and the nation riveted to its televisions as the Deepwater Horizon disaster continues to unfold.

Hans-Josef Fell, a member of the German parliament and one of the co-authors of Germany's renowned Renewable Energy Sources Act, is one of several confirmed speakers. Germany now generates 16% of its electricity with renewable energy, and in so doing has created 300,000 new jobs since the year 2000.

Former California Energy Commission member John Geesman is also on the program and is responsible for the Commission recommending that the Golden State move quickly from its foundering programs to a system of feed-in tariffs.

Deb Doncaster, the driving force behind North America's most progressive renewable energy policy in nearly three decades, Ontario's Green Energy Act, will discuss the role of feed-in tariffs in enabling community power.

The Sierra Club's new executive director, Michael Brune, will give a keynote address on the urgent need for massive renewable energy development in the US in light of the ongoing catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.

In addition, the program features:

• Bernard Chabot, creator of French differentiated wind energy tariffs and international authority on the pricing of renewable energy
• Eicke Weber, executive director of the Fraunhofer Institute and one of the world's foremost authorities on solar photovoltaics
• Nils Mellquist, Deutsche Bank, DB Climate Change Advisors, principal author of "Paying for Renewable Energy at the Right Price: Achieving Scale through Efficient Policy Design"
• Angelina Galiteva, Renewables 100 Policy Institute, former Executive Director of Strategic Planning for City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
• Bill Powers, Powers Engineering, an authority on the potential of distributed renewable generation in California
• Jennifer Gleason, Environmental Law Alliance, advocate of feed-in tariffs in Oregon
• Ryan Matulka, UCLA School of Public Affairs, principal author of the blockbuster report Designing an Effective Feed-in Tariff for Greater Los Angeles.
• Randy Hayes, North American representative for the World Future Council and co-founder of the Rainforest Action Network
• Craig Lewis, founder of the FIT Coalition

The event will be held in the heart of San Francisco's financial district at the City Club, 155 Sansome Street, on the 11th floor from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. A reception will follow.

For registration and further details, see www.PacificEnvironment.org/FITConference, or contact Rory Cox, Pacific Environment 415-399-8850 x302 or rcox@pacificenvironment.org.

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