(Midway, KY, November 8, 2014) - Those unfamiliar with energy policy attending the Women's Network Annual Forum learned a new acronym. REEPS stands for Renewable Energy and Efficiency Portfolio Standards. It's the term used for the minimum percentage that utility producers in thirty states must meet from renewable sources or energy efficiencies.

Energy generated from solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal and reductions in usage through efficiencies are all used by producers to meet their REEPS requirements. States that have adopted such standards have realized economic benefits.

Kentucky has no REEPS standard.

Bobby Clark, President of Sustainable Business Ventures, presented the recommendations contained in "Kentucky's Energy Future...at the Crossroads" to an audience of eighty at Midway College on a fall Saturday morning.

Clark spoke of the energy production that is not coal. Hydropower is being generated along the Salt River. Solar power generated at Ft. Knox which could become the first net zero military base in the US. Wind power sufficient to handle a small portion of the grid is being researched. Biomass, in the form of switchgrass and studies on hemp, are also under study. Production of energy from municipal waste and commercial kitchen oils are also on the drawing board.

Renewables do not include nuclear, peat or fossil fuels. Clark also did not favor cutting down trees to produce biomass, but using deadfall wood instead.

Clark showed slides of West Liberty, Kentucky, a small southeastern town wiped out by a tornado that is coming back as an eco-tourism center. Funds are being sought to construct energy efficient homes to make West Liberty a showplace of alternative energy in Kentucky.

The Commonwealth Policy Institute recommends a modest REEPS to begin:

2019 4 percent of 2018 Kentucky retail sales
2022 8 percent of 2021 Kentucky retail sales
2025 13 percent of 2024 Kentucky retail sales
2028 18 percent of 2027 Kentucky retail sales

From page 9 of the Report:

"Feed-in Tariff: A feed-in tariff is a payment from a utility to renewable energy developers for the energy they produce. To encourage development, renewable energy developers need the security that they will receive an adequate return on their investment and that the utilities will not unilaterally reduce the price they pay for renewables once established. A feed-in tariff is an energy supply policy that offers a payment guarantee to renewable energy developers for the energy they produce. Well-designed feed-in tariffs foster rapid development of renewable energy, and therefore benefit consumers. TVA's feed-in tariff, for example, provides 12 cents above the retail rate per Kwh from solar PV systems for the first 10 years, then drops to the retail rate. A feed-in tariff in Kentucky would encourage local economic development and diversification of the state's energy portfolio."

"Net Metering: Net metering is a billing mechanism that credits renewable energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid. Net metering laws limit the energy an individual energy producer can sell to utilities. Kentucky's current net metering law limits an individual renewable energy system to 30 KW, with the aggregate capacity limit per utility of 1percent of maximum retail sales. These limits discourage commercial solar PV (photovoltaic) installations."

Renewable equipment leasing - high upfront costs are a barrier to renewable start ups. Allow third parties to lease solar equipment to users to enable homeowners and commercial enterprises to use renewables without the high costs of getting started.

Recommendations for renewable energy include:

• Legislate a Renewable Energy and Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REEPS) for Kentucky.
• Legislate a feed-in tariff for utilities for renewable energy.
• Amend Kentucky's net metering law; raise the system limit to 1MW and the aggregate capacity limit per utility to 5 percent of maximum retail sales.
• Legislate third-party renewable energy equipment leasing.

To read "Kentucky's Energy Future...at the Crossroads" click on More.