All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On April 22, 2015, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack celebrated Earth Day by announcing that USDA "is providing more than $112 million in loans and grants to help rural communities build and upgrade their water and energy infrastructure systems." The funding for the energy infrastructure programs is provided through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), and funds a total of 25 renewable energy projects. The grants support government bodies, utilities,...

On February 2, 2015, the White House released the 2016 fiscal year budget request for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Under this proposed plan, DOE would receive $29.9 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion from the 2015 fiscal year. The increase in funding for DOE would focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean power technology with some of the additional money coming from DOE’s fossil fuel programs. A total of $7.4 billion of...

On February 3, 2015, West Virginia repealed the Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act that was originally passed and adopted in 2009. This Act (the Standard) required utilities serving 30,000 residential customers or more to generate at least 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. To be in compliance with the Standard, utilities could use coal (e.g., advanced coal technologies and waste coal), natural gas, and fuel generated from burning tires as...

On February 4, 2015, the newly formed Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called for an update of the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that was put into place in 2007. The Coalition proposed a plan to create as many as 32,000 jobs annually by improving Illinois’ energy economy. These improvements would be made through: (1) changes to the RPS to increase the use of renewable sources to create 35 percent of power...

On December 29, 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the final rule for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). REAP is intended to help mainly businesses, as well as some state, local, and tribal governments develop solar, wind, and biomass projects. This new rule will change the requirements for those applying for funding from the grant and loan guarantees for renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements in rural areas. There is now...

On September 15, 2014, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2996, the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation (RAMI) Act. The Act "earmarks up to $300 million in federal funding — $30 million annually for 10 years" from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy account, and would be available to regional centers to develop new products and train workforces. Fields mentioned in the bill as eligible for the money include...

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released the third annual Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report. The report provides forecasts for global biofuel and renewable energy growth. Within the report, the authors predict that the expansion of renewable energy will slow over the next five years unless policy certainty is diminished. For more information, see online....

On July 3, 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it is making an additional $4 billion available in loan guarantees for innovative renewable energy and energy efficiency projects located in the U.S. that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gases. Part one of the solicitation is due October 1, 2014. Copies of the solicitation and fact sheet about the solicitation are available online. According to DOE's press release on the announcement, "the Department...

On June 3, 2014, Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (REG) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, REG Synthetic Fuels, LLC, has closed its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Syntroleum Corporation. The assets acquired from Syntroleum include a 50 percent ownership interest in Dynamic Fuels, LLC, which owns a 75 million gallon per year nameplate capacity renewable diesel biorefinery located in Geismar, Louisiana. REG has a separate pending agreement with Tyson Foods, Inc. to acquire...

Several incentives designed to encourage renewable energy development and production, including the $1 per gallon tax credit for biodiesel producers and the $1.01 per gallon credit for cellulosic ethanol production, expired on December 31, 2013. Should extenders be considered, it is likely these two credits will be extended and likely retroactively. Although given election year politics and ongoing budget battles, if and when this happens is tougher to predict. In the short term, one legislative...