Feed-in Tariffs in 70 words or less: Government and power utility offers premium, long-term contracts to residential, commercial, and industrial citizens to generate power on-site. Rates are based on the cost of buying and installing various renewable energy systems, but only paid on actual power produced. Citizens purchase back grid power, as per usual, from utility at regular prices. Increase in cost is paid for with a small surcharge to all electricity ratepayers.
When it comes to making renewable energy technology mainstream in society, there is currently no better tool then the Feed-in Tariff, or Advanced Renewable Tariff (ART). You may have begun to hear about this policy recently, primarily of Germany's smashing success and Ontario's efforts to bring it to North America. Here is a run-down of recent activities surrounding the growth of this critical policy tool for turning the renewable energy dream into a widely-adopted reality.
Most recently, on August 18th green energy expert Paul Gipe posted an update from Australia, where currently no true Feed-in Tariff policies exist. A movement to enable progress on this front across this country is being led by the Alternative Technology Association. Gipe's Wind-Works.org website is one of the best information resources on Feed-in Tariffs everywhere. In the United States, launching a Feed-in Tariff in Wisconsin has just been given thumbs-up by the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming. It is the first time that an advisory committee to a U.S. Governor has explicitly called for the use of Feed-in Tariffs to stimulate renewable energy development. The Commission is currently drafting a program framework.
Earlier this year, the California Energy Commission called for Feed-in Tariffs as a way of dealing with some of the challenges in reaching the targets of its Renewable Portfolio Standard. The strategy of simply granting rebates to those who purchase solar power or other clean energy equipment is not necessarily leading to quality installations that actually produce electricity.
John Garamendi, California's Lieutenant Governor, commented on July 14th, "It seems to me we want to use what works . . . and feed-in tariffs clearly do." He also added that "We need to come to a decision quickly," so the state can move forward.
North America's first Feed-in Tariff program, RESOP (Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program) in Ontario, Canada, was recently put on hold while the public utility figured out how to best handle the huge response. One of the primary challenges is the need for transmission upgrades going forward. The province must decide whether to build more centralized infrastructure for its pre-dominantly nuclear powered electricity system, or distributed transmission for connecting many different renewable energy sources. But the appetite for programs like RESOP is evident. A new "solar farming" industry is being born virtually overnight in Ontario.
In Europe, Switzerland has recently joined the club of countries with ARTs in place. Their program is one of the most aggressive, surprising for the normally conservative Swiss. Spain is well-known for its Feed-in Tariffs as well as a law that makes solar hot water systems on all new buildings mandatory. Germany first enabled Feed-in Tariff legislation way back in 1990, called in English the EFL (Electricity Feed-in Law). Germany updated the program in April of 2000, and now generates as much in wind energy alone as all of Ontario's coal and nuclear power plants combined, according to Hermann Scheer, one of the world's most powerful green energy policy architects.
More Feed-in Tariffs are likely on the way, coming to a neighborhood near you, as they continue to prove themselves as the Number one method of bringing clean, renewable energy into the world's energy supply.
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