Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc.(fka LLEG)

[discreet_suffolk]

Investments in renewable electricity and jobs
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/11/cooperation_or_confrontation.html

Other nations, particularly China and Germany, have invested significant resources and adopted policies that would boost their domestic clean energy industries. This has also helped them create an export market for these new technologies. The United States risks falling out of the running to lead this 21st century industry if we do not invest more in this field.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act began this process in 2009, but its renewable energy programs spent their funds. We must adopt new policies to continue to grow the clean energy sector.
Renewable electricity standard
Thirty states have a renewable electricity or portfolio standard, or RES, in place that requires electric utilities to generate a specific amount of power from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass(LLEG), and other emerging technologies. A national RES would increase demand for these clean electricity sources and help speed their commercialization at scale.

A RES passed both the House and Senate Energy Committee during the 111th Congress. It was included in ACES and ACELA cited above. Additionally, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced a RES only bill, S. 3813 a free standing RES, S. 3813. Bingaman’s proposal has 32 cosponsors, including Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), John Ensign (R-NV), and Susan Collins (R-ME).

Green bank
An independent Clean Energy Deployment Administration or “green bank” would provide loans, guarantees, and credit enhancements to help companies successfully traverse the so-called “valley of death” to take new technologies from successful R&D to deployment. Clean technology companies typically have enough capital to get started but not enough capital to begin commercial production.

A dearth of funding is currently available to assist companies with this process. CEDA funds would provide this capital and leverage $10 in private capital for every $1 of public investment.

CEDA has bipartisan support in the House and Senate. It was included in ACES and ACELA in slightly different forms.

Transmission
A missing ingredient in U.S. efforts to generate more renewable electricity and manufacture more clean energy technology is our aging system of transmission lines. Electricity congestion currently costs the eastern United States $16.5 billion each year. Additionally, transmission lines must be enhanced and expanded to transfer clean electricity from wind turbines in North Dakota to factories in Illinois.