New Bill for Cooperative Utilities

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Neb.) and several Senate renewable energy stalwarts introduced a bill yesterday to allow public utilities to issue unlimited bonds to pay for renewable energy projects.

Nelson joined Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the bill, which would provide consumer-owned public utilities comparable federal tax incentives as ‘for-profit‘ utilities, according to the sponsors.

‘Public power providers are key contributors to our nation's clean energy future, and their ratepayers should benefit from the same incentives as anyone else,‘ Cantwell said.

‘Public power utilities serve half the people in Washington state and one in four nationally, yet the federal incentive available to public power is only one-tenth of that available to investor-owned utilities. This bill will unleash billions of dollars in clean energy investment and result in lower costs for consumers and the creation of thousands of green jobs nationwide,‘ she said.

In the 2005 energy bill, Congress empowered public utilities to sell bonds that pay investors tax credits instead of interest to help finance renewable energy projects. This type of funding helps bring down the price of the projects for the public utilities.

Congress has provided $2.4 billion for the program, including $1.6 billion in the 2009 stimulus bill. Public power providers, governmental bodies and electric cooperatives equally divide the allocations under the current system and they are distributed by the Internal Revenue Service.

The bill would remove that limit -- about $800 million per category -- an amount that could be used by just one applicant for one project ‘if given the opportunity,‘ Cantwell's office said in a statement.

The bill also makes technical modifications to the program to be more in tune with other types of tax credit bonds, enables consumer-owned utilities to develop and own renewable resources directly and clarifies that American Indian tribe utilities can issue the bonds.

New Fishing Regulations Out Soon! Department Rules Overturned.

This summer, in Washington the salmon fishing was good.  In fact, better than it has been in recent memory.  Now, the coho are running strong.  Fishing is a highly regulated activity in Washington state.  The idea here is conservation.  But what happens to restricted fishing schedules when the fish are more plentiful than ever.  That’s the thrust of Puget Sound Harvesters Ass’n v. Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.   

Here is the background:  Association representing non-treaty salmon gillnet fishermen brought action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief under the Administrative Procedure Act, claiming that the fall chum salmon fishing schedule set by two rules adopted by Department of Fish and Wildlife was arbitrary and capricious. The Superior Court, Thurston County, H. Christopher Wickham, J., declared the two rules to be invalid as arbitrary and capricious, and ordered Department to pay attorney fees and costs. Department appealed.

The Department lost. The court of appeals aptly determined that rules regarding the fall chum salmon fishing schedule by allocating fishing opportunities between gillnetters and purse seiners without regard to the effect on fish harvest is arbitrary and capricious.

The harvesters called the court’s attention to the inflexibility of the rule with respect to run volumes.  The court noted, “[t]his information demonstrates that fishing opportunity is generally proportional to harvest opportunity. To disconnect one from the other on this record is not supportable.”


The takeaway means a new rule for salmon fishing restrictions and gillnetting allocations.  Watch for comment period to get your say in the mix.  This is an important matter to Washingtonian fishery business.