Bingaman’s 'clean energy standard' might surface next week

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) might finally announce his plan to create a nationwide “clean” electricity mandate next week, a proposal that President Obama has twice touted in State of the Union addresses.

“We’re hoping next week to have a bill we can introduce,” Bingaman told Bloomberg Thursday. Bingaman’s spokesman told E2 on Friday that the senator would “like to” float the plan next week but added that “a firm date for bill introduction still is being considered.”

Under Obama’s proposal, first announced in his 2011 State of the Union speech, utilities would provide 80 percent of the nation’s power from carbon-free (or at least lower-carbon) sources such as renewables, nuclear and natural gas by 2035.

Obama flagged the idea again in his 2012 speech, but acknowledged it hasn’t moved in Congress.

Bingaman has been exploring the “clean energy standard” (CES) since early last year. The idea also has some GOP roots — former Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have both backed the concept in the past.

While inclusion of nuclear, natural gas and coal-based generation with carbon capture (a technology that remains far from commercial-scale adoption) under the standard could be attractive to Republicans, the plan nonetheless faces gigantic hurdles on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has said she cannot support a CES unless it replaces federal greenhouse gas regulations, while many other Republicans in both chambers are wary of any new requirements for power companies.

But the proposal — which White House officials have emphasized would be flexible and market-based — could nonetheless provide Democrats a rallying point to counter GOP energy plans.