Environmental/Renewable Groups to FERC Chairman: Best Bet for Renewables and Demand ResponseCompetitive Electricity Markets

Letter to Kelliher Echoes FERC Conference Testimony and Findings of New COMPETE Issue Brief

COMPETE, a national coalition promoting the public interest benefits of competitive electricity markets, today praised a group of national environmental groups and renewable energy advocates for highlighting the benefits that competitive wholesale electricity markets provide in bringing more renewable energy and demand response into the nation’s energy resource portfolio.

In a February 26th letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher, 22 organizations and associations underscored the link between properly structured competitive wholesale markets and the "critical national goals related to fuel diversity, energy security, and environmental protection."

"Well-structured regional wholesale electricity markets operated independently allow far greater amounts of renewable energy and demand response resources to be integrated into the nation's electronic grid," the letter stated. "In fact, approximately 73 percent of installed wind capacity is now located in regions with such markets, while only 44 percent of wind energy potential is found in these areas."

Signatories to the letter to Chairman Kelliher included the American Wind Energy Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Conservation Law Foundation, PPM Energy, EnerNOC, Horizon Wind Energy, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, Wind on the Wires, Environment Northeast, Renewable Northwest Project, West Wind Wires, California Wind Energy Association, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, NW Energy Coalition, RENEW Wisconsin, Project for Sustainable FERC Energy Policy, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Energy Unlimited, Inc., Fresh Energy, Iberdrola Renewable Energies USA, and Babcock and Brown.

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