posted on Tuesday, October 24, 2006 11:31 AM by Andrea Kells

Louisiana Debates Green Pricing Tariff

The Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) is currently developing a green pricing tariff that would allow electric power customers to choose to receive power from renewable resources.  The proposed tariff would require that regulated utilities, including cooperatives, offer a minimum amount of renewable energy to their consumers, but would exempt utilities for whom the available renewable options are too expensive or unreliable.  The PSC has asked for comment on whether only Louisiana-generated power should qualify for the tariff's requirements, and whether utilities should be allowed to purchase renewable credits to meet their obligations under the tariff.   

While Louisiana's three investor-owned utilities offered general support for the green pricing tariff, they encouraged the PSC to allow them to use renewable energy credits to satisfy their obligations under the tariff.  Several industrial entities and the state farm bureau would support the green pricing tariff, though they would prefer that the PSC develop an RPS, since an RPS would provide a more secure market for the co-generated electricity that these entities produce.  Should the PSC implement the green pricing tariff, these entities have asked the PSC to validate state-produced biomass as a renewable resource qualified to meet any standards imposed under such a tariff.   

Once the tariff is finalized, Louisiana will become the tenth state to implement a mandatory green pricing tariff, joining Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington in doing so.  Since a green pricing tariff can provide the cornerstone for later implementation of an RPS, without immediately imposing the added costs that RPSs can entail, more states are likely to follow this route.