Funding Opportunities

The following information provides the areas of work being funded, what the prioriy goals and outcomes are, as well as funding priorities in 2008.

Increasing Renewable Energy

Leader: Michael Noble Executive Director, Fresh Energy

Long-term Goals

• Increase renewable electricity by 1-1.5% of total electricity demand per year in the 7-state RE-AMP region.
• Expand transmission capacity for wind power to the levels necessary to achieve RE-AMP's renewable electricity targets.
• Establish collaborative mechanisms that encourage other technology innovation projects that put the Midwest in the forefront of clean energy development, including innovations to store wind and solar energy, develop advanced bioenergy systems, and sequester carbon.

Mid-term Outcomes

• Campaigns to extend RES policies throughout REAMP and MGA region, with focus on MI, IA, and SD.
• Campaign to reach each initial benchmark for existing RES policies ahead of schedule, for example 15% by 2012 in MN.
• Structured dialogue for REAMP Community engaging transmission vs local energy issues, engage experts, industries, communities and seek consensus to move forward united.
• Demonstrate business development model to partner community, utility and developer owned wind resources.
• Better Energy at scale of 5000+ MW, keeping in view that 30% of MGA footprint requires over 100,000 MW.
• Campaign to gain opportunities to back down coal dispatch on WAPA system by increased use of renewable energy by municipalities.
• Analysis to identify strategic location of community resources as major transmission is planned, permitted and built.
• Analysis to support fair price feed-in tariffs for small scale resources such as solar, and community energy wind, etc.

Clean Energy Funding Opportunities

Economic Modeling: $20K to $100K, one-time investment, or on-going program support

For donors who like leveraging a one-time investment into significant policy change, there are numerous opportunities to invest in economic analysis and computer modeling within the Clean Energy groups of RE-AMP. Here are key examples:

The Midwest Governors Association has adopted an ambitious energy and climate policy agenda. Nine states have embraced the Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Platform with strong policy measures in Renewable Electricity and six states have adopted a Greenhouse Gas Accord for regulation of global warming pollutants and deep reductions over time through Capping Carbon Pollution.

Each of these measures and each of these states represent individual opportunities for advocacy groups to present clear analysis of economic benefits and/or costs for various policy tools. Such analysis can form the basis of citizen-based policy campaigns, fact sheets and one-pagers for decision-makers and opinion pieces or letters to editors. Coal plant litigation often requires deep economic analysis of alternatives to coal plants, including factors such as comparative energy costs, risk analysis of future carbon regulation, modeling of wind energy contribution to system reliability, etc.

 

Leader: Lola Schoenrich, Energy Program Director, The Minnesota Project

Long-term Goals

• Achieve unprecedented levels of energy efficiency resulting in a 50% reduction in projected electric energy consumption by 2030. This will require annual savings of 2 - 2.5%.
• Put policies in place that result in aggressive ratepayer funded programs in RE-AMP states AND participate in regulatory, technical and administrative proceedings to ensure that the policies are implemented and projected savings are achieved

Mid-term Outcomes

• Set Specific goals or targets for annual reductions in electricity and natural gas consumption
• Make Public Benefits Funds (PBFs) and other types of ratepayer-funded efficiency programs available Achieve Funding for energy efficiency improvements in public buildings
• Ensure additional utility sector funding for efficiency through legal settlements related to regulatory compliance issues regarding coal-fired power plants
• Cultivate Innovative community level energy efficiency initiatives that go beyond policy goals
• Make it possible for utilities to be genuine partners in energy efficiency through adoption of appropriate regulatory mechanisms, and by creating regulatory, political and public expectations that utilities will put energy efficiency first.
• Adopt and ensure enforcement of "supercharged" incentives and codes for buildings in at least one state or community to ensure that new buildings are at least 30% more energy efficient than current national code standards and that new buildings are essentially carbon neutral by 2030.
• Enact a comprehensive suite of energy efficiency policies in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, including appliance standards, building codes and innovate rate designs for electric and natural gas utilities.

Energy Efficiency Funding Opportunities

Implement the Midwest Governors’ Energy Efficiency goals: $100,000 to $200,000 per state. The Midwest Governors’ Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Platform for the Midwest adopts the RE-AMP energy efficiency goal of reducing energy use by 2% each year and makes energy efficiency the top priority for addressing global warming. Energy efficiency will also be the first action identified in each of the states’ global warming plans. Funding is critical in each state to ensure that advocates have the technical, legal and policy expertise needed to advance a suite of policies that meet our energy efficiency goals.

Energy efficiency standards, large public benefit funds, and utility rate reform, such as decoupling, will be the keystone policy proposals in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. Proposals to support game changing advances in new commercial, industrial and residential buildings will be key in several states. Government can lead by making new buildings much more efficient than required by code and by reducing energy use in all facilities. Proposals will be advanced in each state and implemented through a combination of executive order and legislation. Appliance efficiency standards will be pursued in many states.

Implement energy efficiency standards: $50,000 to $150,000 per state The MGA proposal mirrors policies passed in 2007 in Illinois and Minnesota. Wisconsin and Iowa also significantly increased spending on energy efficiency. To ensure that the policy promises are realized, advocates must have the technical and legal expertise and funding to participate in the regulatory and administrative proceedings that write the rules and the technical committees that design the programs.

Help community initiatives go beyond 2% annual savings: $100,000 to provide assistance. Communities and cities can lead in energy efficiency. They are more nimble than states and can try out creative new ideas. ICLEI has worked with local governments for many years, proving again and again that local governments can greatly reduce energy use in their own operations and be key political players on global warming. Several RE-AMP members are working with communities to do even more. Wyandotte, MI, owns its electrical utility and would like to initiate a Pay-As-You-Save system that would allow customers to have energy efficiency measures installed with no upfront cost and to pay for the measures on their utility bills out of the energy savings. Wyandotte needs technical and legal assistance to implement this innovative program, which could be replicated elsewhere.

Milwaukee: $250,000 for program design, business plan development, and project rollout. The city of Milwaukee and a group of local stakeholders organized by COWS and the city, called Milwaukee Energy Alliance, are attempting to radically ramp up energy efficiency retrofits of buildings in the city. MEA would create a program that uses third-party capital to finance energy efficiency measures. Building occupants would repay the loans out of the energy savings created.

Minnesota Green Star Cities: $150,000 to develop the program and secure participation. Minnesota Project, the University of Minnesota, and the Green Institute are working with the State of Minnesota to develop a new program to challenge and recognize all Minnesota cities, large and small that meet global warming emission reduction goals. Once implemented, the program would be run by the State.

Communicate effectively. $50,000. Meeting the RE-AMP energy efficiency goals will take everyone’s participation. Policy makers and regulators must come to see energy efficiency as their top priority and hold utilities accountable to meeting reduction goals. Industry and businesses will have to give new attention to energy efficiency and must greatly reduce energy use. Everyone will need new awareness to make the necessary changes at work and at home.

Our communication targets are policy makers, regulators and opinion leaders. We need coordinated messaging and a regional public relations campaign. The advocates leading the fight need resources and technical assistance to make energy efficiency a top of the mind issue. In addition, as the issue develops, specific reports or events must be highlighted with targeted support. The RE-AMP Media Center could provide targeted technical assistance and support with funding dedicated to energy efficiency.

Green collar jobs, for example, is a key issue to energy efficiency. COWS will soon complete a research project to estimate the labor content of energy efficiency retrofits of existing buildings. Funding would allow COWS to tailor its findings to various RE-AMP states and to publicize the findings in each one, in concert with local RE-AMP groups’ outreach agendas.

Cleaning Up Coal

Leader: Bruce Nilles, Director, National Coal Campaign, Sierra Club

Long-Term Goals

• Prevent construction of coal plants that emit global warming pollutants
• Replace existing fleet of coal plants with energy efficiency and significantly lower carbon-emitting technologies

Mid-term Outcomes

• Permits and other approvals denied for new coal plants that emit global warming pollutants
• Increased policy-maker opposition to new coal plants that emit global--warming pollutants Increased policy-maker support for replacing existing coal plants with energy-efficiency and cost-effective carbon-neutral electric generation technologies
• Decrease in the number of proposed new coal plants that would emit global-warming pollutants
• A significant number of existing coal plants are retired or retrofitted with significantly lower global-warming pollutant emission rates
• Cost of new coal plants increase as environmental and public health costs are internalized
• Slow and stop each new coal plant proposed in REAMP states including a major new push in Michigan, where 7 new coal plants are proposed.
• Support and build up collaboration between Minnesota and North Dakota to defeat ND plants designed to serve MN markets
• Engage and oppose new coal to liquid and coal-fired ethanol plants Implementing

Rapid Response Fund: $500,000 In recognition of the fast-changing nature of power plant advocacy, the Energy Foundation, in collaboration with the Clean-up Coal Working Group, established a ‘Rapid Response Fund’. Advocates meet monthly, or as often as needed, to advise the Energy Foundation on allocating resources from this fund for fast-emerging needs for expert witnesses, organizing media, or litigation to resist coal-fired power plant permit applications.

n the past year, advocacy groups in the Midwest have stopped, at least temporarily, the rush to build new coal plants in the region. With the exception of one plant in Wisconsin, no new coal-fired power plants that were opposed by our grantees have proceeded to construction since the effort began in 2005. Several plants have been defeated outright.
During the past year, advocates expanded the range of strategies used to resist new coal-fired power plants. New strategies include: education efforts to discourage municipal utilities from coal-fired power plant investments; legal challenges against combustion waste disposal; legal enforcement against pre-existing units at new plant sites; and work to unite climate and coal issues. The network of advocates is well coordinated and harmonious in its resistance efforts.

We have a very good chance of defeating the Big Stone plant in South Dakota. Full-scale opposition is underway to prevent air quality and utility regulators from approving two large coal plants proposed by Alliant in Wisconsin and Iowa. The LS Power plant in Iowa is a priority for work in the coming period and chances of success look good. The defeat of these plants will reverberate across the region and increase the likelihood of success against other proposed coal-fired units. Advocates are currently gearing up to resist air quality permits and other permits needed for three proposed plants in Michigan and one plant each in Missouri and Ohio.

The Joyce, Energy, and Garfield Foundations expect to contribute $330,000 to the Rapid Response Fund in 2008. The Fund could effectively program an additional $500,000.

• Implement state policies in the utility, industrial, transportation and agriculture/forestry sectors in individual states needed to reach RE-AMP GHG reduction goals. I
• Implement regional GHG reduction programs and collaborative efforts needed to reach RE-AMP GHG reduction goals.

Mid-term Outcomes (by 2010)

• Develop a robust and "well-oiled" multi-state Midwestern global warming policy campaign to meet and implement the following regional goals
• Develop and Establish an effective regional cap and reduction program for all large stationary GHG sources
• Establish authority in 5 states to fully and effectively participate in the regional cap and reduction program
• Identify and develop the state policies in the utility, industrial, transportation, agriculture/forestry sectors needed to reach RE-AMP GHG reduction goals for the region
• Adopt at least 2 of the priorities identified in each of the RE-AMP states
• By 2013, adopt policies in the utility, industrial, transportation, agriculture/forestry sectors in individual states needed to reach RE-AMP GHG reduction goals.
• By 2013, develop and establish regional collaborative initiatives (in addition to the cap and reduction programs) that are necessary to meet RE-AMP regional GHG reduction goals (e.g. high speed rail corridors throughout the Midwest).

Global Warming Solutions Funding Opportunities

Modeling Expertise: While Midwest NGO advocates are experts on the ins and outs of policy making in their states, the individual Global Warming Task Force proceedings in IA, IL, MN, WI and MI depend heavily on modeling to tell policy makers the impacts of policy recommendations in terms of emissions reductions, associated costs, economic impacts, etc. This makes it essential that NGOs gain the expertise to fully understand the black boxes that spit out these critical findings.

The NGOs need to appreciate the weaknesses and strengths of the modeling and results and they need to be at the table where the data sets are chosen and the assumptions are made to make sure the best data and the proper assumptions are chosen. A thorough knowledge of modeling will be critical to successful advocacy for all policies, but especially for policies, such as a cap & trade program, where projected performance will depend heavily on modeling outcomes.

A full or even half-time consultant with modeling expertise would provide a huge bang for the buck (and great economies of scale) because at least four states will be wrestling with state-level modeling and, of course, the region as a whole will depend on modeling to work out the details of the cap & trade commitment from the Midwestern Governor’s Association Summit Greenhouse Accord.

Government regulatory bodies in the states often have thin analytic and economic modeling capabilities. If advocacy groups have strong independent analysis, it can carry weight in proceedings as a counterpoint to industry-sponsored testimony. Examples of such proceedings include: integrated resource planning proceedings in states for selection of preferred electricity resources for future demand, transmission planning proceedings and transmission line applications.

NGOs in RE-AMP rely on a variety of sources for analysis and economic modeling, often using high-end proprietary modeling software. These are examples of recent and current philanthropic investment opportunities.

1. RE-AMP NGO procurement of private sector economic analysis includes these two recent examples: the Synapse Energy Economics efforts in the Big Stone 2 coal proceedings; the NorthBridge Group’s economic and strategic consulting that reviewed the market economics of a $5B multi-state wind energy development.

2. The Great Plains Institute’s collaboration with the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota has resulted in a user-friendly, highly transparent modeling tool for electricity resource comparison. The strength of this tool is that it puts economic modeling at the fingertips of advocates and policy-makers directly, allowing numerous “what-if” scenarios at the most basic level: what if carbon dioxide is priced at $12 a ton, or $20. What if there are major government subsidies for transmission of renewables, or CO2 carbon capture?

3. The Union of Concerned Scientists has often played a leading role for America’s clean energy NGOs, putting forward economic analysis that forms a basis for policy advocacy in the states and in the Congress. Their work in this regard is well-established and has helped shape numerous successful clean energy campaigns.

Paid Media. The Global Warming Task Force Proceeding in IL, IA, MN, MI and WI provide tremendous opportunities for state leadership in developing GHG policies and now the Midwestern (MGA) Greenhouse Gas Accord has upped the ante considerably. Getting strong recommendations from the task forces will be a challenge in itself, but that is just the first step. Getting those recommendations adopted through executive action, rule making and legislative processes will be even harder and a paid media budget will be critical.

There are media markets that straddle multiple RE-AMP states and create great efficiencies and synergies. The Fresh Energy Media Center and Valarie Denney Communications are great partners, but paid media funding is hard to raise so this is a real need.

Campaign Implementation and Organizing: $40K to $150K one time investments, or ongoing program support
Clean Energy Working Group partners have numerous policy initiatives and campaigns for dramatically expanding renewable electricity investments, consistent with the goals of reaching 20% renewable electricity region-wide by 2020. Examples of immediate investment opportunities include:

1. In Wisconsin, local NIMBY groups are mounting an unexpected challenge to wind power, blocking wind farms through the use of local ordinances and disparaging the wind industry through misinformation campaigns. Clean Wisconsin and Renew Wisconsin have an urgent need to gain policy support for wind farm siting and for restricting permitting authority to the state, removing opportunities for local intervention.

2. Throughout the Midwest, the wind power vision of the Midwest Governors Association contemplates over 130,000 MW of installed wind power capacity (according to Beth Soholt of Wind on the Wires). The time needed to site and route critical transmission infrastructure means that we need to begin immediately to build alliances between environmental groups and local government and economic development authorities.

3. As governors in the region have adopted state goals to achieve 20% renewable electricity by 2020, 25% renewable electricity by 2025, and 30% by 2030, state groups are best positioned to build advocacy campaigns replicating the hugely successful recent Renewable Standard policy initiative in IL and MN.