The wind industry has come a long way in Michigan. Since the passage of a comprehensive energy statute in 2008 that included Michigan’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)-10 percent renewable energy from all the state’s utilities by 2015-costs have dropped at a remarkable rate.
2015 will be a watershed year for energy policy in Michigan – and few states will be watched as carefully by energy policy experts and interested observers.
It is getting to be crunch time for wind power development in Michigan, so next week’s Michigan Wind Energy Forum, scheduled for Tuesday at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Center in East Lansing, is arriving right on time.
There are lots of happy faces around our office since the Snyder administration released its draft report on renewable energy. Based on last winter’s energy forums, it says we can get to 30 percent renewable energy by 2035 without straining the power grid-or our wallets! But the report is subject to some revision before it’s finalized, which is why we’re reaching out: We’d like you to chime in!
Michigan’s clean energy entrepreneurs and advocates hope to hear some good news from Lansing about renewable energy next week.
That’s when the Michigan Public Service Commission and the Michigan Energy Office release the first of four draft-summaries of comments the public gave them earlier this year regarding the state’s future energy goals.
Reading the text of Governor Rick Snyder’s Special Message on Energy and the Environment, which is a bit more detailed than the remarks he delivered last Wednesday, it’s clear he’s serious about energy efficiency and, to some extent, renewables like wind and solar power. But he was also less detailed than some hoped.