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UCS defends state renewable energy standards
from potential NAFTA threat
The Union of Concerned Scientists has filed comments to the North American Council on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) arguing that state renewable energy standards for electric companies need not violate the free trade prinicples of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and that states must be free to adopt their own definitions of eligible renewable resources.
Hydro Quebec has asserted that such standards may be prohibited by NAFTA, especially when they do not allow large hydropower to be eligible to meet the standard. Fourteen US states have adopted minimum renewable energy standards for electric companies, a number of which do not allow hydropower, or large hydropower, to be eligible to meet the standard.
The CEC commissioned its own paper that concluded that there may be a conflict between NAFTA and the RPS. The CEC asked for comments on its paper and on whether there should be a process to try to "harmonize" definitions of renewable energy among states and provinces in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The UCS comments, by attorney Scott Hempling and consultant Nancy Rader, conclude that because there is no inconsistency with NAFTA, there is no need to harmonize the definition of renewables. They also conclude that if hydropower were forced into state or provincial RPS policies, it could render these important policies useless.
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© Union of Concerned Scientists
Page Last Revised: 06/19/08 |
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