Energy expert addresses PSC

Renewable energy expert Craig Morris is expected to address the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s monthly Business and Executive Meeting this morning on the subject of feed-in tariffs. The feed-in tariff is a policy that creates financial incentives for renewable energy production, regardless of scale. Under this concept, utilities purchase electricity generated by wind, solar and other renewable sources at higher-than-average rates established by the government. In theory, this system eliminates some of the disadvantages of renewable energy sources. Morris argues that such a system could benefit Louisiana. In the U.S., the municipal utility in Gainesville, Fla., saw a large increase in solar production after enacting a feed-in tariff, he says. That particular policy has been described by National Renewable Energy Laboratories as being among the best for advancing renewable energy production. Elsewhere around the globe, feed-in tariffs have been adopted throughout Europe after success stories in Denmark and Germany. In fact, Morris says observers credit Germany’s feed-in tariff for that nation becoming a world leader in solar and wind energy. In his speech today, Morris says he was planning on pushing the system as a way to insert stability in the marketplace for renewable power production. “Louisiana probably has the best solar policy in the United States right now,” Morris says, “The policies themselves need to be stable financially to continue to grow.” A Louisiana native, Morris is a graduate of Tulane University.—Jeremy Alford