Two years in, La.’s renewable energy program picking up steam

When Louisiana regulators launched a pilot program to encourage the development of renewable power sources, Greg Nolan Jr. saw an opening for his Thibodaux sugar mill. Nolan’s mill, Lafourche Sugar, had long desired to create its own power by using a sugarcane byproduct called bagasse. By cutting its own power costs and selling electricity back to the grid, the project would boost Nolan’s bottom line. And now he had a willing buyer—Entergy Louisiana—which needed an environmentally friendly energy partner. While the state’s major utilities have largely been slow to buy into the program, several new proposals have been filed with the state in recent weeks, The Times-Picayune reports, and utility regulators say they are growing more optimistic that the pilot could begin to spur investment in smaller-scale renewable energy options, like Lafourche Sugar. The state Public Service Commission launched the pilot two years ago to get utilities ready in the event that federal or state officials put in place a renewable portfolio standard that would require companies to generate or purchase some of their energy from renewable sources. You can check out the full story here.