Dems press Reid to put renewable power standard in energy bill

Nearly half the Senate’s Democrats are pressuring Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to include a national renewable electricity mandate in the slimmed-down energy bill expected on the floor this week.

But they face an uphill battle — Reid argued over the weekend that a renewables mandate won’t fly in the Senate.

In a letter Friday, 27 Democrats make the case for a renewable electricity standard (RES), which would require many utilities to supply escalating amounts of power from sources like wind and solar energy in coming years.

“A strong RES will give certainty to clean energy companies that are looking to invest billions of dollars in the U.S. to manufacture wind turbines, solar panels and other renewable energy components,” argues the letter spearheaded by Sens. Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Mark Udall (Colo.) and Tom Udall (N.M.).

The other signatures come from a mix of liberal and centrist renewable energy backers, such as Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Tim Johnson (S.D.) and John Kerry (Mass.) The letter argues that an RES would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Environmental groups and renewable power companies are scrambling to keep an RES in the mix following last week’s decision by Senate leaders to abandon a sweeping climate change and energy bill.

Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is among the advocates, and told reporters on a conference call Monday that an RES has political legs.

But Reid said Saturday that he doesn’t see a filibuster-proof vote for an RES, which has long been a pillar of Democratic energy plans. “I don’t think I have 60 votes to get that done,” Reid said at the progressive Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas.

Renewable power mandates face resistance from many Republicans — and southeastern lawmakers from both parties — who fear their states lack enough renewable resources and would be forced to make payments for credits or noncompliance penalties.