Renewable Energy: Corporate Obstacles and Opportunities

Date01 March 2020
AuthorSofia O'Connor, Wayne Balta, Janice Dean, and Beth Deane
32020 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 50 ELR 10181
DIALOGUE
S U M M A R Y
SUMMARY
In the absence of a national mandate to intensify use of renewable energy, many corporations are increas-
ing their own reliance on renewables. Numerous utilities are likewise transitioning toward wind, thermal, and
solar power. But renewable energy continues to face challenges, including battery storage, grid expansion
and incorporation of renewables into the grid, initial project costs, and regulatory barriers. How are utilities
and energy-consuming companies increasing their renewables portfolios while navigating this terrain? On
October 22, 2019, the Environmental Law Institute hosted its 2019 Annual Corporate Forum, which explored
these questions and discussed the obstacles and opportunities for renewable energy. Below, we present a
transcript of the discussion, which has been edited for style, clarity, and space considerations.
RENEWABLE ENERGY: CORPORATE
OBSTACLES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Scott Fulton is President of the Environmenta l Law Institute.
So a O’Connor (moderator) is a Sta Attorney with the
Environmental Law Institute.
Way ne Ba lta is Vice President of Corporate Environmental
A airs and Product Safety at IBM Corporation.
Janice Dean is Deputy Counsel at the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority.
Beth Deane is Chief Counsel for Project Development at
First Solar.
Scott Fulton: Welcome to this year’s Corporate Forum.
We’ve been thinking about the build-out of renewable
energy throughout the Environmental L aw Institute’s
(ELI’s) 50th anniversary year. Perhaps no issue speaks
more directly to the future of environmental and energ y
policy than how to optimize renewable energy.
Early in the year, ELI produced a report entitled Cor-
porate Statements About the Use of Renewable Energy: What
Does the “100% Renewable” Goal Really Mean?1 Among
the questions raised by this report wa s whether renewable
energy credits were, in fact, moving us towa rd the rapid
build-out of renewable energy power sources that many
believe to be necessary. Shortly thereafter, ELI published a
book, spearheaded by Michael Gerrard of Columbia Law
School and John Dernbach of Widener University Com-
monwealth Law School, with scores of other authors as
contributors, entitled Legal Pathways to Deep Decarboniza-
tion in the United States.2 It’s a tremendous contribution of
1. S Y  ., C S A  U  R-
 E: W D  “100 R” G R
M? (ELI 2019), https://www.eli.org/sites/default/ les/eli-pubs/corpo-
rate-renewables.pdf.
2. L P  D D   U S
(Michael B. Gerrard & John C. Dernbach eds., ELI Press 2019),
available at https://www.eli.org/eli-press-books/legal-pathways-deep-
decarbonization-united-states.
thought about advancing to a lower-carbon future, with
renewable energy factoring prominently in that re view.
is question came into even sharper relief through a
convening we did this past spring with George Washing-
ton University Law School at the Wingspread Conference
Center in Racine, Wisconsin, entitled “Reimagining Envi-
ronmental Law.” At Wingspread, there was a heightened
sense of urgency for progress on renewables buildup, with
some of the participants describing our need to move for-
ward quickly as an industrial-scale project for the country,
akin to the build-out of weapons production and militar y
support e orts around World War II. It was a n interest-
ing discussion, with folks who would ordinarily be seen
as champions of environmental safeguards questioning out
loud whether we can tolerate the roadblocks to renewables
projects allowed by procedural statutes like the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)3 and the Endangered
Species Act (ESA),4 as well as state counterpart laws that
have served us so well up until now in advancing environ-
mental quality.
So, we thought, as we often do at ELI, let’s have a con-
versation about this. Here, we’ll be talk ing about advances
on renewables.  ere a re so many power consumers who
want to increase their reliance on renewables, a nd so
many power producers who want to produce more energy
through renewables. How are we doing? What are the
obstacles and enablers in our progression? Are there lega l
and policy reforms needed to get us to where we’re trying
to go?
ese are just some of the questions that our excellent
panel will be working through. I’ll now introduce our
panel moderator, So a O’Connor. So a is a sta attor-
3. 42 U.S.C. §§4321-4370h, ELR S. NEPA §§2-209.
4. 16 U.S.C. §§1531-1544, ELR S. ESA §§2-18.
Copyright © 2020 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.

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