Annual Report 2010 - Enel.com

USA
Carbon regulation
On May 12, 2010 Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman
announced the details of the “American Power Act”, which
establishes the financial incentives for the construction of
nuclear power plants, a cap-and-trade mechanism with
floor ($12) and ceiling ($25) prices that will rise respectively
by 3% and 5% over inflation annually and a federal Renewable
Portfolio Standard (RPS) system that establishes
mandatory percentages of generation from renewables.
Subsequently, bills to establish a federal system for trading
CO allowances and the federal RPS system were dropped
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given the impossibility of reaching a political agreement
on the legislation. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), whose power to regulate greenhouse
gas emissions under the Clean Air Act had been confirmed
by the Supreme Court, developed a new permit scheme
to allow industrial sites meeting certain emission performance
standards to release greenhouse gases, in effect
starting from 2011. The EPA proposal would apply to
industrial plants, refineries, petrochemical facilities and
power stations and would cover only 13 states. All of the
industrial sites covered by the EPA regulation that emit
more than 25,000 tons of CO a year will have to report
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their 2010 emissions by March 31, 2011.
At the sub-federal level, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
(RGGI), which involves the states in the Northeast, is
the only operating cap-and-trade system in North America.
In 2011, a review is planned to reduce the cap.
In December 2010, California has also introduced a regulation
for the introduction of an ETS, which is planned to
take force on January 1, 2012. It will apply to industrial
sites, including refineries and power stations that emit
more than 25,000 tons of CO a year. Plans call for the sys-
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tem to be implemented during the course of 2011.
Renewable energy support law
The Recovery Plan, i.e. the stimulus plan approved by the
US Congress on February 12, 2009, among other measures
targeted at the energy sector, establishes specific incentive
mechanisms for renewables including the Investment
Tax Credit (ITC) and confirmation of the extension
of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) to 2012 for wind power
and 2013 for geothermal, incremental hydroelectric and
biomass power.
On December 16, 2010 the Senate approved the extension
of Section 1602 (cash grants) of the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act. The measure received final approval
by the House of Representatives on December 21,
2010, enabling plants under construction in 2009, 2010
and 2011 or completed during that period to participate
in the cash grant program.
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