House debates hotly contested renewable energy bill

House lawmakers are expected to debate this week a hotly contested effort to require electric utilities to produce more power from renewable sources such as wind and biomass.

A proposed amendment to a broad energy package by Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., would require power companies to increase use of wind turbines, solar panels, biomass, geothermal energy or other renewable sources to produce at least 20 percent of their electricity by 2020. Only about 2.3 percent of the country’s electricity is produced that way now.

The proposal is strongly opposed by the utility industry’s biggest trade group, the Edison Electric Institute, and by Atlanta-based Southern Co., a major coal burner that has made defeating the measure a priority.

Forbes