by Bruce Goodman

At its recent meeting in Detroit earlier this month, seven of the eleven states in the Midwestern Governors Association (including Michigan) signed an accord that provides a road map of work to be done to transition the region toward less reliance on fossil fuels. Key elements include:  

• working together on upgrading the region’s infrastructure to facilitate more renewable energy (improvements to transmission lines); •
• reducing electricity and natural gas use; 
• targeting a 25% RPS by 2025 (30% by 2030); energy efficiency building codes;
• a low-carbon fuel standard to encourage locally produced biofuels; and
• restructuring utility regulations to ensure energy efficiency is incorporated into a utility’s profit motive.

It would be interesting to know how much of this can be accomplished by regulation, and how much depends on legislation. To date the region’s efforts at coordinating energy policy has been somewhat uneven.

Tweet This Post