Legislative Action

Federal Legislative Action

The Clean Coalition is working closely with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Diane Feinstein of California to pass legislation that will grow the clean energy economy and allow states to innovate by implementing CLEAN Programs.  The bill called "Let States Innovate on Sustainable Energy" will change the federal law that restricts states from designing effective pricing levels for renewable energy.  The Clean Coalition is working with the two senators’ offices and various advocacy groups to gather support in the Senate for the bill.

The Clean Coalition is also working with Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon to improve federal law to encourage growth in the clean energy economy.  Senator Wyden's bill, called the "PURPA [Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act] PLUS Act of 2011," would give states greater ability to set prices for renewable energy by improving antiquated federal law that currently prohibit states from doing so.  Senator Wyden's office started working with the Clean Coalition in August of 2011 when the bill was introduced, and the two groups continue to collaborate to aid the bill’s passage in the Senate.

State Legislative Action

The Clean Coalition collaborates with legislators and partners across the nation to help draft and advance legislation that promotes rapid clean local energy adoption and is in constant contact with clean energy advocates across the U.S. to support state legislative initiatives.  States where the Clean Coalition is already working in some capacity include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, and New York. 

California

The Clean Coalition is actively engaged in the process of establishing a statewide CLEAN Program in California.  Through its CLEAN California Campaign, the Clean Coalition is building a broad partnership of entities, including business, government, environmental, academic, and health organizations, in order to meet Governor Jerry Brown’s call for 12,000 megawatts (MW) of clean local energy while unleashing the associated economic benefits for the state.  To learn more, please visit the Campaign website at www.energyjobsnow.org.

Nevada

Clean local energy advocates in Nevada reached out to the Clean Coalition in April 2011 to help craft and advocate for Senate Bill (SB) 184, a Nevada bill that would have created a pilot CLEAN Program for the state.  While SB 184 secured key bi-partisan support and eventually passed in the Senate, Governor Sandoval vetoed the bill because it contained unfavorable provisions on transmission line investments that NV Energy, the big investor owned utility in Nevada, had inserted into the bill.  To read more about the bill, see the Nevada News Bureau article about the piece of the legislation.  The Clean Coalition will continue to work with clean local energy advocates during Nevada’s next legislative cycle to make sure the state successfully enacts a CLEAN Program. 

For more background information on CLEAN Programs, please read the Clean Coalition’s Introduction to CLEAN Programs page.