The Heartland Institute

In his 2014 budget, President Barack Obama called for a strategic review of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The budget stated selling or privatizing the TVA could result in a significant cut in the federal deficit and “put the nation on a sustainable fiscal path.” Born during the Great Depression as part of President ...

Nevada legislators are considering adjusting the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS requires utilities to obtain a specified percentage of their power from renewable sources by a certain date. Twenty-two of the 29 states with such mandates in place have considered changing those laws in the past two years. Nevada ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new rule requiring gasoline refiners to reduce the sulfur content of their gasoline from 30 parts per million to 10 parts per million on an annual average basis by January 1, 2017. This rule is a further reduction from the previous Tier 2 standards, which lowered ...

Colorado legislators are bucking the national trend and considering a proposal that would boost the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS requires utilities to obtain a specified percentage of their power from intermittent renewable sources by a certain date. Twenty-two of the 29 states with such mandates in place ...

North Carolina legislators are considering repealing the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS requires utilities to obtain a specified percentage of their power from renewable sources by a certain date. Twenty-two of the 29 states with such mandates in place have considered changing those laws over the past two ...

As advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling continue to revolutionize the nation’s energy outlook, it’s important to consider the economic ripple effect expanding shale energy has had on industries outside the energy sector. Research from Deutsche Bank found North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation created 115,000 ...

Problem In 1998, Wisconsin legislators established the state’s first renewable requirement. Since then, the law has been rewritten numerous times, culminating in a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that currently requires utilities to generate 10% of electricity from sources such as wind and solar by the end of 2015. The mandate ...

Heartland Institute senior fellow James M. Taylor will be testifying about renewable power mandates today in the Ohio Senate. Renewable power is tremendously more expensive than conventional power and provides few if any net environmental benefits, Taylor reports. Ohio legislators are considering softening or eliminating renewable ...

The Florida Legislature is considering a bill that would allow and regulate the use of a technology that has revolutionized the United States’ energy outlook: hydraulic fracturing. Advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have led to a boom in domestic oil and natural gas production, presenting immense economic ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and expanded in 2007 through the Energy Independence and Security Act, requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel be blended into gasoline and diesel fuel by 2022. The program also requires American agriculture ...

Problem HB 1390, the Arkansas Distributed Generation Act, requires utilities to buy electricity from renewable energy sources at fixed above-market rates set by the Arkansas Public Service Commission or another regulatory authority and then socializes the higher costs among all ratepayers. According to the most recent data from the ...

The Kansas House of Representatives Energy and Environment Committee held hearings Feb. 14 to consider testimony regarding legislation to soften renewable power mandates in the Sunflower State. Escalating Mandates Legislation passed in 2009 requires Kansas electricity providers to generate 15 percent of the state’s electricity through ...

Two Illinois legislators have introduced what they call a compromise bill to regulate hydraulic fracturing in the state. Many environmental activists groups tout the bill as creating the strongest regulatory framework in the nation, but other activist groups say fracking should not be allowed under any circumstances. Extensive Negotiations ...

Several states across the country are considering increases in their motor fuel taxes to fund repairs and improvements to infrastructure. These taxes, which are paid as an excise duty—a tax on the sale of gasoline and diesel fuel—increase the cost of transportation for individuals. In recent years, however, the rise of fuel ...

Heartland Institute senior fellow James M. Taylor testified in the Kansas legislature February 14 on a bill to delay or repeal the state’s renewable power mandates. Taylor pointed out that renewable power is substantially more expensive than conventional power, and Kansas already has the highest electricity prices in the region ...

Heartland Institute senior fellow James M. Taylor will give a presentation on renewable power at an Americans for Prosperity meeting Wednesday evening at Perkins Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. Taylor will explain how renewable energy subsidies and mandates are punishing electricity consumers in the Kansas City region. From ...

February 8, 2013 Policy Tip Sheet — North Carolina Renewable Energy Mandate Problem In August 2007, Senate Bill 3 established a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for the state of North Carolina, requiring utilities to generate 12.5 percent of retail electricity sales from renewable energy by 2021. Municipal utilities and cooperatives ...

Natural gas exploration in shale formations could create more than 47,000 jobs in Illinois and spur $9 billion in statewide economic development, concludes a new study released by the Illinois Chamber Foundation. The study was conducted by Dr. David Loomis, a widely recognized expert in energy and telecommunications economics, who ...

The world’s 14th-largest deposit of known recoverable uranium is in southern Virginia at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County. It is valued at $7 billion, is economically recoverable, and sits entirely on private property. In 1982 the Virginia General Assembly placed a moratorium on uranium mining until a thorough study could be ...

According to Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, topping the list of environmental issues for the 2013 state legislative session is silica or “frac” sand mining. Frac sand has high compressive strength ideal for industrial use, including hydraulic fracturing. Newly usable reserves of natural gas, enough to last the nation for generations ...