VOA标准英语2010年-US Considers European Approach to Ener

Feed-in tariff¹ program relies on funding from electricity users, not taxpayers²

Tom Banse | Olympia, Washington 23 March 2010
 

Proposed solar installation and wind turbine at Gas Works Park in Seattle.

National and state governments around the world have been trying out various incentives⁴ and subsidies⁵ to promote clean renewable energy but the global economic slowdown has hurt the ability of many governments to dole⁶ out public funds for that purpose.

Yet the desire to achieve energy independence and cut greenhouse pollution remains⁷ strong.

A green energy incentive³ that relies not on tax money, but rather on ratepayer funds was pioneered in continental⁸ Europe, and is now getting a hard look in many countries around the world, including the United States.

Less than four percent of the nation's electricity demand is met with renewable sources like solar and wind power.

Most of the electricity Americans use is produced by coal, natural gas, or nuclear generation. Some mountainous regions benefit from hydropower. Less than four percent of the nation's electricity demand is met with renewable sources like solar and wind power.

Hundreds of electric utility companies are trying to burnish⁹ their green credentials¹⁰ by offering customers the option of supporting alternative energy. A 'green power' program in the Seattle area regularly invites customers to pay $4 to $10 extra per month to switch to clean energy.

Most of the money would help pay for the utility's new wind farms. But nationwide, the percentage of customers who've signed up for these voluntary programs is tiny.

Washington State Representative John McCoy says renewable energy needs a bigger push. "We're looking to get off fossil fuel generation, whatever it might be, and we need to bring these newer technologies in. We need to move on."

McCoy believes the best way to get more solar, wind and tidal power on the grid¹¹ is to offer renewable energy generators¹² a government guarantee.

Ensuring a market for a new type of producer

Effectively, the state would say if you build it, the local utility must buy the juice. And not only that, the utility must agree to a long-term contract that covers power generation costs, plus a decent profit.

Solar developer Stanley Florek of Seattle says the fixed¹³, premium¹⁴ purchase price gives alternative energy suppliers assurance they'll recover the high costs they pay upfront. "As a result," he points out, "you may be foolish not to have a solar system or wind farm in your neighborhood, because that property is sitting there not making money for your neighborhood."

This incentive policy is most commonly called a feed-in tariff. Variations of it have passed recently in Vermont, California, and Oregon. A Congressman¹⁵ from the state of Washington is preparing national legislation.

 

Christian¹⁶ Maass, Hamburg's Secretary for the Environment, says the feed-in program has worked well.

Supporters are trying to duplicate successes in Europe, especially Germany. Christian Maass, Hamburg's Secretary for the Environment, looks back over 10 years, and says the program has worked well.

"Since we have introduced the feed-in tariff, we have seen a strong increase in the production of power from wind, from biomass and from solar power. Also, we have seen hundreds of thousands of jobs growing in Germany."

However, he acknowledges that Germans are paying a price for their renewable energy. Solar power, in particular, is much more expensive than other sources of electricity.

"But if you look at the price and if you look at the benefit and you compare that, it's worth it. So I can only recommend from the German experience that it's good, that it's something to copy from."

Utilities are allowed pass on their higher energy acquisition costs to consumers. And Hamburg resident Patrick Ulmer says Germans routinely complain about high energy prices. "Basically, what the consumer notices is that prices had gone up. That obviously is not a good thing. But I don't think that many people made the link to feed-in tariffs¹⁷ because of solar energy."

Economic storm clouds disrupt solar power

European incentive programs threatened to spin out of control when solar module¹⁸ prices dropped - decreasing producers' costs - while the rates utilities had to pay to buy that power stayed high. Investors¹⁹ flooded in to lock in high profits.

Last summer, Spain abruptly²⁰ capped how many systems could sign up. In Germany this winter, the governing Christian Democrats²¹ proposed steep rate cuts to try to balance the market. Shares in solar energy companies promptly²² plummeted²³ worldwide.

In the U.S., electric utilities lead the opposition²⁴ to copying this rate structure, and to mandating²⁵ purchases of alternative power. Dave Warren of the Washington Public Utility District Association notes electricity demand fell during the recession and may stay down, thanks to conservation. And then, "we would be forced to buy power that we don't need and idle existing generation or have hydro[power] that is very cost effective -- very cheap, actually -- being replaced by very expensive power." He adds it is ratepayers, not taxpayers, who shoulder the cost of this renewable energy incentive, and any rate increases are "tough to swallow," especially now.

In Germany, the above market price paid to wind and solar farm owners adds about two to five Euros to the average household's monthly power bill. Dave Warren offered a wide range for how much a similar policy might cost American consumers. He estimates rates in his home state could go up by as little as 0.03 percent to as much as 15 percent, depending on how many customers a utility company has to spread the costs across.
 

1 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

2 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

3 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

4 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 dole   

n.救济，（失业）救济金；vt.（out）发放，发给

参考例句：

• It's not easy living on the dole.靠领取失业救济金生活并不容易。
• Many families are living on the dole since the strike.罢工以来，许多家庭靠失业救济金度日。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

9 burnish   

v.磨光；使光滑

参考例句：

• Many people,fearful for their jobs,are trying to burnish their contacts at other firms.许多人因为担心自己的工作，正在努力抹去和其他公司接触的痕迹。
• I burnish joyful sparks from my sorrows.我从伤痛里擦亮喜悦的火花。

10 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

11 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

12 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

14 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

15 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

16 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

17 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

18 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

19 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

20 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

21 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

23 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

25 mandating   

托管（mandate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
• Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。