Renewable energy vs. the electric grid - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 163

continued rapid growth of the U.S. wind energy industry. 64 In late 2012,
AWEA responded to Exelon's sudden pivot on wind energy issues by
kicking Exelon out of the group. 65 Although Congress ultimately extended
the tax credits for one year, Exelon continued its fight. As of mid-2013, the
company was lobbying to block yet another extension of the popular tax
credit program. 66 As wind and solar energy grow ever more cost-compet-
itive with conventional electricity, these industries are often encountering a
growing number of political enemies within the energy industry.
Anticompetitive tactics against renewables
A handful of utilities have gone beyond lobbying and actually leveraged
their authority and control over grid operations to discourage the rise
of renewable energy within their territories. In efforts to preserve their
long-held dominance of electricity markets, utilities in some countries have
discriminated against renewable energy developers in ways that make it
difficult or impossible for them to connect their projects into the grid. For
example, transmission companies in the Philippines have been known to
charge excessive rates for transmitting wind- or solar-generated power. 67
Grid operators are rumored to use similar sorts of tactics in Thailand as
well. 68
Hoping to prevent utilities' anticompetitive behavior from hampering
the European transition to renewable energy, policymakers in Europe have
enacted provisions in the past decade that prohibit discrimination against
renewable energy providers in their requests for access to the electric grid.
In 2009, the European Union adopted a directive containing provisions
that address this issue. Part 63 of the preamble of Article 16 of European
Directive 2009/28/CE reads:
Electricity producers who want to exploit the potential of energy from
renewable sources in the peripheral regions of the Community …
should, whenever feasible, benefit from reasonable connection costs in
order to ensure that they are not unfairly disadvantaged in comparison
with producers situated in more central, more industrialized and more
densely populated areas. 69
The EU directive itself contains provisions aimed at implementing this
principle. Among other things, the directive expressly requires that the
“charging of transmission and distribution tariffs [sic] not discriminate
against electricity from renewable energy sources” 70 and that such sources
receive “either priority access or guaranteed access to the grid system.” 71
Policies protecting grid access privileges for renewables are even stronger
in Germany, where laws require “grid system operators” to “immediately
and as a priority connect installations generating electricity from renewable
energy sources.” 72 In countries where grid access obstacles are slowing the