By Lloyd Ritter, DWEA Policy Director

Happy Labor Day weekend! Lots of news to share.

First, the Presidential election is heating up big time. The latest polls show the campaign is now a tossup. The Harris-Walz ticket has been gaining ground nationally and in several key swing states. That said, former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance are still leading in some battleground states, as well. The control of both the House and Senate hangs in the balance and could tilt in either direction based on the national results.

Congress is still in recess, though they’ll be back soon. They are expected to pass a “CR” to continue appropriations and address them in a “lame duck” session in the fall. We have one major activity underway on appropriations which is to push hard on the Senate to expand funding for DW in its latest bill. The Senate is only at $15 million, whereas the Republican controlled House is at $25 million! This is an odd situation to say the least, because the Democrats are usually leaders on distributed wind power. We are asking Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both Democrats from Minnesota, as well as others, to help rectify this mistake. You may hear from me or someone at GC about this topic, asking for your help in our latest appropriations campaign by contacting members offices.

Meanwhile, the Farm Bill negotiations are still moving along, but at a snail’s pace. It’s possible all sides could get to “yes” during the lame duck, but I’m not overly optimistic. DWEA prefers the Senate version of the energy title, as put together by Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Her REAP language, for example, includes the renewables under-utilized technology reserve and does NOT have anti-solar language, which could set a dangerous precedent for other distributed renewables.

Other activity of late includes filing DWEA comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service regarding bat protection proposals and wind turbines, working on new policy proposals for a future DW bill (for next Congress), and communication regarding USDA and DOE’s RAISE initiative.