USA:

U.S. Senators Unveil Federal 25% Renewable Power Bill (Platts)

(Courtesy USA Today)

Two U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a bill requiring utilities to generate 25% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025.

The bill, introduced by Senators Mark Udall of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico, who are cousins, is similar to the Colorado Renewable Energy Standard, a ballot initiative approved by that state's voters in 2004 that requires investor-owned utilities to generate 30% of their electricity from renewables by 2020, the senators said.

The senators plan to attach the bill as an amendment to an energy efficiency bill, which is expected to be voted on sometime this year.

A similar bill, the Renewable Electricity Promotion Act, was introduced in 2010, but never made it out of committee.