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Testimony of Executive Director Yesim Sayin Taylor on the “Clean Energy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018”

October 09, 2018
  • Yesim Sayin

The District is considering legislation to expand its Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (RPS requirements) so that 100 percent of all electricity will come from renewable energy sources by 2032. The bill will also limit the ways in which suppliers can comply with the RPS.

In 2017, the estimated demand in DC for renewable energy that must be fulfilled by renewable sources or a Renewable Energy Credit (REC) was 1,656 gigawatt hours. The same year, the cost of complying with the RPS requirement was $42.7 million ($16.1 to purchase RECs and $26.6 in alternative compliance payments). Under Bill 22-904’s 100 percent renewable goal by 2032, the estimated demand for renewable energy will increase twice as fast compared to its current path to reach 10,500 gigawatt hours by 2032. This change will put greater pressure on compliance costs. The limitation of the geographic region for RECs to PJM will further aggravate these pressures by immediately wiping away 10 percent of the capacity currently certified for RPS eligibility. And this geographical limitation will have little or no impact of District’s clean air goals.

Read her testimony here.

Author

Yesim Sayin

Executive Director
D.C. Policy Center

Yesim Sayin is the founding Executive Director of the D.C. Policy Center.

With over twenty years of public policy experience in the District of Columbia, Dr. Sayin is recognized by policymakers, advocates and the media as a source of reliable, balanced analyses on the District’s economy and demography.  Yesim’s research interests include economic and fiscal policy, urban economic development, housing, and education. She is especially focused on how COVID-19 pandemic is changing regional and interregional economic interdependencies and what this means for urban policy. Her work is frequently covered in the media, including the Washington Post, the Washington Business Journal, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, WAMU, and the Washington City Paper, among others.

Before joining the D.C. Policy Center, Dr. Sayin worked at the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Financial Officer leading the team that scored the fiscal impact of all legislation the District considered. She frequently testified on high profile legislation and worked closely with the executive and Council staff to ensure that policymakers fully understand the fiscal implications of their proposed legislation. Yesim also has worked in the private sector, and consulted with international organization on a large portfolio of public finance topics.

Yesim holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Bogazici University, located in Istanbul, Turkey. 

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