Renewable energy mandate bill revived

The Senate energy committee chairman, New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman, and other senators are now hoping to pass a bill that would mandate utilities get 15 percent of their energy from such sources by 2021. They will try to get the legislation passed in a lame duck session after the election.

The move comes after an Associated Press story that efforts for such a mandate, known as a renewable electricity standard, had stalled in the Senate.

Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, did not include the mandate in his energy bill despite a big lobbying push by environmental groups, renewable energy providers, more than half the nation's governors and even some utilities.