Can Utilities Fill the Green Energy Finance Gap?

Written by Jeff St. John

The collapse of several once-mighty Wall Street investment firms -- and the massive losses sustained by those that remain -- has put a crimp on financing for green energy projects . (Don't miss "BP Wind & Solar CEO: Project Money 'Completely Dried Up'")

So the multi-billion dollar question on the first day of the Renewable Energy Finance Forum in Seattle on Monday was: Can utilities jump into that financing gap?

Weighed against all the bad financial news has been Congress' passage earlier this month of an $18 billion renewable-energy incentive package that included a first-ever eight-year investment tax credit for solar power, as well as new incentives for other forms of renewable energy, and a provision that opened up those credits to utilities previously barred from participating in the tax breaks. ...