A renewable power mandate, the centerpiece of President Obama’s energy policy, survived a key test Thursday in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The panel voted 9-13 against an amendment by Jeff Sessions , R-Ala., to kill the renewable electricity title of a broad energy bill the committee is developing. The test vote was arranged by Chairman Jeff Bingaman , D-N.M., to show he has the support needed to approve the measure.

The mandate would require that 15 percent of the nation’s electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2021, a fivefold increase from the 3 percent produced today.

Meeting the goal would require a transformation in the way electricity is generated, distributed and sold. It is viewed as the first major step in reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and shifting to an energy economy less dependent on fossil fuels.

The committee must still consider more than 50 amendments related to the title, “but this vote determines that we will have a renewable standard in our bill,” Bingaman said. He suspended work on the bill to give committee staff a chance to sift through the amendments over the Memorial Day recess in hopes of resolving many of them.

Bingaman had worked to win over Democratic critics of the mandate who feared their states could not generate enough renewable power to meet the renewable power standard.

Blanche Lincoln , D-Ark., finally agreed to support the measure after Bingaman lowered the renewable mandate from 20 percent to 15 percent. Also supporting the plan was Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, whose windswept state, with the third-largest wind power generation in the country, stands to emerge as a winner if the legislation becomes law.

Meanwhile, Democrats who support a stronger mandate, including North Dakota Sen. Byron L. Dorgan and Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders , said they will try to raise the target during Senate floor action.