State Renewable Energy Electricity Policies

State Renewable Energy Electricity Policies PDF Author: Sanya Carley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Over the past decade, state governments have emerged as U.S. energy policy leaders. Across the country, states are adopting policy instruments aimed at carbon mitigation and renewable energy deployment. One of the most prevalent and innovative policy instruments is a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which seeks to increase the share of renewable energy electrification in the electricity market. This analysis evaluates the effectiveness of state energy programs with an empirical investigation of the linkage between state RPS policy implementation and the percentage of renewable energy electricity generation across states. We use a variant of a standard fixed effects model, referred to as a fixed effects vector decomposition, with state-level data from 1998 to 2006. Results indicate that RPS implementation is not a significant predictor of the percentage of renewable energy generation out of the total generation mix, yet for each additional year that a state has an RPS policy, they are found to increase the total amount of renewable energy generation. These findings reveal a potentially significant shortcoming of RPS policies. Political institutions, natural resource endowments, deregulation, gross state product per capita, electricity use per person, electricity price, and the presence of regional RPS policies are also found to be significantly related to renewable energy deployment.

State Renewable Energy Electricity Policies

State Renewable Energy Electricity Policies PDF Author: Sanya Carley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Over the past decade, state governments have emerged as U.S. energy policy leaders. Across the country, states are adopting policy instruments aimed at carbon mitigation and renewable energy deployment. One of the most prevalent and innovative policy instruments is a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which seeks to increase the share of renewable energy electrification in the electricity market. This analysis evaluates the effectiveness of state energy programs with an empirical investigation of the linkage between state RPS policy implementation and the percentage of renewable energy electricity generation across states. We use a variant of a standard fixed effects model, referred to as a fixed effects vector decomposition, with state-level data from 1998 to 2006. Results indicate that RPS implementation is not a significant predictor of the percentage of renewable energy generation out of the total generation mix, yet for each additional year that a state has an RPS policy, they are found to increase the total amount of renewable energy generation. These findings reveal a potentially significant shortcoming of RPS policies. Political institutions, natural resource endowments, deregulation, gross state product per capita, electricity use per person, electricity price, and the presence of regional RPS policies are also found to be significantly related to renewable energy deployment.

The Power of Renewables

The Power of Renewables PDF Author: Chinese Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309160006
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The United States and China are the world's top two energy consumers and, as of 2010, the two largest economies. Consequently, they have a decisive role to play in the world's clean energy future. Both countries are also motivated by related goals, namely diversified energy portfolios, job creation, energy security, and pollution reduction, making renewable energy development an important strategy with wide-ranging implications. Given the size of their energy markets, any substantial progress the two countries make in advancing use of renewable energy will provide global benefits, in terms of enhanced technological understanding, reduced costs through expanded deployment, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to conventional generation from fossil fuels. Within this context, the U.S. National Academies, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), reviewed renewable energy development and deployment in the two countries, to highlight prospects for collaboration across the research to deployment chain and to suggest strategies which would promote more rapid and economical attainment of renewable energy goals. Main findings and concerning renewable resource assessments, technology development, environmental impacts, market infrastructure, among others, are presented. Specific recommendations have been limited to those judged to be most likely to accelerate the pace of deployment, increase cost-competitiveness, or shape the future market for renewable energy. The recommendations presented here are also pragmatic and achievable.

US State Policies for Renewable Energy

US State Policies for Renewable Energy PDF Author: Magali A. Delmas
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Over the past decade, state policies on renewable energy have been on the rise in the United States, providing states with various options for encouraging the generation of renewable electricity. Two promising policies, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and the Mandatory Green Power Option (MGPO), have been implemented in many states but the evidence about their effectiveness is mixed. In this paper, we argue that recognizing the natural, social and policy context under which MGPO and RPS are adopted is necessary in order to measure their true effectiveness. This is because the context rather than the policy might lead to positive outcomes and there is the possibility for sample bias. When controlling for the context in which the policies are implemented, we find that RPS has a negative impact on investments in renewable capacity. However, we find that investor-owned utilities seem to respond more positively to RPS mandates than publicly owned utilities. By contrast, MGPO appears to have a significant effect on installed renewable capacity for all utilities regardless of the context in which it is implemented.

Short Circuiting Policy

Short Circuiting Policy PDF Author: Leah Cardamore Stokes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190074280
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
In 1999, Texas passed a landmark clean energy law, beginning a groundswell of new policies that promised to make the US a world leader in renewable energy. As Leah Stokes shows in Short Circuiting Policy, however, that policy did not lead to momentum in Texas, which failed to implement its solar laws or clean up its electricity system. Examining clean energy laws in Texas, Kansas, Arizona, and Ohio over a thirty-year time frame, Stokes argues that organized combat between advocate and opponent interest groups is central to explaining why states are not on track to address the climate crisis. She tells the political history of our energy institutions, explaining how fossil fuel companies and electric utilities have promoted climate denial and delay. Stokes further explains the limits of policy feedback theory, showing the ways that interest groups drive retrenchment through lobbying, public opinion, political parties and the courts. More than a history of renewable energy policy in modern America, Short Circuiting Policy offers a bold new argument about how the policy process works, and why seeming victories can turn into losses when the opposition has enough resources to roll back laws.

The Influence of State-level Renewable Energy Policy Instruments on Electricity Generation in the United States

The Influence of State-level Renewable Energy Policy Instruments on Electricity Generation in the United States PDF Author: Sunjoo Park
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electric power production
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
Abstract: Since the late 1990s, state governments in the U.S. have diversified policy instruments for encouraging the electric power industry to deploy renewable sources for electricity generation. While observing the increasing number of new renewable energy policies at the state level governments, this study raised two research questions: (1) how do state governments intervene in the renewable energy market? and (2) how do various policy approaches taken by state governments affect renewable energy development? To answer for these questions, this study attempts to identify the trends and variations in renewable energy policy designs among states in terms of the combination of aggregate level policy instruments used by state authorities. Additionally, this study aims to examine and compare the effectiveness of policy instruments in the deployment of renewable energy sources for electricity production. This study examined 18 state legislative, renewable energy related regulations, programs, or financial incentives existing between 2001 and 2010 in 48 states. Those 18 individual renewable energy policies were classified into three types of policy instruments: command-and-control, market-based, and information instruments. For the analysis, this study measured the amount and share of the electricity generation from nonhydro renewable sources as renewable energy policy effects. In order to isolate policy effects, this study also considered state specific characteristics such as natural endowment, economic and political environments, and the market conditions of electric power industries in different states. This study employed fixed-effects models to analyze cross-sectional time series data. The results showed that states' adoption of diverse command-and-control types of policy instruments have significantly influenced the increase of both the amount and share of renewable electricity, while informative policy tools helped increase the share of renewable sources used by electric power producers. However, diversification of marketbased policy instruments--especially financial incentives--did not significantly affect the increase of renewable electricity generation in states. Besides governmental intervention, state wealth and citizen interest in environmental issues played important roles in inducing more investment in renewable energy technologies. Also, natural gas price, wind speed, and states' export of electricity determined the proportion of renewable electricity in states.

State-Level Renewable Portfolio Standards: Evaluating Their Effectiveness in Increasing Renewable Electricity Generation and Reducing Carbon Emissions

State-Level Renewable Portfolio Standards: Evaluating Their Effectiveness in Increasing Renewable Electricity Generation and Reducing Carbon Emissions PDF Author: Matthew J Denneny
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Climatic changes
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
The renewable portfolio standard (RPS) is a key state-level policy instrument meant to encourage renewable energy development and address climate change by mandating increased electricity generation from low-carbon renewable sources. In analyzing the effectiveness of RPS policies, I hypothesize that these policies should increase renewable electricity generation and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation. Additionally, I hypothesize that more stringent RPS policies should allow for greater increases in renewable energy generation and larger declines in CO2 emissions. To test these hypotheses, I use pooled and fixed effects models to examine how RPS policies play a role in affecting renewable electricity generation and CO2 emissions. My results suggest that these policies increase electricity generation from renewable sources and that the stringency of these policies matters. However, the results are mixed in regard to their effectiveness in reducing CO2 emissions. These findings suggest that RPS policies as they are now may not be the best way to reduce CO2 emissions. Other policies that more directly target emissions may be necessary for states to see the emissions reductions they desire.

Electricity from Renewable Resources

Electricity from Renewable Resources PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030913708X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
A component in the America's Energy Future study, Electricity from Renewable Resources examines the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar-photovoltaic, geothermal, solar-thermal, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources. The book focuses on those renewable sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years and will lead to a substantial impact on the U.S. energy system. A quantitative characterization of technologies, this book lays out expectations of costs, performance, and impacts, as well as barriers and research and development needs. In addition to a principal focus on renewable energy technologies for power generation, the book addresses the challenges of incorporating such technologies into the power grid, as well as potential improvements in the national electricity grid that could enable better and more extensive utilization of wind, solar-thermal, solar photovoltaics, and other renewable technologies.

Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation

Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation PDF Author: Christopher E. Moorman
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421432730
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Brings together disparate conversations about wildlife conservation and renewable energy, suggesting ways these two critical fields can work hand in hand. Renewable energy is often termed simply "green energy," but its effects on wildlife and other forms of biodiversity can be quite complex. While capturing renewable resources like wind, solar, and energy from biomass can require more land than fossil fuel production, potentially displacing wildlife habitat, renewable energy infrastructure can also create habitat and promote species health when thoughtfully implemented. The authors of Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation argue that in order to achieve a balanced plan for addressing these two crucially important sustainability issues, our actions at the nexus of these fields must be directed by current scientific information related to the ecological effects of renewable energy production. Synthesizing an extensive, rapidly growing base of research and insights from practitioners into a single, comprehensive resource, contributors to this volume • describe processes to generate renewable energy, focusing on the Big Four renewables—wind, bioenergy, solar energy, and hydroelectric power • review the documented effects of renewable energy production on wildlife and wildlife habitats • consider current and future policy directives, suggesting ways industrial-scale renewables production can be developed to minimize harm to wildlife populations • explain recent advances in renewable power technologies • identify urgent research needs at the intersection of renewables and wildlife conservation Relevant to policy makers and industry professionals—many of whom believe renewables are the best path forward as the world seeks to meet its expanding energy needs—and wildlife conservationists—many of whom are alarmed at the rate of renewables-related habitat conversion—this detailed book culminates with a chapter underscoring emerging opportunities in renewable energy ecology. Contributors: Edward B. Arnett, Brian B. Boroski, Regan Dohm, David Drake, Sarah R. Fritts, Rachel Greene, Steven M. Grodsky, Amanda M. Hale, Cris D. Hein, Rebecca R. Hernandez, Jessica A. Homyack, Henriette I. Jager, Nicole M. Korfanta, James A. Martin, Christopher E. Moorman, Clint Otto, Christine A. Ribic, Susan P. Rupp, Jake Verschuyl, Lindsay M. Wickman, T. Bently Wigley, Victoria H. Zero

State Policies Provide Critical Support for Renewable Electricity

State Policies Provide Critical Support for Renewable Electricity PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Growth in renewable energy in the U.S. over the past decade has been propelled by a number of forces, including rising fossil fuel prices, environmental concerns, and policy support at the state and federal levels. In this article, we review and discuss what are arguably the two most important types of state policies for supporting electricity generation from geothermal and other forms of renewable energy: renewables portfolio standards and utility integrated resource planning requirements. Within the Western U.S., where the vast majority of the nation's readily-accessible geothermal resource potential resides, these two types of state policies have been critical to the growth of renewable energy, and both promise to continue to play a fundamental role for the foreseeable future. In its essence, a renewables portfolio standard (RPS) requires utilities and other retail electricity suppliers to produce or purchase a minimum quantity or percentage of their generation supply from renewable resources. RPS purchase obligations generally increase over time, and retail suppliers typically must demonstrate compliance on an annual basis. Mandatory RPS policies are backed by various types of compliance enforcement mechanisms, although most states have incorporated some type of cost-containment provision, such as a cost cap or a cap on retail rate impacts, which could conceivably allow utilities to avoid (full) compliance with their RPS target. Currently, 27 states and the District of Columbia have mandatory RPS requirements. Within the eleven states of the contiguous Western U.S., all but three (Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming) now have a mandatory RPS legislation (Utah has a more-voluntary renewable energy goal), covering almost 80% of retail electricity sales in the region. Although many of these state policies have only recently been established, their impact is already evident: almost 1800 MW of new renewable capacity has been installed in Western states following the implementation of RPS policies. To date, wind energy has been the primary beneficiary of state RPS policies, representing approximately 83% of RPS-driven renewable capacity growth in the West through 2007. Geothermal energy occupies a distant second place, providing 7% of RPS-driven new renewable capacity in the West since the late 1990s, though geothermal's contribution on an energy (MWh) basis is higher. Looking to the future, a sizable quantity of renewable capacity beyond pre-RPS levels will be needed to meet state RPS mandates: about 25,000 MW by 2025 within the Western U.S. Geothermal energy is beginning to provide an increasingly significant contribution, as evidenced by the spate of new projects recently announced to meet state RPS requirements. Most of this activity has been driven by the RPS policies in California and Nevada, where the Geothermal Energy Association has identified 47 new geothermal projects, totaling more than 2,100 MW, in various stages of development. Additional geothermal projects in Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington are also under development to meet those states RPS requirements. The other major state policy driver for renewable electricity growth, particularly in the West, is integrated resource planning (IRP). IRP was first formalized as a practice in the 1980s, but the practice was suspended in some states as electricity restructuring efforts began. A renewed interest in IRP has emerged in the past several years, however, with several Western states (California, Montana, and New Mexico) reestablishing IRP and others developing new rules to strengthen their existing processes. In its barest form, IRP simply requires that utilities periodically submit long-term resource procurement plans in which they evaluate alternative strategies for meeting their resource needs over the following ten to twenty years. However, many states have developed specific requirements for the IRP process that directly or indirectly support renewable energy. The most general of these is an explicit requirement that utilities evaluate renewables, and that they do so on an 'equivalent' or 'comparable' basis to conventional supply-side generation options. Many states also require that utilities include various types of risk analyses within their IRP. For example, utilities are often required to evaluate fuel price risk within their resource plan, which can reveal the value of renewables as a hedge against rising and volatile fuel prices. Of particular importance for supporting renewable energy is the increasingly common requirement that utilities evaluate the potential costs and risks associated with future greenhouse gas regulations. Virtually all of the major Western utilities that prepare IRPs incorporated future carbon dioxide regulations in their analyses of alternative resource strategies in their most recent resource plans.

Climate and Clean Energy Policy

Climate and Clean Energy Policy PDF Author: Benjamin H. Deitchman
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317288319
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
State climate and clean energy policy will play a critical role in the future of the political dialogue and economic development. Policymakers from around the world already recognize the leadership of American states in this domain. Rooted in public policy theory, and employing a mixed-methods approach that includes advanced economic analysis and qualitative research, Benjamin H. Deitchman explores the policy tools that address the politics and economics of clean energy development and deployment across all 50 states. Deitchman includes in his analysis international case studies of this policy context in Canada, Germany, and Australia to reveal different state-level policy tools, the politics behind the tools, and the economic implications of alternative approaches. The rigorous analysis of the politics of state level institutions and economic implications of subnational climate and clean energy actions offers researchers, students, and policymakers with practical information to advance their understanding of these options in the policy process.