Energy to Sell - States with Renewable Portfolio Standards

July 18, 2010 on 12:39 am | In Fascinating Information, Green, Solutions, Trends, Uncategorized, all |

States with Renewable Portfolio Standards

Edited by Jodi Summers

A nifty map and chart from the U.S. Department of Energy shows states with renewable portfolio standards - a state policy that requires electricity providers to obtain a minimum percentage of their power from renewable energy resources by a certain date.

You can find the map @ this link - http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/maps/renewable_portfolio_states.cfm?prin

You’ll notice that California is stellar with the objective of 33% renewable energy by 2030, but not nearly as aggressive as Maine, which is shooting for 40% renewable by 2017.

Currently there are 24 states plus the District of Columbia that have RPS policies in place. Together these states account for more than half of the electricity sales in the United States. Five other states, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Vermont, have nonbinding goals for adoption of renewable energy instead of an RPS.

The chart below gives a rough summary of state renewable portfolio standards and links to organizations that are administering these standards or explain the details involved. Percentages refer to a portion of electricity sales and megawatts (MW) to absolute capacity requirements. Most of these standards phase in over years, and the date refers to when the full requirement takes effect.

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http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/maps/renewable_portfolio_states.cfm?prin

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  1. Renewable Energy Credits, or “Credits,” are central to the RPS. A Credit is a tradable certificate of proof that one kWh of electricity has been generated by a renewable-fueled source. Credits are denominated in kilowatt-hours (kWh) and are a separate commodity from the power itself. The RPS requires all electricity generators (or electricity retailers, depending on policy design) to demonstrate, through ownership of Credits, that they have supported an amount of renewable energy generation equivalent to some percentage of their total annual kWh sales. For example, if the RPS is set at 5%, and a generator sells 100,000 kWhs in a given year, the generator would need to possess 5,000 Credits at the end of that year.

    Comment by American Wind Energy Association — July 19, 2010 #

  2. The U.S. renewables market has experienced explosive growth since 2005, expanding from a total installed base of 30 gigawatts (GW) to over 60 GW at the end of 2009. “With increasing challenges including low power pricing and uncertain federal policies, escalating RPS demand will define the timing and location of renewables growth across the U.S. over the next few years,” says IHS Renewable Power Research Director Alex Klein.

    Comment by SustainableBusiness.com News — July 19, 2010 #

  3. The following schedule is currently in effect in Nevada:

    * 6% renewables/efficiency in 2005 and 2006
    * 9% renewables/efficiency in 2007 and 2008
    * 12% renewables/efficiency in 2009 and 2010
    * 15% renewables/efficiency in 2011 and 2012
    * 18% renewables/efficiency in 2013 and 2014
    * 20% renewables/efficiency in 2015 through 2019
    * 22% renewables/efficiency in 2020 through 2024
    * 25% renewables/efficiency in 2025 and thereafter

    In addition to solar, qualifying renewable energy resources include biomass, geothermal energy, wind, certain hydropower, energy recovery processes*, and waste tires (using microwave reduction).

    Comment by DSIRE — July 19, 2010 #

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