State of the States 2010: The Role of Policy in Clean Energy Market Transformation

Abstract

This report builds on the emerging body of literature seeking to identify quantitative connections between clean energy policy and renewable energy. The methods presented test the relationships between a broad set of policies and clean energy resources (energy efficiency, biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind). Energy efficiency findings are an initial foray into this type of analysis and indicatesignificant connections between reduced energy use and buildings codes, energy efficiency resource standards (in some cases), and electricity price. Renewable energy findings specify that there is most often a relationship between state policies and solar and wind development, indicating that while policies might apply to a wide variety of renewable resources, further tailoring of policyspecifics to resource needs may lead to increased development of a wider variety of renewable energy resources. Further research is needed to refine the connections between clean energy development and policy, especially in the area of the impact of the length of time that a policy has been in place.