Abstract
In the United States, there is no comprehensive energy policy at the federal level. To address issues as diverse as climate change, energy security, and economic development, individual states have increasingly implemented Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs), which mandate that utility providers include a specified amount of electricity from renewable energy sources in their total energy portfolios. Some states have included incentives for individual energy technologies in their RPS, such as solar electric (also called photovoltaic or PV technology). Here, we use GIS to visualize adoption of RPSs and electricity generation from renewable energy sources in the US and examine changes in renewable electricity and solar electric generation over time with the goal of informing future policies aimed at promoting the adoption of renewable energy technologies.
Highlights
In the United States, there is no comprehensive energy policy at the federal level [1]
A final consideration is that this analysis does not take into account the impacts of financial mechanisms, such as state-level rebates and incentives offered in conjunction with an Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) or the federal tax credits and their changes over time. This analysis suggests that RPSs do not always lead to increased production of electricity from renewable energy sources in states that adopt them
The inclusion of specific provisions for solar technology does not always correspond with increased solar technology adoption as a percentage of overall electricity generation or increased solar energy consumption within a state, nor does the ambitiousness of an RPS necessarily align with an increase in renewable energy technology as a percentage of a state’s total electricity portfolio
Summary
In the United States, there is no comprehensive energy policy at the federal level [1]. In various ways, the emergence of RPSs as potential policy tools to efficiently and effectively promote a transition to renewable energy technology usage [3,4,5,6]. RPSs vary widely from state to state, with large differences in the amount of energy production mandated, the renewable energy sources included, whether they apply to all utilities [9], and the policy provisions specified within the broader RPS goals. RPS policies can include specific provisions that favor or reward the use of particular renewable energy technologies
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