# Presentation: 134407

## State of the States 2008: Renewable Energy Generation Trends and the Role of Policy

- Elizabeth Brown
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- SCEPA Committee Meeting
- October 30, 2008

## Overview/Purpose

- DOE-WIP funded research to determine the connection between RE development and policy.
- NREL Report: TP-670-43021

## Project Background: SCEPA

- Identify and quantify impacts of current state EE/RE policies that are:
- most effective policy types (e.g. RFS, Incentives, decoupling, etc) for achieving particular public policy goals (e.g. local economic growth)
- most effective variables within policy types (e.g. EERS, RPS, Sales tax exemption, etc.)
- Promote understanding of current best policies to foster broader use by more states
- Engage leading state officials and EE/RE market experts to identify and characterize next generation of innovative policies
- http://www.nrel.gov/applying_technologies/SCEPA.html

## State of the States Purpose

**The initial purpose of this report was to rank states according to their use of the most effective policies promoting renewable-based electricity development.**
**To Do that**
- identify policies (and the specific high-impact elements within them) with the highest impact on the development of renewable energy, and
- award points to states implementing those policies (and policy elements) and rank them along a well-designed, quantifiable scale.

**Notes:**
Those states with the most effective policy activity toward development of renewable energy would receive the highest rankings. 

## Between there and here

- Significant knowledge gaps, so is no ranking. Instead:
- Understand the **current status of **renewable electricity **development** at the state level
- Identify and **defining contextual factors **that contribute to renewable energy development
- Collect identifying **policies** and elements within policies **that lead **to renewable energy development.

**Notes:**
, which will help in understanding the role of policy as a contextual factor in renewable energy development and, 

## Data and Limitations

- Most recent EIA data are from 2006.
- Solar PV data: Data presented are installed capacity for 2007 (IREC)
- EIA data were supplemented with direct contact to territory energy offices.
- “Most Improved” rankings provide information on the largest growth rates between 2001 and 2006, leading to heavier weighting of states that began the development of the particular renewable resource in that time frame.

## Year 1 Results

- Most Recent Generation
- Generation Trends by Technology
- Factors Influencing Development
- Policy Best Practices
- Connecting Policy and Development
- Resources for more information

## Overall Generation

**2006 All Renewable Generation**

|  | State | MWh  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | CA | 23,890,613 |
| 2 | TX | 7,833,733 |
| 3 | FL | 4,372,475 |
| 4 | ME | 3,974,084 |
| 5 | AL | 3,905,741 |
| 6 | GA | 3,442,993 |
| 7 | MN | 3,057,478 |
| 8 | LA | 3,031,027 |
| 9 | NY | 2,606,488 |
| 10 | WA | 2,502,509 |

**2006 NON HYDRO Generation**

|  | State | MWh |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | WA | 84,510,138 |
| 2 | CA | 71,937,993 |
| 3 | OR | 39,720,153 |
| 4 | NY | 29,951,143 |
| 5 | ID | 11,941,587 |
| 6 | AL | 11,157,527 |
| 7 | MT | 10,654,250 |
| 8 | TX | 8,495,704 |
| 9 | TN | 8,273,774 |
| 10 | ME | 8,252,216 |

## Percentage of Generation

**2006 All Renewable Generation**

|  | State | % Total State Gen. |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | ME | 23.63% |
| 2 | CA | 11.02% |
| 3 | VT | 6.35% |
| 4 | MN | 5.74% |
| 5 | IA | 5.40% |
| 6 | HI | 5.34% |
| 7 | ID | 5.22% |
| 8 | NV | 4.22% |
| 9 | OR | 3.51% |
| 10 | NM | 3.43% |

**2006 NON HYDRO Generation**

|  | State | % Total State Gen. |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | ID | 89.2% |
| 2 | WA | 78.1% |
| 3 | OR | 74.5% |
| 4 | SD | 49.7% |
| 5 | ME | 49.1% |
| 6 | MT | 37.7% |
| 7 | CA | 33.2% |
| 8 | VT | 27.8% |
| 9 | NY | 21.1% |
| 10 | AK | 18.4% |

## Generation Per Capita

**2006 All Renewable Generation**

|  | State | MWh/Capita |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | ME | 3.022 |
| 2 | WY | 1.480 |
| 3 | AL | 0.851 |
| 4 | IA | 0.826 |
| 5 | VT | 0.725 |
| 6 | LA | 0.714 |
| 7 | CA | 0.659 |
| 8 | NM | 0.658 |
| 9 | AR | 0.606 |
| 10 | MN | 0.593 |

**2006 NON HYDRO Generation**

|  | State | MWh/Capita |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | WA | 13.257 |
| 2 | MT | 11.253 |
| 3 | OR | 10.761 |
| 4 | ID | 8.158 |
| 5 | ME | 6.276 |
| 6 | SD | 4.497 |
| 7 | VT | 3.171 |
| 8 | WY | 3.125 |
| 9 | ND | 2.971 |
| 10 | AL | 2.431 |

## Generation Per GDP

**2006 All Renewable Generation**

|  | State | MWH/$M  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | ME | 84.60 |
| 2 | WY | 25.68 |
| 3 | AL | 24.32 |
| 4 | IA | 19.80 |
| 5 | VT | 18.58 |
| 6 | AR | 18.53 |
| 7 | MS | 18.30 |
| 8 | NM | 16.83 |
| 9 | MT | 16.21 |
| 10 | LA | 15.69 |

**2006 NON HYDRO Generation**

|  | State | MWH/$M  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | MN | 329.63 |
| 2 | WA | 287.91 |
| 3 | OR | 262.52 |
| 4 | ID | 239.28 |
| 5 | ME | 175.68 |
| 6 | SD | 109.68 |
| 7 | VT | 81.30 |
| 8 | ND | 71.79 |
| 9 | AL | 69.49 |
| 10 | WY | 54.21 |

## Generation Trends Results

- Hydroelectric provided largest portion of RE development in 2006.
- Wind resource saw largest growth
- Growth in electricity from biomass in southeast
- Renewable energy growth is largely outstripped by economic and population growth
- Number of states with increases in generation from 2001 and 2006,
- Biomass: 24 states
- Wind: 23
- Geothermal: 4
- Large Scale Solar: 2

## Trends Conclusion

- Renewable generation is experiencing overall growth, but high variation regionally and by resource
- Data on Renewable Energy Generation is lacking in multiple areas
- Environmental degradation reduction may not be a major driver
- Better understanding the role of contextual factors, of which policy is one, driving development is needed

## Why Renewable Energy Development? 

## Interaction Complications

- the absolute presence or absence of one factor can make moot the other factors.
- interaction is not linear, but includes a number of feedback mechanisms.
- So, quantifying the impacts is challenging and there are limits to the value of generalizing, but not looking at  them denies the value of the connection between the influencing factors and development.

**Notes:**
Interrelated and site specific context factors: 

_-That is, if the resource is physically unavailable, it is the limiting factor, and no reduction in technology cost or policy will increase resource availability. An alternative example occurs in resource-rich areas, where the importance of resource is minimized, and this changes the role of the other factors, sometimes so that even abundant resources cannot drive development. In the United Kingdom, for example, areas of good wind resource are often not developed due to land-use planning barriers and public opposition. In these cases, public education and the existence of a champion to facilitate stakeholder buy-in becomes the most important factor; and, without it, development does not occur (McLaren Loring 2006). 
In the first example above, for instance, there is rarely such staunch limitation: Resources are rarely unavailable, more often they are uneconomical to recover. In that event, lowering technology costs through research, scale, or policy, are far from moot – changing one factor can have multiple impacts on the other factors. 
-The value, however, to this understanding is informing policy makers regarding the potential impact of policies and better understanding the costs and benefits of policies. The renewable energy market is rapidly expanding (DOE 2008), and state policy makers are working to implement policies with quantifiable impacts. Without understanding the role of policy in development at the state level (and possibly the site level), the impact of policies cannot be accurately projected.
While the uncertainties of the roles should not be oversimplified, understanding the roles in different contexts contributes to effective policy design. As renewable energy becomes more mainstream in the energy decision-making arena, qualitative and quantitative impacts assessments become more valuable to contributing to overall increases in renewable energy development. 

## The Role of Policy

- What good is policy?
- Developing technologies.
- Creating and facilitating markets.
- Levelizing cost.
- Removing institutional barriers.
- Informing.

**Notes:**
Policy. Because the benefits of renewable energy are primarily a public good, policy can be a major driver for development of resources (e.g., DOE 2008, Bezdek 2007, McLaren Loring 2006). The multiple roles for policy are summarized here and discussed in more detail in the next section:
Developing technologies. Policies can create research and development programs for technology development that the private sector views as too risky. Typically, this funding for basic sciences is distributed through the university and national laboratory systems in the United States. As technologies evolve from nascent to latter stages of development and demonstration, the failure risk is reduced and policies that promote partnership with private industry are established to move the technology closer to commercialization. 
Creating and facilitating markets. Through mandates (e.g., RPS) government can ensure project investors that there will be a market for the renewable energy produced. In addition to mandates, financial-incentive policies can open or expand markets in areas of suboptimal solar resource (e.g., New Jersey policy impact on solar development). While policy is considered to be a major driver of renewable resources as is evident from increased solar capacity in nonhigh-solar resource areas that have large incentives (Sherwood 2006), the existence of renewable resources plays a role in many associated factors such as technology cost.
Levelizing cost. Financial-incentive (e.g., investment, production, and tax) policies are able to partly or totally remove first-cost barriers to renewable energy technologies, creating a level basis for investment decisions. 
Removing institutional barriers. Policies for installation and product certification and streamlining of utility interconnection reduce transaction costs for project development. 
Informing. Information and education policies educate and inform the public (and can be targeted to subgroups such as investors, local and state governments, and end users), removing uncertainty barriers and facilitating the development of renewable technologies and coordinated policies throughout the development cycle. 

## Policies and Best Practices

- Results table: what state has what policy?
- Best practices: interconnection and net metering only in this version
- Report has full literature review of current best practices work

## Overall Role of Policy Results

- Interconnection policies meeting best practices are correlated with increased 1) renewable energy capacity and 2) generation overall, as well as individually with higher 3) biomass, 4) hydroelectric, and 5) PV capacity.
- Renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in a state is significantly correlated to higher wind-based electricity generation.
- Line-extension analysis policies are correlated with higher wind capacity and generation.
- Production incentives at the state level, while a small sample (n=6), are significantly correlated to higher renewable electric capacity and generation, as well as all individual resource categories.
- Do more policies mean more renewables? No.

**Notes:**
Existence of a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in a state is significantly correlated to higher wind-based electricity generation. However, policies with half or more of established best practices are not correlated to higher production. (Note that this “half-or-better” method is a preliminary approach, and the conclusion that a well-designed RPS does not correlate to higher renewable generation cannot be drawn from this result.)
Line-extension analysis policies are correlated with higher wind capacity and generation. This result is interesting in that interviews with program administrators indicated that the policy was not intended to increase development of renewable resources, but to facilitate use of most economic “last-mile” electricity solutions. 
Production incentives at the state level, while a small sample (n=6), are significantly correlated to higher renewable electric capacity and generation, as well as all individual resource categories. 
Interconnection policies meeting best practices as described in the Appendix (based on the Network for New Energy Choices method, NNEC 2008), are correlated with increased renewable energy capacity and generation overall, as well as individually with higher biomass, hydroelectric, and PV capacity. 

## Overall Conclusions/Next Steps

- Renewable energy growing in contribution to generation – better weighting of recent growth?
- Policy existence is correlated to increased renewable generation
-  impact of best practices?
- Alternative/additional policies?
- Complicated contextual factors contribute to development – need better understanding of interaction
- Where are the resources for policymakers?

## Thank You! Questions?

- Elizabeth Brown
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- (303) 384-7489
- elizabeth_brown@nrel.gov

## Additional Slides and Resources

## Resources: Funding

**Grants.gov** lists funding opportunities from all federal agencies at a single online portal. _[www.Grants.gov](http://www.Grants.gov/)_
-  The **EERE Financial Opportunities** home page is the main portal to all information related to types of EERE financial assistance available, how to apply, and the funding and awards process._[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/financing/](http://www1.eere.energy.gov/financing/)_
- The **Industrial Technologies Program Save Energy Now States** initiative provides funding to state energy offices, state economic development entities, regional energy efficiency groups, utilities, academic institutions, and not-for-profits to reach more industrial customers and increase energy efficiency through the delivery of tools and resources. The core issues, markets, constraints, and opportunities for doing business and addressing energy and environmental needs are local. As such, it will take local organizations and entities to truly impact change. _[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/financial/solicitations_active.html](http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/financial/solicitations_active.html)_
- The following programs provide DOE funding to states, local governments, and Indian tribes based on yearly allocations by Congress. They are managed through the EERE Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program.
*** ***The **State Energy Program***** ***dispenses annual grants to states for their energy efficiency and renewable energy programs and competitive grants for innovative state and regional initiatives. _[www.eere.energy.gov/state_energy_program](http://www.eere.energy.gov/state_energy_program)_
- The **Weatherization Assistance Program***** ***provides funding and guidance to states to administer their weatherization programs for low-income families. States and local weatherization-services providers can find all of the information needed to administer the program from the Weatherization Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center. _[www.waptac.org](http://www.waptac.org/)_
- The **Tribal Energy Program*** *offers financial and technical assistance to Indian tribes through government-to-government partnerships for energy and economic development projects. _[www.eere.energy.gov/tribalenergy](http://www.eere.energy.gov/tribalenergy)_
- The **Renewable Energy Production Incentive***** ***administers incentives for public utilities and electrical cooperatives to generate electricity from renewable energy. _[www.eere.energy.gov/repi](http://www.eere.energy.gov/repi)_** **

## Resources: Cross-cutting

- The **Technical Assistance Project (TAP)** for state and local officials provides quick, short-term access to experts at DOE national laboratories for technical assistance with their renewable energy and energy efficiency policies and programs. TAP provides assistance with cross-cutting issues that are not addressed by individual EERE technology programs. _[www.eere.energy.gov/wip/tap.cfm](http://www.eere.energy.gov/wip/tap.cfm)_
-  The **Renewable Energy Data Book** includes information about renewable energy capacity, generation, investment, and other useful informati_[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/maps_data/pdfs/eere_databook_091208.pdf](http://www1.eere.energy.gov/maps_data/pdfs/eere_databook_091208.pdf)_
-  The **State Best Practices: Clean Energy Policy Analysis***** ***project is evaluating the environmental, economic, and energy security impacts of a broad range of state policies to help policy-makers to select and design policies to best achieve state priorities. _[www.nrel.gov/applying_technologies/scepa.html](http://www.nrel.gov/applying_technologies/scepa.html)_
-  The **State Renewable Energy Market Development** project facilitates discussions between the Clean Energy States Alliance and administrators of state renewable portfolio standards and with states that are considering establishing renewable standards. _[www.cleanenergystates.org/jointprojects.html](http://www.cleanenergystates.org/jointprojects.html)_
-  The **Clean Energy and Air Quality Integration** project helps states build on their experience by including clean energy projects that support their air quality programs. _[www.eere.energy.gov/wip/air_quality.cfm](http://www.eere.energy.gov/wip/air_quality.cfm)_
**Data, analysis, maps, and tools **are provided by the EERE Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program, which publishes an online list of energy models, databases, and documents that are ready for immediate use by state- and local-level energy analysts, officials, and decision-makers._[www.eere.energy.gov/wip/resources.cfm](http://www.eere.energy.gov/wip/resources.cfm)_
- The **EERE State Information Summaries** contain hundreds of Web pages with state-specific information such as an overview of energy consumption, listing of energy efficiency goals under the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, a summary of the status of renewable energy and energy efficiency policies, and a list of political leaders and state agency administrators who shape energy policy for Oregon. _[http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/state_information.cfm](http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/state_information.cfm)_

## Resources: Building Technologies

- The **EERE Building Technologies Program** sets efficiency standards for equipment and appliances and works cooperatively with states and local jurisdictions to improve building energy codes. The program supports initiatives to improve the energy performance of schools, hospitals, homes, and commercial buildings, and it publishes an online publications database and software directory.  _[www.eere.energy.gov/buildings](http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings)_
**Energy efficiency design guidelines** provide builders with a series of best practices for building new homes that are durable, comfortable, and energy efficient in every climate found in North America. _[www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/building_america/](http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/building_america/)_
- DOE’s **Builders Challenge** has posed a challenge to the homebuilding industry – to build 220,000 high performance homes by 2012. The initiative is called the Builders Challenge, and homes that qualify must meet a 70 or better on the EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale). The E-Scale is a scale that allows homebuyers to understand – at a glance – how the performance of a particular home compares to that of others. _[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/challenge/index.html ](http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/challenge/index.html)_
-  The **Building Technologies Application Centers** provide technical, best practice, marketing, and other information to states to accelerate the widespread market adoption and implementation of advanced energy-efficient building technologies and practices.
**Northwest Building Efficiency Center***** ***_***[http://www.nwbuildings.org/](http://www.nwbuildings.org/)***_ and **Southern Energy Efficiency Center** _[http://www.southernbuildings.org/](http://www.southernbuildings.org/)_

## Resources: Electric Power 

- The mission of the DOE **Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability** is to lead national efforts to modernize the electric grid, enhance security and reliability of the energy infrastructure, and facilitate recovery from disruptions to energy supply. _[http://www.oe.energy.gov/index.htm](http://www.oe.energy.gov/index.htm)_
- The Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE)'s mission with** State and Regional Policy Assistance** is to provide, on an as-requested basis, technical assistance and analysis to states and regions. This includes assistance with state electricity policies, market mechanisms, and programs that facilitate electricity delivery infrastructure investment needed to support competitive, reliable, environmentally sensitive, customer-friendly electric markets. _[http://www.oe.energy.gov/state_assist.htm](http://www.oe.energy.gov/state_assist.htm)_
- The **Green Power Network** publishes tables and maps showing green power programs by state and publishes news about progress in the green power industry. _[www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower](http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower)_
- The **National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency** is a public-private initiative involving more than 120 organizations that are making an aggressive commitment to energy efficiency. EERE supports this effort by publishing guidelines that state and local governments, regulators, and utilities can use to plan their energy efficiency programs. _***[www.eere.energy.gov/office_eere/napee.html](http://www.eere.energy.gov/office_eere/napee.html)***_
- The **utility technical assistance** project schedules seminars with utility regulators covering topics such as performance-based regulation, demand-side management, and green pricing through the Regulatory Assistance Project. _[www.raponline.org](http://www.raponline.org/)_

## Resources: IndustrialTechnologies

- The **Industrial Technologies Program State Activities Web site***** ***provides users with a summary of all ITP-related activities by state. In addition, this Web site provides a summary of the industrial profile and energy use trends within each state. Moreover, the site has a listing of key state contacts that can provide assistance to industrial manufactures to help improve their energy efficiency. _[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/about/state_activities/main_map.asp](http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/about/state_activities/main_map.asp)_
-  The EERE **Industrial Technologies Program** provides the* States Incentives and Resources Database*. This database is a repository of energy incentives, tools, and resources for commercial and industrial managers. Incentives and resources are available at the national, state, county, and local levels. Utilities, private companies, and nonprofits also offer incentives for energy efficiency measures including rebates, waived fees, tax credits, and loans. Resources include analysis tools, education, training programs, and energy audits. This database is designed to help those seeking to make energy efficiency upgrades to their facilities. _[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/about/state_activities/incentive_search.asp](http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/about/state_activities/incentive_search.asp)_
-  **Save Energy Now***** ***provides U.S. industrial companies with energy assessments free of charge. Save Energy Now is a national initiative to reduce the energy intensity of American industry by 25% in 10 years. Through Save Energy Now, DOE energy experts identify opportunities for savings in energy-intensive processes such as manufacturing. _[www.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow](http://www.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow)_
-  The **Industrial Assessment Centers** (IACs), sponsored by EERE's Industrial Technologies Program, provide eligible small- and medium-sized manufacturers with no-cost energy assessments._[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/iacs.html](http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/iacs.html)_

## Resources: CHP

**Intermountain CHP Center** – for the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. _[www.intermountainchp.org/](http://www.intermountainchp.org/)_
**Mid-Atlantic CHP Application Center** – for the District of Columbia and the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. _[www.chpcentermw.org/home.html](http://www.chpcentermw.org/home.html)_
**Gulf Coast CHP Application Center** – for the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. _www.gulfcoastchp.org_
**Northeast CHP Application Center** – for the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. _www.northeastchp.org/nac/index.htm_
**Northwest** **CHP Application Center** – for the states of Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. _www.chpcenternw.org/_
**Pacific Region CHP Application Center** –*** ***for the states of California, Hawaii, and Nevada. _www.chpcenterpr.org/_
**Southeast CHP Application Center** –*** ***for the states of Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia.  _www.chpcenterse.org/home.html_

## Resources: Vehicle Technologies

- The **EERE Vehicle Technologies Program** helps states meet alternative fuels requirements under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and provides a comprehensive clearinghouse of data, publications, tools, and information related to advanced transportation technologies through the Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center. _www.eere.energy.gov/afdc_
**Clean Cities Tiger Teams***** ***provide local solutions to reducing petroleum consumption in the transportation sector. Clean Cities is a nationwide network of more than 85 coalitions that are partly supported by DOE. Sometimes coalitions encounter problems that slow progress in their regions, or vehicle fleet owners who want to implement alternative fuels projects experience technical problems. When solutions cannot be found locally, experts from Clean Cities Tiger Teams can help. Their assistance can be used to evaluate the feasibility of complex projects, fueling station design and fire safety, and operation and maintenance of alternative fuel vehicles.  _www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/technical_assistance.html_

## Resources: Solar, Wind, Hydrogen

- The **Solar America Showcases** project provides hands-on technical assistance to enable states and local agencies to implement their large, high-impact solar installations:_www.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/solar_america_showcases.html_
**Wind Powering America***** ***coordinates with wind energy stakeholders in key states to overcome market barriers to wind developments. Wind Powering America also publishes online wind data and lists activities by state._www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/_
- The **Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program** provides regular educational programs about hydrogen that involve stakeholders in the states. _www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/education_