Below Michael includes excerpts which outline various state sponsored programs directed at consumers with a goal of increasing Renewable Energy market share. Some renewable industry leaders hold out hope that the unfolding deregulation of the utility industry may benefit renewables. However, the state of utility deregulation, also known as utility restructuring, is in considerable, if not confusing, flux. No group of professionals or organizations professes to state for certain, let alone unequivocally, what the outcome will be over the next few years.
Experimentation is the flavor of the moment, and there are clear pockets of opposition.
A few states, notably California, are experimenting aggressively, while other states, such as Louisiana and Mississippi appear oblivious to the restructuring mood that is seizing the attention of so many other states. Competition in electricity sales on a statewide level or in limited programs has been under way in the handful of states that, not surprisingly, have high electricity rates, including California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Illinois. We highlight California and Massachusetts, which provide two moods of the nation reflected in states of very different size, economies and geographical location. Begun by the California Public Utilities Commission in 1992, the course electricity deregulation takes is also being directed by legislation, mainly California Assembly Bill 1890 and Senate Bill 90. The Existing Renewable Resource Account was designed to help maintain in-state existing renewable technologies during the first four years of the electric industry restructuring.