Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards

Energy use from non-renewable energy sources, such as coal and petroleum, are significant contributors of GHG emissions. A Renewable Portfolio Standard ("RPS") is an important and effective tool that can be implemented to reduce emissions from a state's energy sector. An RPS requires that a minimum amount of renewable energy is included in the mix of the electricity sources servicing a state. Many states have an RPS, while some are more aggressive than others the establishment of an RPS is a cost effective and reliable method of reducing a state's greenhouse gas emissions. Common renewable energy sources include wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists total new renewable energy production from state RPS programs will reduce as much carbon dioxide as taking 5.4 million cars off the road or planting over 1.6 billion trees. In California, approximately 11 percent, or roughly 30 billion kilowatt hours, of the state’s total electricity production (as of April 2004) comes from renewable resources, according to a report by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The following gives a summary of states with an RPS*. 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.

For the most recent state climate action news please visit the "Latest State News" section on the Climate Policy Program page: http://www.newamerica.net/programs/climate/latest_state_news

*A few states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio) include both alternative and renewable resources in their targets. Alternative sources include advanced coal technology (e.g., carbon capture and storage, supercritical technology, ultrasupercritical technology and pressurized fluidized bed technology), coal bed methane, natural gas, fuel produced by a coal gasification or liquefaction facility, synthetic gas, integrated gasification combined cycle technologies, waste coal, tire-derived fuel, pumped storage hydroelectric projects, and recycled energy.  Renewable resources include solar PV, solar thermal, wind, run-of-river hydropower, geothermal, biomass, biologically-derived fuel, and fuel cell technology.