2000MW of green power from RPS in U

WASHINGTON, DC, US, 2004-08-25 (Refocus Weekly)

The United States has installed more than 2,000 MW of new green power as a result of renewable portfolio standards (RPS), according to an analysis prepared for the Department of Energy.

“As of the end of 2003, 2,004 MW (86%) of the 2,335 MW of new renewable energy capacity constructed in the 15 States was a result of mandates, and the vast majority (93%) of the new capacity consisted of wind power installations, says Thomas Petersik in ‘State Renewable Energy Requirements & Goals: Status Through 2003.’ The paper provides a summary of state RPS and mandates to the end of last year.

At the end of 2003, 15 states had programs to encourage the development of green power, with two states having multiple programs. Nine were RPS, four were renewable energy mandates and four were goals for renewables. Of the total new capacity, more than half (1,186 MW) was installed in Texas.

Key differences among the states include their definitions of qualifying renewable energies, their alternatives to new renewables capacity, their approaches to cost recovery, opt-out provisions, and enforcement mechanisms, the report notes.

RPS definitions of qualifying technologies vary widely, with landfill gas, solar thermal electric, solar PV and wind acceptable in all nine states, but varying rules for other technologies. Biomass is accepted in all nine states but its acceptability hinges on the particular environmental requirements in each, with Connecticut accepting only ‘sustainable’ biomass and Nevada accepting only agricultural crops or residues. In five states, municipal solid waste is excluded while, in Nevada, at least 5% must be provided by solar.

The treatment of hydroelectricity also varies, with most accepting only a ‘small’ capacity of 5 to 30 MW, but Arizona and Massachusetts exclude hydro completely, while Wisconsin accepts hydroelectric plants up to 60 MW. Maine accepts hydro up to 100 MW, including some pumped storage, but Connecticut’s RPS accepts existing and new run-of-river hydroelectric plants not larger than 5 MW and Wisconsin limits hydro to 0.6% of its energy requirements.

“Most state RPS programs do not appear to have specific enforcement procedures,” although the state retains the option of revoking the operating licenses of a utility as a sanction, Petersik explains. “Collaboration and cooperation appear to be preferred enforcement tools.”

California’s RPS provides for a penalty of 5¢/kWh, up to $25 million, but to the end of last year, no electric utility in any state had incurred a penalty for noncompliance.

“It is difficult to determine whether specific renewable energy projects were caused by state RPS programs,” and most state’s do not specify their annual expectations for RPS programs in terms of new capacity. Most states did not expect their RPS to stimulate new capacity by the end of 2003 and, given that RPS programs are relatively new, “it is not surprising that they had not stimulated much new capacity” by that time.

Five states showed no new capacity of green power, and capacity in California and Wisconsin is believed to have been constructed in response to other federal, state or local incentives or for commercial reasons. “Only 9 of the 14 MW of new renewable capacity brought on line in Arizona is unambiguously a result of the state’s RPS program, although most or all of the 94 megawatts of new wind capacity contributing to Wisconsin’s RPS goal is reported to have been built primarily in response to requirements.”

“Because of alternative compliance options, opt-out provisions and other limitations, it is difficult to project the future impact of the state RPS programs,” it concludes. New capacity from state requirements can be delayed or reduced because utilities can choose alternatives to building new green power capacity and, as a result, “the amount of new generating capacity ultimately built under state programs may be less than the maximum potential initially anticipated from the statutes.”

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