Berkeley Lab
Releases Report on State Markets Berkeley Lab, in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
has released a report, Evaluating State Markets for Residential Wind
Systems: Results from an Economic and Policy Analysis Tool. The market for small, residential wind systems in the U.S. is small, but
growing, with recent growth primarily spurred by aggressive state policy
efforts. This new report, sponsored by the U.S. DOE’s Wind & Hydropower
Technologies Program, evaluates the economics of these residential wind systems,
by state, given current and possible future state and federal incentives. The primary purpose of this work is to help policymakers at the state and
federal levels assess the types of policies that might effectively encourage the
growth of the market for small wind turbines (< 100 kW). In addition, this
work should help small wind stakeholders identify the most promising state
markets for small wind systems. Among the key conclusions: The report can be found at: http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/56344.pdf,
while the entire list of Berkeley Lab renewable energy publications can be
found at: http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/re-pubs.html. Source: Berkeley Laboratory
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Small wind economics are highly variable across states. The most
economically attractive states are New York, California, New Jersey, Rhode
Island, Vermont, and Hawaii. State financial incentives help drive the small
wind market. The states where financial incentives make the largest
different tend to be states where multiple incentives are available. New Jersey,
New York, Rhode Island, and California currently offer the best incentive
packages. Absent additional incentives, installed cost reductions are necessary.