NREL - May 18, 2009


The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has completed a study comparing three proposed national renewable electricity standards, also known as renewable portfolio standards.

To assess the potential impacts of the three proposed standards on the U.S. electricity sector, a team of senior NREL energy analysts used the Laboratory's Regional Energy Deployment System, a detailed least-cost optimization model capable of simulating the special attributes of variable sources like wind and solar power.

The NREL report, "A Comparative Analysis of Three Proposed Federal Renewable Electricity Standards," is available online at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/45877.pdf .

Lawmakers in at least 28 states and the District of Columbia have established schedules that mandate minimum uses of renewable energy, typically within the next two decades.

The three proposed federal standards examined in the NREL assessment are under consideration by committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The three proposals were compared against a baseline in which only currently enacted laws are considered. The report was originally commissioned by the Department of Energy.

"This is the first credible and objective comparison of the proposed national renewable portfolio standards," said Douglas J. Arent, director of NREL's Strategic Energy Analysis and Applications Center.

"The ReEDs model provides a useful picture of how the electricity sector might develop in the next several decades under various policy scenarios," Arent said.

To learn more about NREL's energy analysis capabilities, go to http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/ .

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC