Analysis of Renewable Electricity Standards
A national Renewable Electricity Standard works for America. Study after study, from both governmental and non-governmental sources, have shown that renewables can deliver big benefits to the economy, the environment, employment, and consumer savings.
This page presents a select few studies on the national impacts of a national RES. Studies specific to states and regions can be found in the individual pages at Renewable Energy Works in Your State.
George Institute of Technology and Duke University
Renewable Energy in the South: A Policy Brief
"This working paper assesses the economic potential of renewable electricity generation in the South under alternative policy scenarios. Using a customized version of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), we examine the impact of 1) expanded and updated estimates of renewable resources, 2) a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), and 3) a Carbon-Constrained Future (CCF). Under the Expanded Renewables Scenario, renewable electricity generation doubles the output of the Reference forecast for the South. If a Federal RPS is imposed or the policies represented by our CCF scenario are implemented, we estimate that 15% to 30% of the South’s electricity could be generated from renewable sources. Among the renewable resources, wind, biomass, and hydro are anticipated to provide the most generation potential. As the integration of renewable sources expands through the modeled time horizon, wind gradually out-competes biomass in the renewable electricity market. Cost-effective customer-owned renewables could also contribute significantly to electricity generation by 2030 in the South, under supportive policies." -Georgia Tech School of Public Policy
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Evaluating Renewable Portfolio Standards and Carbon Cap Scenarios in the U.S. Electric Sector
"This report examines the impact of various renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and cap-and-trade policy options on the U.S. electricity sector, focusing mainly on renewable energy generation. The analysis uses NREL's Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model that simulates the least-cost expansion of electricity generation capacity and transmission in the United States to examine the impact of an emissions cap — similar to that proposed in the Waxman-Markey bill (H.R. 2454) — as well as lower and higher cap scenarios. It also examines the effects of combining various RPS targets with the emissions caps. The generation mix, carbon emissions, and electricity price are examined for various policy combinations to simulate the effect of implementing policies simultaneously." -NREL: Energy Analysis - News
Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership
Report analyzes a renewable electricity standard among "compendium of best practices"
Sustaingrup
Where the Wind Blows and Sun Shines
A comparative analysis of state renewable electricity standards
Navigant Consulting, Inc.
Job Creation Opportunities in Hydropower
This 2010 report "finds that hydropower can support 1.4 million new cumulative jobs by 2025 with strong federal policy support. Both Western states with project development potential and manufacturing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio stand to gain tens of thousands of jobs if a strong national RES is implemented by 2025".
Jobs Impact of a National Renewable Electricity Standard
2010 study "found that a 25% by 2025 national RES would result in 274,000 more renewable energy jobs over no-national RES policy. This additional employment is equivalent to 2.36 million additional job-years by 2025. The study found that new jobs would be supported by renewable energy in every region of the United States and that the biomass, hydropower and waste-to-energy industries, in particular, would see significant job gains in the Southeast. Without stronger near-term targets than currently envisioned, the study found that industries like wind will experience flat job growth and long-term stagnation, while the U.S. biomass industry could collapse altogether. The RES Alliance recommends raising near-term RES targets in federal legislation to 12% in 2014 and 20% in 2020."
Union of Concerned Scientists
This 2010 analysis found that "compared with [the American Clean Energy and Security Act], raising the efficiency and renewable electricity standards would:
- "Reduce consumer electricity and natural gas expenditures by $113 billion through 2030
- "Lower average U.S. household annual energy costs by nearly $100 in 2030
- "Diversify the electric power mix and avoid the need for nearly 50 new nuclear power reactors
- "Hasten the shift to a clean energy economy by increasing emission reductions within the capped sectors."
The Climate Group
American Innovation: Manufacturing Low Carbon Technologies in the Midwest
This 2010 report found that:
- "Climate and energy policies [including a Renewable Energy Standard] would lead to additional market revenues of up to $12 billion, additional state and local tax revenues of up to $800 million and up to 100,000 new jobs from the wind turbine component, hybrid powertrain, and advanced battery manufacturing sectors in the Midwest by 2015.
- "In the wind turbine component sector, climate and energy policies would create up to $7.1 billion in additional market revenues, $470 million in additional tax revenues and more than 61,800 new jobs in the Midwest by 2015.
- "In the hybrid powertrain sector, climate and energy policies would lead to $3.8 billion in additional market revenues, $252 million in additional tax revenues and 30,900 new jobs in the Midwest by 2015.
- "In the advanced battery sector, climate and energy policies would create up to $1.4 billion in additional market revenues, $90 million in additional tax revenues and 11,900 new jobs in the Midwest by 2015."
Energy Information Administration
Report#: SR-OIAF/2009-04, April 2009
This 2009 report, prepared at the request of Chairman Markey, found these impacts from a "25 x 25" renewable electricity standard:
- Though the nominal target sales share for renewables eligible for the RES is 25 percent by 2025, once small retailers, hydroelectric power, municipal solid waste, and energy efficiency credits for compliance are taken into account, the effective share of renewables required could drop to approximately 17 percent of total electricity sales.
- Coal demand falls between 8 and 11 percent and natural gas falls between 6 and 15 percent, while biomass power and wind power are the main growth areas for renewables.
- The RES is not expected to affect national average electricity prices until after 2020, relative to the base case (no RES). At its peak in 2025, The RES is expected to cause a 2.7 percent increase in the average national electricity price, rising to a 2.9 percent increase if efficiency credits are not eligible for compliance. By 2030, this change is projected to have gone back down to less than 1 percent.
- The increased use of renewables leads to reductions in carbon emissions from the electricity sector of between 7 and 12 percent by 2030.
Union of Concerned Scientists
This 2009 study found that a 25 x 25 RES would yield:
- Job Creation: 297,000 new jobs from renewable energy development
- Economic Development: $263.4 billion in new capital investment; $13.5 billion in income to farmers, ranchers, and rural landowners; and $11.5 billion in new local tax revenues
- Consumer Savings: $64.3 billion in lower electricity and natural gas bills by 2025 (growing to $95.5 billion by 2030)
- Climate Solutions: Two percent reduction in power plant global warming pollution from today's levels by 2025-the equivalent of taking 45.3 million cars off the road
US Department of Energy
20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030
This 2008 study found that the US could get 20 percent of its electricity from wind power by 2030, delivering many benefits:
- Environment: Avoids air pollution and reduces GHG emissions; reduces electric sector CO2 emissions by 825 million metric tons annually
- Water savings: Reduces cumulative water use in the base case of no wind growth in this electric sector by 8% (4 trillion gallons)
- U.S. energy security: Diversifies electricity portfolio and represents an indigenous energy source with stable prices not subject to fuel volatility
- Energy consumers: Potentially reduces demand for fossil fuels, in turn reducing fuel prices and stabilizing electricity rates
- Local economics: Creates new income source for rural landowners and tax revenues for local communities in wind development areas.
- American workers: Generates well-paying jobs in a broad and sectors that support wind development, such as manufacturing, engineering, construction, transportation,pollution, and global climate change and financial services; new manufacturing will cause significant growth in wind industry supply chain
Governors' Wind Energy Coalition
Wind Energy and Green Jobs: Maintaining A Global Leadership Role for the U.S.
The GWC is an alliance of 23 governors supporting wind power. This report, based on DOE's "20 Percent Wind Energy" study, highlights the jobs and economic benefits of wind power, with additional analysis for Minnesota, California, Oregon, Iowa, and Colorado. It also calls for a national RES, a long-term extension of federal tax incentives, transmission policy reform, and greater federal-state collaboration.
Meeting the 20 percent goal would deliver the following economic benefits:
- 150,000 direct jobs, 100,000 indirect jobs, and 200,000 induced jobs.
- A net present value of economic activity worth $440 billion through 2030
- Consumers could save $128 billion through lower natural gas prices.
- Annual property tax revenues for local governments would surge by more than $1.5 billion.
- Rural landowners —typically ranches and farms—would enjoy “wind royalties,” annual payments that could exceed $600 million.
Clean Energy Group
State-Federal RES Collaborative Project
A collaborative of state officials implementing state RES laws, managed by the Clean Energy Group, which includes discussion of state-federal interaction. Highlights include:
- “Federal RPS: Its Prospects and Implications for State RPS Programs”: This April 7, 2009 webinar provides an overview of the three federal RPS bills already introduced this session, an analysis of their potential impact on existing state programs, and a view from Capitol Hill exploring the political dynamics, timing and eventual “flavor” of a federal RPS. The audio and slides are posted online.
- "Transmission Planning and Meeting RPS Targets" -- A webinar from February 10, 2009 on regional transmission planning to facilitate renewable energy.
- Clean Energy Group comments on the Markey legislation for Federal RPS
The Energy Future Coalition
Three Pillars: A Comprehensive Approach to Setting Clean Energy Standards for the Electricity Sector
The Energy Future Coalition is a broad-based, non-partisan alliance that seeks to bridge the differences among business, labor, and environmental groups and identify energy policy options with broad political support. This report is a comprehensive “Three Pillars” approach which includes:
- An Energy Efficiency Resource Standard to reduce electricity usage by at least 15% and natural gas usage by at least 10% by 2020
- A Renewable Electricity Standard to increase renewable energy production to at least 20% by 2020
- A cap that would cut heat-trapping emissions by at least 35% below current levels by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050.
This approach would establish the price signal needed to begin the transformation to a low-carbon economy while simultaneously containing costs and removing barriers that impede market uptake of efficiency and renewables.
World Resources Institute
Southeast Energy Opportunities: Local Clean Power, WRI Issue Brief, April 2009, with Southface and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
Southeast states seeking solutions to current and future energy challenges have a major opportunity to use existing technology to harness local renewable energy resources. Our regional assessment, drawing on recent government and regional studies, suggests sufficient renewable energy resources to meet as
much as 30 percent of the Southeast’s electric power needs within the next 15 years.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
State of the States 2009: Renewable Energy Development and the Role of Policy
Technical Report NREL/TP-6A2-46667, October 2009
Report discusses link between Renewable Portfolio Standards policies and development of renewable energy.
Comparative Analysis of Three Proposed Federal Renewable Electricity Standards
Technical Report NREL/TP-6A2-45877, May 2009
This 2009 report compared three federal RES's and found:
- Waxman-Markey Bill calls for 6% RES by 2012 and 25% RES by 2025. Bingaman Bill calls for 4% RES by 2011, and 20% RES by 2021
- Waxman-Markey cover all suppliers selling more than 1 million MWh, while Bingaman Bill only covers suppliers selling more than 4 million MWh.
- Under Bingaman Bill, one cannot trade RECs for existing renewables
- Markey wants to separate RES Bill and EERS Bill
- Bingaman Bill would allocate two federal RECs per kWh for projects on tribal lands and three RECs per kWh for distributed generation, while the Waxman-Markey Bill would allocate three RECs per kWh from distributed generation sources
