In 2005 Delaware enacted Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) legislation that required utilities to obtain 10 percent of retail electricity sales from renewable sources by 2019-2020. In 2010 the Legislature amended the law to mandate that Delaware utilities use at least 5 percent renewable sources in the generation of electricity in 2010-2011. The mandate will grow steadily until reaching 25 percent in 2025-2026. While the law includes a cost containment provision, it is unlikely that the Public Service Commission will implement any caps.

By Mark Newgent, Associate Fellow Maryland’s “green” renewable portfolio standard (RPS) law may not be so green after all.  According to the latest reports from the Maryland Public Service Commission, state utilities are fulfilling their RPS mandates mostly through the use of dirty energy sources like black liquor, a byproduct of the wood pulping process, [...]

Minnesota was one of the first states in the nation to enact legislation dictating the mix of electricity generation technologies private power companies must sell. Enacted in 1994, Minnesota required Xcel Energy to produce 125 MW of power using biomass sources by 2004. Since then, Minnesota has imposed additional laws governing the power mix that [...]

In May 2008 Ohio enacted its Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS). Starting in 2009, Ohio utilities began compliance with the law which mandates that one-quarter of a percent of all electricity sales come from renewable sources. This share will grow steadily until 2025, when 12.5 percent of electricity will be required to come from renewable [...]

In March 2004 Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico signed into law Senate Bill 43. This bill required sources of renewable energy to make up 5 percent of the investor-owned electric utilities sales by 2006, and 10 percent by 2011. In 2007 the law was expanded by Senate Bill 418, which accelerated the timeline and increased the mandate such that renewable sources account for 10 percent of all power generated by 2011; 15 percent for 2015; and 20 percent for 2020 and thereafter. Renewable sources include energy from solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and small hydroelectric facilities.

n November 2004 Colorado passed Amendment 37, the first voter-approved ballot initiative to create a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in the United States. In 2007 this law was expanded in House Bill 1281 and its current iteration was detailed in House Bill 1001 in 2010. HB 1001 accelerated the timeline such that by 2020, 30 percent of all retail electricity in Colorado must be derived from a renewable source, including energy from solar, wind, geothermal, hydrogen derived from renewable sources, biomass and small hydroelectric facilities.

In 2005, the Montana Legislature passed the Montana Renewable Power Production and Rural Economic Development Act (the Act) which established a state Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The RPS mandates that public utilities and competitive electricity suppliers obtain a minimum percentage of retail electricity sales from renewable resources. Renewable resources include energy from solar, wind, ocean thermal, ocean wave power, geothermal, hydrogen derived from renewable sources, biomass and small hydroelectric facilities.

Efforts to pass cap-and-trade legislation in Washington have failed. The prospects for a bill in the new Congress are remote but possible. The results of the November 2010 elections have effectively placed a hold on federal cap-and-trade legislation for the next two years.

Despite the victory of cap-and-trade opponents, the new Congress may be pressured to enact a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in response to calls for a level playing field from states with their own RPS programs. President Obama, in his State of the Union speech on January 25, also has called for a national Clean Energy Standard of 80 percent by the year 2035.

Read more about the John Locke Foundation Spotlight report that explains how Demand-Side Management programs are thoroughly inconsistent with a free society, where the role of government to accommodate people’s choices — rather than manipulate them — is not considered or recognized. Demand Management: Social engineering by any other name… JLF’s Vice President for Research Dr. [...]

Wind energy promises a clean, renewable resource that uses no fossil fuel and generates zero emissions. Careful examination of the data suggests that the numbers do not add up as expected. The “must take” provisions of Colorado’s Renewable Portfolio Standard require that other sources of generation, such as coal plants, must be “cycled” to accommodate [...]