Renewable Energy
State Activities: Renewable Energy
Energy generated from renewable sources can reduce demand for energy generated from fossil fuels, and thereby reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion. Iowa plans to get 10 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2015. Iowa recently developed two major wind farms, which together produce enough electricity to power more than 70,000 homes, avoiding more than 700,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually. Iowa is the third largest producer of electricity from wind, behind only California and Minnesota. Illinois' Clean Energy Community Trust provides grants, loans, and other financial incentives to develop, improve, and implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and programs. Indiana provides grants of up to $10,000 to businesses, non-profits, and local governments to cover the incremental cost of renewable energy projects. Some states, such as Minnesota, have established preferences for electrical generating facilities that use renewable energy sources, for example, by taking environmental costs into account in their power plant planning and siting processes. Others, such as Maine and Arizona, have established renewable portfolio standards that set a standard or target for renewable energy as a proportion of the overall electricity fuel mix. Texas and Minnesota require that a specific amount of new generating capacity, rather than a percentage of the total portfolio, be based on renewable energy.
In the context of restructuring the electric industry to promote competition among electric suppliers, Pennsylvania and a number of other states have required that customers be informed about the sources of energy used to generate the electricity that they purchase. This way, customers have the opportunity to choose renewable electricity suppliers. At least 18 states, including Nevada and Montana, now allow customers with their own electric generating systems (such as rooftop solar photovoltaic panels) to sell unused electricity back to their local electric utility. To accomplish this, these states have established "net metering" to measure electricity going out as well as coming in. Net metering encourages customers to install renewable energy systems on their property.