Available Now – Energy Self-Reliant States 2ed (also new wind estimates May 2010) How self-sufficient in energy generation could states be if they relied only on their own renewable resources? In November 2008, ILSR began to address this question in the first edition of Energy Self-Reliant States.  That report included a limited set of resources… Continue reading

States donʼt need to seek energy imports to meet their renewable energy goals.  Energy Self-Reliant States finds that almost the entire country west of the Mississippi and parts of the Eastern Seaboard (a total of 31 states) can serve all their electricity needs with in-state renewable power, and that every state could reach its renewable mandate with domestically available renewable resources.  Continue reading

Schwarzenegger, citing concerns with protectionism, plans to veto the legislature’s ambitious 33% RPS by 2020 because it prizes in-state generation.  But the California’s Energy Commission found in its Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) that there’s not much savings to be had looking outside California’s borders. Continue reading

Friedman illustrates the three key components of a consistent and powerful renewable energy policy: anyone can generate, a guaranteed grid connection, and a reasonable and predictable price to do so.  That’s the feed-in tariff. Continue reading

If the government hopes to stimulate the American economy with its renewable energy cash grants, it’s going about it backwards.  Cash grants to locally owned renewable energy projects would secure the greatest bang for the buck, but the lion’s share of the renewable energy stimulus dollars are headed overseas to Spanish wind developer Iberdrola, who nabbed 60% of the $500 million in cash grants the Energy Department’s program provided to renewable energy producers.  Continue reading

The Diane Rehm show hosted several prominent solar experts and Cool Earth Solar CEO Rob Lamkin noted the benefits of feed-in tariffs for reaching renewable energy targets.  Continue reading

Small-scale renewables will get a boost in a new feed-in tariff proposal by Reps. Jay Inslee of Washington and Bill Delahunt of Massachusetts.  The authors tout its better record than renewable standards in encouraging renewable energy production, and the more secure electricity system from distributed renewables. Continue reading