A STATUS REPORT ON THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARDS AND SYSTEM BENEFITS CHARGE POLICIES

摘要

At last year' s Windpower conference, we reported on state policies to foster renewable energy as part of effortsto restructure state electric power markets. The primary policies states are pursuing for renewables are systembenefits charges (SBC) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS). Renewable portfolio standard policies begantaking effect this year, while other states are continuing to work on the design of their RPS implementationstrategies. In addition, states have begun distributing proceeds from their SBC funds. As a result, somerenewable energy projects are beginning to materialize. This paper provides an update on state efforts with thesetwo policies and examines some of the implementation issues and difficulties that states have faced thus far.