A retrospective analysis of benefits and impacts of U.S. renewable portfolio standards

Abstract

PREFACEThis is one report in a series that explores the costs, benefits, and other impacts of state renewable portfolio standards (RPS), both retrospectively and prospectively. The terminology applied in this series does not align precisely with the traditional concepts of costs and benefits, but rather is a function of how RPS programs have often been evaluated in practice. In particular, this analysis series evaluates RPS programs in terms of the following:• RPS compliance costs represent the incremental cost of meeting RPS compliance obligations, from the perspective of the utility or other load-serving entity, compared to the costs that would have been borne in the absence of the RPS. RPS compliance costs may be negative, if the renewable electricity used for RPS compliance is less expensive to the utility than the alternatives.• Benefits, as analyzed in this report series, consist specifically of environmental benefits that accrue to society at large, rather than to individual utilities. In theory, such benefits may be negative, representing net environmental costs, if the renewable electricity used for RPS compliance leads to more harmful environmental impacts than it avoids.• Other impacts, in the form of resource transfers from one market participant or segment to another, are also evaluated. These other impacts may also entail net costs or benefits to society at large, but our analyses focus only on the gross impacts, not the net cost or benefit. This report, the second in the series, analyzes historical benefits and impacts of all state RPS policies, in aggregate, employing a consistent and well-vetted set of methods and data sets. The analysis focuses on three specific benefits: greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and water use. It also analyzes three other impacts: gross job additions, wholesale electricity market price suppression, and natural gas price suppression. These are an important subset, but by no means a comprehensive set, of all possible effects associated with RPS policies. These benefits and impacts are also subject to many uncertainties, which are described and, to the extent possible, quantified within the report.The present report is intended to help policymakers, RPS administrators, and other decision-makers gauge the potential significance of a number of key benefits and impacts from state RPS programs. By noting limitations, caveats, and uncertainties in these results, the report also seeks to highlight important methodological considerations to evaluating RPS benefits and impacts. This report does not, however, provide a complete picture, and comparable information on both the costs and benefits, as well as other impacts, are ultimately needed to inform decision-making. To that end, a third report in this series is planned for the coming year to evaluate the future costs, benefits, and other impacts of state RPS policies, under both current policies and possible revisions. A prior study ) and subsequent update in this report series found that RPS compliance costs over the 2...

Location or insolation: the importance of siting in emissions mitigation from solar photovoltaics

“…While they vary by state, a typical design for an RPS is to set a percent of electricity sales that must be met by qualified renewable generation. While such a design has led to increased renewable generation and environmental benefits, 21,22 there are two key reasons why these policies may not maximize the offset emissions from new renewables. First, the states that have enacted RPS policies are not necessarily those with the highest grid emissions intensities.…”

Estimating the value of offshore wind along the United States’ Eastern Coast

“…For both purposes, we use the Environmental Protection Agency's AVoided Emissions and geneRation Tool (AVERT). Other research that has used AVERT for similar purposes includes Barbose et al (2016), Millstein et al (2017), and Chiang et al (2016). AVERT assesses-on a statistical basis-electricity system dispatch regionally (including for the three broad regions that encompass the US east coast) and, among other things, tracks both the emissions rate and natural gas consumption of generators estimated to be on the margin-and hence able to be displaced by offshore wind-in each hour.…”

“…AVERT assesses-on a statistical basis-electricity system dispatch regionally (including for the three broad regions that encompass the US east coast) and, among other things, tracks both the emissions rate and natural gas consumption of generators estimated to be on the margin-and hence able to be displaced by offshore wind-in each hour. Following previous work by Barbose et al (2016) and Wiser and Bolinger (2007) to estimate the natural 1 Monthly REC spot market prices reflect changes in the supply and demand, and hence value, of RECs over the historical period of 2007-2016. The spot market prices also reflect changes in the avoided costs for an offtaker who procures RECs from offshore wind instead of purchasing from the spot market.…”

Design Methods of Underwater Grounding Electrode Array by Considering Inter-Electrode Interference for Floating PVs

“…Currently, large-scale photovoltaic (PV) plants are continuously being installed [6][7][8][9][10]. In addition, policies such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in the United States of America [11][12][13], Renewable Obligations (RO) in the United Kingdom [14,15] and Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) in India [16,17] encourage the expansion of PV generation [18][19][20]. In Korea, the government is trying to increase solar energy by announcing the Renewable Energy 3020 Implementation Plan [21].…”