Revisiting renewable portfolio standard effectiveness: policy design and outcome specification matter
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Revisiting renewable portfolio standard effectiveness: policy design and outcome specification matter Miriam Fischlein • Timothy M. Smith
Published online: 14 March 2013 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) differ widely across US states. Prior research findings on the effectiveness of these policies to stimulate renewable electricity deployment are equally wide ranging. This study investigates patterns of RPS policy design and analyzes the effects on policy outcomes measured at the level of utility compliance. Measuring organizational outcomes of RPS corrects for the first time the challenges of prior research focused on state-level renewable capacity or generation outcomes. The quantitative analysis also takes into account the complexity of RPS design, by making use of a state-by-state database of RPS design characteristics developed for this study. Patterns of RPS design across states are compared, including the compliance schedule, scope, eligibility of resources, quotas and subsidies, renewable energy credit provisions, as well as enforcement and penalties. Together, the map of state RPS design and the new approach to RPS outcome analysis illuminate the diversity of RPS policy practice across the United States. They suggest the need to both account for the variety of design characteristics and accurately specify the policy outcomes in evaluations of these policies. Keywords
Renewable energy Policy design Policy evaluation
Introduction In recent decades, supporting renewable energy has been a frequent agenda item for governments across the world. As interest in renewable energy has burgeoned, so have policies destined to support it. In the United States, policy activity has mainly happened in M. Fischlein (&) Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA e-mail: [email protected] T. M. Smith Institute on the Environment/Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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Policy Sci (2013) 46:277–310
the states. Much has been said about policy experimentation at the state level as both a substitute for and a stepping stone toward a national climate change policy (Rabe 2004). If states continue to dominate policy development in this arena, their efforts will have to be coordinated better to create a well-functioning market for renewable energy. If a national policy emerges, the precedence of state policies will likely influence the solutions being considered (Keeler 2007). Either way, it is essential to gain a better understanding about the policy tools used at the state level. The purpose of this article therefore is to illuminate the emerging practice of renewable energy policy in the US states by qualitatively characterizing state-level policy design and quantitatively assessing the relationship between design and effectiveness in stimulating utility-level compliance with renewable energy policy. We follow the prior
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