renewable electricity standard

Missouri puts payoff of local power in peril

The Missouri legislature's move to jeopardize the state's renewable energy standard misses the huge economic benefits of local clean energy.

How to buy (and price) clean power

You get what you pay for. Clean power mandates in the US mandate that we buy megawatt-hours of clean energy, but they don’t mandate that those sources be reliable. This isn’t to say that clean energy can’t be reliable, but rather that it is mis-priced. Increasingly, this is causing conflicts for utilities, who have purchase […]

Coal fades as clean energy rises

Roger Singer loved the recent good energy news out of Colorado. “We’re now seeing further on-the-ground evidence that a swift conversion by energy providers from dirty coal to increased levels of clean, renewable energy sources is not only possible, but it’s also easier than expected and it’s cost effective,” said Singer, regional representative for the […]

Cost of adding tons of renewables to U.S. electric grid has been almost zero, say studies

Many states have "renewable portfolio standards" mandating that they produce a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. Libertarian and tea bag-ish critics of these standards have said that they will cause electricity rates to "skyrocket." But the numbers are in, and guess what? Science says the critics are wrong. Utility companies’ experiences vary […]

Internationally linking carbon trading systems is the wave of the future

The latest rage in Washington policy discussions these days (that’s relevant to climate change) is renewed interest in renewable electricity standards, this time in the form of so-called “clean energy standards.” I’ve written about this policy approach recently and will do so again in the near future, but for today I want to turn to […]

Can states keep clean energy jobs at home?

Photo: GreenforallCan a state with a renewable energy mandate require green jobs to stay at home? Litigation has made states into tepid defenders of their job rights, but states have the legal ground to go great lengths to keep more of the economic development from their renewable energy industry inside their borders. No renewable energy […]

Renewable energy standards: less effective, more costly, but politically preferred to cap-and-trade?

It is ironic that while cap-and-trade is dead in the Senate, support has emerged for an approach that would be both less effective and more costly.

Time to move like the wind to save clean energy

Rep. Ed Markey argues that the framework tax deal announced this week by President Obama and GOP Senate leaders threatens to kill clean energy jobs.

Obama tries to pick up the pieces on climate and energy

The president is thinking small. Republicans are thinking oil and nuclear. How's this going to work?