A newly elected team of state legislators and governors around the country who are considered friendly to renewable energy takes the field this winter and could clear the way for a new growth spurt in wind and solar generation.
The midterm elections in various key states resulted in leadership at the respective state capitals that have indicated they would at least be receptive to expanding the renewable energy portfolios or had, in fact, made renewables part of their campaign platforms, a new post-election analysis from the research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie concluded.
“This has created a new political landscape where the probability of additional renewables is greatly increased,” said the report, titled “U.S. State-Level Renewable Policy Implications of Midterm Elections.”
Wood Mackenzie said it remained to be seen what specific changes the individual states might make to their policies and to the mandates of their renewable portfolio standards (RPS). But, the report said, “In each of these states, RPS increases are likely to be a major driver of renewable capacity additions.”
Fourteen states elected Democratic governors in November, including seven states that had Republican administrations in office. Six of the new governors had campaigned on pledges to increase their RPS mandates.
“We definitely saw more Democrats campaigning on promises of expanding renewables, especially in the gubernatorial races,” Colin Smith, a senior utility analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and a co-author of the report, told Daily Energy Insider. “Solar and wind are cost-effective in most markets, and we have seen both sides campaign on promoting renewables to bring in jobs and lower energy costs for consumers.”
Wood Mackenzie estimated that if all 14 incoming Democrats achieved 50 percent compliance on their proposed RPS increases by 2030, it would create additional solar generation of up to 28.5 gigawatts of AC electricity (GWac) along with 20.9 GWac of wind power.
“While actual policy changes and incremental capacity addition remain subject to significant uncertainty, it is clear the outcome of the midterm elections has improved the state-level policy environment and added tremendous upside potential to the U.S. renewables market,” the report said.
The 10 individual states that transitioned from Republican red to Democrat blue included:
Moreover, Wood Mackenzie’s report did not address questions surrounding the structure of multi-state power markets, which are on the plate of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The issues in general revolve around giving renewables access to the grid and keeping them competitive with gas-generated power.
“There are plenty of regulatory and market issues that could hinder RPS expansion,” Smith said. “The impacts of RPS increases can be far reaching and even potentially prevent RPS increases in several states; however, the political pressure alone could drive additional renewables.”
Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for new solar, wind,…
Wyoming gained its first solar facility this week, and Southern Power its 30th, with the beginning of operations at the…
Three project teams led by Exelon engineers recently earned honors from the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) 2024 Technology Transfer…
A coalition of more than 40 organizations and companies is urging Congress to provide robust funding for electric transmission deployment…
The Department of Energy (DOE), along with U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance…
In a bid to diversify its energy portfolio and improve winter reliability, Ameren Illinois recently announced plans to upgrade infrastructure…
This website uses cookies.