Southeast Regional Clean Energy Policy Analysis (Revised)

Technical Report · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1004788· OSTI ID:1004788

McLaren, J.

More than half of the electricity produced in the southeastern states is fuelled by coal. Although the region produces some coal, most of the states depend heavily on coal imports. Many of the region's aging coal power facilities are planned for retirement within the next 20 years. However, estimates indicate that a 20% increase in capacity is needed over that time to meet the rapidly growingdemand. The most common incentives for energy efficiency in the Southeast are loans and rebates; however, total public spending on energy efficiency is limited. The most common state-level policies to support renewable energy development are personal and corporate tax incentives and loans. The region produced 1.8% of the electricity from renewable resources other than conventionalhydroelectricity in 2009, half of the national average. There is significant potential for development of a biomass market in the region, as well as use of local wind, solar, methane-to-energy, small hydro, and combined heat and power resources. Options are offered for expanding and strengthening state-level policies such as decoupling, integrated resource planning, building codes, net metering,and interconnection standards to support further clean energy development. Benefits would include energy security, job creation, insurance against price fluctuations, increased value of marginal lands, and local and global environmental paybacks.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1004788
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP-6A20-49192
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AGING
BIOMASS
BUILDING CODES
CAPACITY
CEPA
COAL
DECOUPLING
EE
ELECTRICITY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ENERGY POLICY
FLUCTUATIONS
HYDROELECTRIC POWER
IMPORTS
INSURANCE
MARKET
METERING
PLANNING
PRICES
PV
SECURITY
Southeast
United States
biomass
clean energy
coal
dedicated energy crops
energy efficiency
incentives
photovoltaics (PV)
policy
renewable energy (RE)
wind