Renewable Energy Prices in State-Level Feed-in Tariffs: Federal Law Constraints and Possible Solutions

Technical Report · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/971096· OSTI ID:971096

Hempling, S; Elefant, C; Cory, K; Porter, K

State legislatures and state utility commissions trying to attract renewable energy projects are considering feed-in tariffs, which obligate retail utilities to purchase electricity from renewable producers under standard arrangements specifying prices, terms, and conditions. The use of feed-in tariffs simplifies the purchase process, provides revenue certainty to generators, and reduces the cost of financing generating projects. However, some argue that federal law--including the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) and the Federal Power Act of 1935 (FPA)--constrain state-level feed-in tariffs. This report seeks to reduce the legal uncertainties for states contemplating feed-in tariffs by explaining the constraints imposed by federal statutes. It describes the federal constraints, identifies transaction categories that are free of those constraints, and offers ways for state and federal policymakers to interpret or modify existing law to remove or reduce these constraints. This report proposes ways to revise these federal statutes. It creates a broad working definition of a state-level feed-in tariff. Given this definition, this report concludes there are paths to non-preempted, state-level feed-in tariffs under current federal law.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-99GO10337
• OSTI ID: 971096
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP-6A2-47408
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY PURCHASES
ELECTRICITY SALES
Energy Analysis
FEDERAL LAW
FEDERAL POWER ACT OF 1935
FEDERAL STATUTES
FEED-IN TARIFFS
FINANCING
FINANCING ELECTRICITY GENERATING PROJECTS
FIT
FPA
PRICES
PURPA
RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY
RENEWABLE ENERGY
STATE LEGISLATURES
STATE POLICYMAKERS
STATE UTILITY COMMISSIONS
STATES
TARIFFS
THE PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY POLICIES ACT OF 1978
US PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY POLICIES ACT