Watch Hearing on Advanced Renewable Energy Contracts (aka Feed-in Tariffs)

The Indiana Renewable Energy Association in conjunction with the World Future Council are sponsoring three experts to testify on Advanced Renewable Energy Contracts (aka Feed-in Tariffs) 9/29/09 at 10 AM to the Regulatory Flexibility Committee in the Indiana Senate Chambers, State House, Indianapolis, IN..

Click HERE for details

http://www.in.gov/legislative/interim/committee/notices/RFSCC9T.pdf

The meeting will be broadcast over the Internet for those unable to attend.

Please visit http://mediaserver.ihets.org/senate to listen to the Webcast.

Martha Duggan, VP Regulatory and Government Affairs, ECD/United Solar, (202) 271-4395 or mduggan@uni-solar.com

Martha A. Duggan serves as Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs for United Solar Ovonic (a division of Energy Conversion Devices), headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan. United Solar is the leading global manufacturer of thin-film flexible solar laminate products for the building integrated and commercial rooftop markets. Ms. Duggan is responsible for policy development and advocacy before state, federal and international governments and energy regulatory bodies. Prior to joining United Solar, Ms. Duggan served as Vice President, Government Affairs for SunEdison, a leading solar integrator. At SunEdison, Ms. Duggan managed a team of solar policy experts across North America. Ms. Duggan has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry. She has worked at regulated utilities, deregulated energy companies, and consulting firms. She is experienced in executive management, finance, operations, policy and sales.

From 2003 until 2008 Ms. Duggan worked for Constellation Energy in a variety of positions including Vice President, Mid-Atlantic region, Vice President, Business Development and Director of Regulatory Affairs. Ms. Duggan has also served at Reliant Energy, Amerada Hess, Statoil Energy and the New Power Company working on policy matters impacting retail and wholesale electricity and natural gas matters. She has testified before state public utility commissions and legislatures and she is a frequently invited presenter at industry seminars. Ms. Duggan serves on the Board of Directors of the Solar Energy Industries Association. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Solar Alliance. She is active in the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and is participating in the Department of Energy’s Solar Vision study. Ms. Duggan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Languages and Linguistics from Georgetown University and a Masters in Business Administration from The George Washington University. She lives in Arlington VA with her husband and two teen age sons.

John Farrell, Senior Researcher, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, (612) 379-3815 or jfarrell@ilsr.org

John Farrell is a senior researcher on the New Rules Project at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, where he examines the benefits of local ownership and dispersed generation of renewable energy. His forthcoming paper is the second and expanded edition of Energy Self Reliant States, examining the potential for all 50 states to serve their own renewable energy needs. He has also written and testified about the potential benefits from feed-in tariffs and other advanced renewable energy policies and has worked with rural Minnesota communities to pursue locally owned renewable energy projects. You can find more of his work and more information on the New Rules Project at www.newrules.org.

Farrell holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute and a B.A. in Mathematics and American Politics and Participatory Democracy from St. Olaf College. John currently lives with his wife, Kristin, and son Benjamin under the north parallel runway of the international airport in south Minneapolis.

Toby D. Couture, Energy & Financial Markets Analyst, Director of Energy Analysis, E3 Analytics, (506) 292-2585 or toby@e3analytics.ca


Toby Couture is currently Energy and Financial Markets Analyst with E3 Analytics, based on the east coast of Canada in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

E3 Analytics is an energy consulting company focusing on the analysis of energy markets, energy policy, and energy economics. It provides leading analysis on the interactions between renewable energy policy and financial markets, focusing primarily on the U.S, Canada, and Europe. Toby is currently serving as Director of Energy Analysis with the firm, and focuses the role of policy in driving renewable energy deployment.

In 2008 and 2009, Couture was leading the National Renewable Energy Lab’s (NREL) analysis on feed-in tariff policies in Golden, Colorado. He has worked closely with the states of Washington, California, Florida, Hawaii and Michigan among others on better understanding the policy and on better adapting it to the U.S. market and regulatory context. He has advised both regulators and state legislators on renewable energy policy and advanced renewable tariffs in Washington, California, Michigan, as well as in Florida and continues to work closely with the Canadian Province of Ontario.

Toby was recently a Fulbright Scholar, and holds a Masters in Energy Policy and Sustainable Development from the University of Moncton, in Canada, as well as Honors in Philosophy and from the University of Mount Allison. He has published widely on renewable energy policy, energy markets, and the role that policy can play in reducing market risks and accelerating renewable energy investment. He currently lives in Canada.



For more information, please contact:
Laura Ann Arnold, President, Indiana Renewable Energy Association, (317) 635-1701 or lauraarnold@indianarenew.org or

Chris Striebeck, LEED-AP Principal, IDS (317) 809-4383 or chris@idsustainability.com

Indiana Legislators to Hear Testimony on Advanced Renewable Energy Contracts

ADVANCE MEETING NOTICE

The third meeting of the Regulatory Flexibility Committee will be held on
September 29, 2009. The meeting will convene at 10:00 A.M. in the Senate
Chambers of the State House, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Although an official agenda will be posted before the meeting date, the tenative agenda includes testimony on Advanced Renewable Energy Contracts or Feed-in Tariffs.

Please contact Sarah Freeman at (317) 232-9594 or
sfreeman@iga.in.gov with any questions.

(The meeting will be broadcast over the Internet for those unable to attend.
Visit http://mediaserver.ihets.org/senateto listen to the Webcast.)



Members
Sen. James Merritt, Co-Chairperson, (R-Indianapolis) (317) 849-6310 s31@in.gov
Sen. Edward Charbonneau, (R-Valparaiso) (219) 462-0031 s5@in.gov
Sen. Beverly Gard (R-Greenfield) (317) 462-2527 s28@in.gov
Sen. Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn) (260) 927-9999 s14@in.gov
Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburgh) (812)934-4118 s42@in.gov
Sen. Marlin Stutzman (R-Howe) (260) 562-3303 s13@in.gov
Sen. Carlin Yoder (R-Middlebury) (574)642-3940 s12@in.gov
Sen. Jean Breaux (D-Indianapolis) (317) 546-5136 s34@in.gov
Sen. Robert Deig (D-Mt. Vernon) (812) 985-5777 s49@in.gov
Sen. Sue Errington (D-Muncie) (765) 292-3581 s26@in.gov
Sen. Lonnie Randolph (D-East Chicago) (219) 397-5531 s2@in.gov
Rep. Win Moses, Co-Chairperson, (D-Ft. Wayne) (260) 420-8710 h81@in.gov
Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) (812) 339-2980 h61@in.gov
Rep. Kreg Battles (D-Vincennes) (812) 882-1522 h64@in.gov
Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend) (574) 271-8006 h8@in.gov
Rep. Sandra Blanton (D-Paoli) (812) 723-7993 h62@in.gov
Rep. Scott Reske (D-Pendleton) (765) 778-9937 h37@in.gov
Rep. Dan Stevenson (D-Highland) (219) 922-9874 h11@in.gov
Rep. Jack Lutz (R-Anderson) (765) 378-0476 h35@in.gov
Rep. Robert Behning (R-Indianapolis) (317) 244-2190 h91@in.gov
Rep. David Frizzell (R-Indianapolis) (317) 882-2146 h93@in.gov
Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) (812) 279-6367 h65@in.gov
Rep. Edward Soliday (R-Valparaiso) (317) 232-9603 h4@in.gov

Enter your zipcode + four to determine your elected officials.

Cal Proposes Feed-In Tariff With a Twist

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/cal-proposes-feed-in-tariff-with-twist/

The state wants to require utilities to buy renewable power from developers of 1- to 10-megawatt installations. But regulators won’t set fixed prices.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday proposed to expand a feed-in tariff program that aims to promote small-scale renewable energy projects that woudn't require new transmission lines and lengthy regulatory review.

The proposal would create a market for projects from 1 megawatt to 10 megawatts in generation capacity by requiring utilities to purchase 1 gigawatt worth of renewable electricity over a four-year period.

A feed-in tariff typically refers to a government-set rate for the utilities to buy electricity from producers. Such policy also tends to require the utilities to buy all the renewable energy that is available for sale. Germany and Spain have become the two largest solar energy markets in the world thanks to their feed-in tariff programs.

California started a feed-in tariff program in 2008, but it only applies to installations up to 1.5 megawatts. The program hasn't been popular, largely because the prices were too low (see California Feed-In Tariffs: The Price Isn't Right).

The new proposal would increase the size of each project in order to promote the so-called distributed generation: producing power close to where it's consumed. This way, developers - and ratepayers - wouldn't have to pay for building new transmission lines. Small projects could go on rooftops or land in and around cities.

But the proposal doesn't follow the European model in one crucial area: pricing.

California's proposal calls for a competitive bidding process. The utilities would issue a request for proposal a few times a year. Each time, they would review all the bids and award contracts to the lowest bidders. State regulators would decide the amount that could be spent for each request for proposal.

Each developer could send in multiple bids for each request for proposal, which would likely have enough money set aside for more than one project of 1- to 10-megawatts in size.

To prevent one company from grabbing all the contracts, a rule would be in place that says no one developer could get more than 50 percent of the money budgeted for each request for proposal.

For example, if a request for proposal aims to spend $50 million, then the lowest bidder wouldn't be able to get more than $25 million worth of contracts. For the remaining $25 million, the utility would pick the next lowest bidder or bidders.

Setting prices is probably the single most contentious issue in crafting the feed-in tariff program. The CPUC staff left the pricing element unanswered when it issued a draft proposal earlier this year that dealt with other issues, such as the size of power projects that would qualify (see California Considers Expanding Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariffs).

"The difficulty has been setting a price for a feed-in tariff. If you set it too low, you don't have market activities. If you set it too high, then you give away undue profits and remove political support for the program," said Adam Browning, executive director of Vote Solar, a nonprofit advocacy group in San Francisco.

The bidding process also would circumvent a legal dispute raised by Southern California Edison, which challenged the CPUC's authority to set prices and require utilities to pay a premium for renewable energy. Edison argued that only the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could do so.

Browning said the new proposal strikes the right balance. He pointed to Spain as a cautionary tale of what could happen when pricing is out of whack.

Spain once offered ultra generous feed-in tariffs, leading to a dramatic growth in solar energy system installations in recent years. Then a frenzy to take advantage of the incentives broke out last year when developers and solar panel makers knew that the government was ready to lower the feed-in tariffs in the fall of 2008.

The rush led to about 2 gigawatts of new installations in 2008. By contrast, the United States installed about 391 megawatts last year.

In September last year, the government reset the tariffs and capped the national installation to 500 megawatts for 2009 (see Spain: The Solar Frontier No More).

The public now has a chance to comment on the new California proposal, which requires the approval of the five-member commission.

Ontario Revises Proposed Feed-in Tariffs

Ontario Revises Proposed Feed-in Tariffs
May 13, 2009 (Revised May 19, 2009)

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) issued revised draft feed-in tariffs at its stakeholder workshop May 12, 2009.

New tariff bands were added and tariffs increased for some technology bands. OPA also revised its proposed bonus payments for projects owned by community and aboriginal groups.

OPA, Ontario's power procurement agency, also eliminated a potentially significant barrier to financing renewable projects by reassuring investors that projects will be paid for generation foregone if economically curtailed.

Ontario is dependent on a large mix of inflexible nuclear power and with the closure of industry across the province there has been a surplus of power during the transition from winter to summer. This surplus has unsettled the investment community along Toronto's Bay Street, Canada's Wall Street.

Ontario has committed to close all its coal-fired power plants by 2014. It is the only jurisdiction in North America to make such a commitment. As a result, Ontario has embarked on an ambitious plan to become a leader in renewable energy development to make up the difference in lost power generation.

OPA has made several changes to its initial feed-in tariff proposal.


Rooftop PV <10 kW tranche now includes ground-mounted systems
Rooftop PV >10 kW tranche expanded to 250 kW, effectively raising the tariff for >100 kW<250 kW systems
Ground-mounted PV cap and degression eliminated
Hydropower is divided into two tranches and the lower tranche gets a little higher tariff
Hydropower term extended to 40 years
100% inflation protection during construction, then 20%.
Biogas tranche <500 kW added
Community and Aboriginal bonus extended to all technologies except rooftop PV
Aboriginal bonus raised to 1.5 cents
Amount of community and aboriginal bonus now depends upon percent ownership interest

North American Feed-in Tariff Policies Take Off

Photo courtesy U.S. NREL

Gainesville’s feed-in tariff program is limited to 4 megawatts of solar PV each year. The program is already fully subscribed through 2015 — a 24-megawatt commitment.

Photo courtesy U.S. NREL

Vermont’s feed-in tariff policy plans to establish 50-megawatts of renewable energy. Large- and small-scale wind, solar, and biogas power projects under 2.2-megawatts in size are eligible."

by Ben Block on August 12, 2009

Clean energy advocates in Europe have long considered the feed-in tariff as an antidote to the industrial world's fossil fuel dependency. Now, the United States and Canada are starting to catch on as well.

Feed-in tariffs (FITs) guarantee that anyone who generates electricity from a renewable energy source - whether they are a homeowner, small business, or large electric utility - is able to sell that electricity into the grid and receive long-term payments for each kilowatt-hour produced. Payments are set at pre-established rates, often higher than what the market would ordinarily pay, to ensure that developers earn profitable returns.

The FIT is credited for the rapid deployment of wind and solar power among world renewable energy leaders Denmark, Germany, and Spain this past decade. Similar policies have since been adopted by many other countries, leading the FIT to become the most prevalent tool for promoting renewables.

In North America, its adoption has been relatively slow. As public support for renewable energy increases, however, more governments are adopting FIT policies - often as a complement to the widely used Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) that require utilities to purchase minimum amounts of renewable electricity.

Several U.S. states and Canadian provinces began serious consideration of the FIT last year. More than a dozen states, one province, and numerous municipalities have since implemented some form of FIT.

"We've reached a tipping point where a feed-in tariff is no longer such an odd idea for America," said Paul Gipe, the author of several books on wind energy and a FIT advocate. "In fact, it's the best idea for rapid development of the massive amount of renewable energy that's needed now."
Renewable energy projects have often struggled to gain the confidence of investors, a problem the FIT policy addresses by ensuring that anyone with a sun-drenched roof or windy backyard may receive funding for a set period of time, normally 15-20 years.

"A lot of the charm of the feed-in tariff is solid, take-it-to-the-bank security and confidence for the investing community," said U.S. Representative Jay Inslee, a sponsor of legislation
that would establish a nationwide FIT, at a Washington, D.C. briefing earlier this month. "You get access to what is very difficult to get right now: financing."

Not all FIT policies are created equal. The North American programs enacted to date often limit the level of economic incentive, the project size, and the renewable energy source, compared to large-scale programs enacted in Europe. Small-scale renewable energy advocates are praising FIT programs approved this year in Gainesville, Florida; Vermont; and Ontario as examples that North America should follow.

Gainesville, Florida

Florida, the Sunshine State, is blessed with bountiful solar resources to support renewable electricity. In the northern city of Gainesville, the municipal utility has helped ratepayers purchase their own solar panels since 1997. The program has partially financed some 40,000 watts of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels,but until recently there was no incentive for homeowners to install the panels properly.

"We weren't getting energy bang for the buck," said John Crider, an engineer with Gainesville Regional Utilities' strategic planning department. "People could get the rebate check and put their solar panel in the shade."

Last year, Assistant General Manager Ed Regan visited Germany, the world's leader in grid-connected solar PV, on a trip coordinated with the Solar Electric Power Association. Impressed by Germany's FIT policy, Regan convinced the Gainesville City Commission to approve the first FIT for solar PV in the United States. The utility promised that solar providers who signed up for the program before 2011 would earn $0.32 per kilowatt hour for 20 years, an estimated 4-6 percent return on investment.

"We assume, as time goes on, it will be cheaper to buy and install solar equipment," Crider said. "The rate we pay goes down as well, to keep the return ideally constant."

The utility, which is otherwise reliant on coal and natural gas for its power generation, wanted to be sure that electricity costs would not increase more than 1 percent due to the FIT, Crider said. The decision led the utility to limit the program to 4 megawatts total of solar PV each year. The program is already fully subscribed through 2015 - a 24-megawatt commitment. Before the Gainesville program, the entire state of Florida had installed 2.5 megawatts of solar electricity capacity.

The FIT gained the city's support mostly to boost the local economy. More than 220 companies in Florida produce, sell, or install solar PV products, according to the Apollo Alliance, a San Francisco-based organization that champions "green jobs" nationwide.

"Our primary motive is not to get the cheapest energy and keep profits high for investors, because we don't have investors," Crider said. "For the municipality, we have a larger vision.... Create a local, thriving marketplace for local solar providers."

Vermont

With two-thirds of Vermont's electricity contracts set to expire in 2012, the state was in a position this year to change its energy portfolio. Meanwhile, Vermont was far from its 2025 goal of 25-percent renewable energy - renewables were supplying less than 10 percent.

The state offered a "net-metering" program that allowed residents to feed renewably generated electricity into the grid, offsetting some or all of their electric bills. Hundreds of small-scale systems resulted, but these combined to meet a mere 0.02 percent of the state's electricity load.
"We were trying to alter the entire energy paradigm, but we were on a very slow trajectory," said Andrew Perchlik, executive director of Renewable Energy Vermont.

The net-metering program did not allow participants to turn a profit, a problem given that small-scale power generation projects required the same costly permits as commercial power plants. Too few Vermonters had reason to participate.

Legislators had considered adopting a FIT, but the policy lacked grassroots support until a new coalition of business leaders, environmentalists, and utility executives formed a renewable energy consensus. The group met before the state's politicians convened in January and settled on the framework of what would become Vermont's first FIT, which they call a "standard offer."

"Increasingly, utilities are realizing that customers are asking for renewable energy. In the long run, it will be less expensive than the alternative," said Robert Dostis, a former state House of Representatives energy chairman who now directs external affairs for Green Mountain Power. "By being at the table, we were able to contain the enthusiasm of some of the renewable energy advocates and have them understand the rate impact of some of their ideas."

The legislature settled on a 50-megawatt program that limited individual projects to 2.2 megawatts each. Starting in January 2010, 20-year contracts will be available for developers of large- and small-scale wind, solar, and biogas power projects.

Opponents said the public would reject the idea of paying more for renewable energy projects - the highest rate, $0.30 per kilowatt-hour of solar energy, far exceeded the $0.04 many ratepayers were being charged at the time. "That was not the case at all," Perchlik said. "Some 80 percent wanted renewable energy, and they were willing to pay 5 percent more."

The energy bill cleared the Democrat-controlled legislature easily. In May, Republican governor Jim Douglas allowed the bill to become law despite his concerns about it. He said the FIT "fails to recognize the current viability of renewable energy in a competitive setting and will needlessly increase costs to Vermont consumers so as to subsidize this one favored business sector."

Although program specifics have yet to be finalized, Vermonters are expressing growing interest. Dostis predicts that the program will fulfill its 50-megawatt limit by 2012. "I think this is really going to propel development," he said.

Ontario

During the 2007 provincial campaign, Ontario's Liberal party promised it would close every coal-fired power plant across the province by 2014. Premier Dalton McGuinty said the plant closures would benefit human health and meet half of the party's commitment to reduce greenhouse gases 15 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Following the election, the Liberal party secured 71 of the Legislative Assembly's 107 seats. Despite clear political support, shuttering 18 percent of the province's power source is no easy feat. The Liberals had already pledged to close the coal plants during their previous term, only to push back their own deadline.

Since 2006, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) began offering a FIT system that provided 20-year payments of 11 Canadian cents (US$0.09) per kilowatt-hour for small-scale hydro, wind, and biomass power projects, and 42 Canadian cents (US$0.34) for solar projects. More than 1,000 megawatts of projects were installed during the first year, but renewable energy advocates criticized the payments, particularly for solar energy, as too small.

In March, the province announced that its proposed Green Energy and Green Economy Act would establish a revised FIT modeled after Germany's. The bill set payments for on-shore, off-shore, and community-based wind power; rooftop PV and ground-mounted PV power; small hydropower; and various biomass power options. Payments would depend on the project size for each technology.

The proposal was instantly applauded by renewable energy supporters. "The Green Energy Act is the most progressive renewable energy policy in North America in three decades," said Gipe, who advised the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association. "There was a decision to pay what it costs to develop renewable energy. It's clear to the public, transparent to everyone."

An OPA-conducted survey found 150 developers who were interested in the new FIT and were willing to construct 15,000 megawatts of electric capacity - enough to produce the equivalent of 20 percent of Ontario's electricity consumption.

Gipe also solicited support from Ontario's farmers, whom he advised would be eligible to receive payments for wind turbines on their property.

"I went to every farm group I could," Gipe said. "This is an opportunity to revitalize the Ontario economy...not just to revitalize the rural economy, but the entire industrial economy of Ontario."
The proposal was approved in May. It now stands as the most generous FIT policy in North America.

Reprinted with permission. Worldwatch Institute, Eye on Earth, http://www.worldwatch.org/

Ben Block is a staff writer with the Worldwatch Institute. He can be reached at bblock@worldwatch.org.

NREL Energy Analysts Dig into Feed-In Tariffs - Renewable Energy World

NREL Energy Analysts Dig into Feed-In Tariffs - Renewable Energy World

June 26, 2009
by Joseph B. Verrengia, NREL
Colorado, United States

Feed-in tariffs (FiTs) are the world's most widely used policy to drive renewable energy development. They have helped transform cloudy Germany into the world leader of installed solar power and photovoltaic manufacturing.

Now FITs are stimulating green energy investment in North America, too.
Locations as disparate as the city of Gainesville, FL, the province of Ontario, Canada, and the state of Washington recently have adopted measures establishing guaranteed long-term prices for clean electricity. A dozen more states and many more communities are considering similar energy policy proposals.

NREL energy analysts are digging into these complex policies in a series of technical reports designed to inform government policy makers, clean energy investors, utilities and other stakeholders.

Feed-in tariffs guarantee long-term payments at pre-established rates for the electricity generated from renewable sources. The production-based payments are often higher than market rates, but are on the verge of becoming competitive in specific locations for certain technologies such as wind power.

While utilities are obligated to buy the power, the long-term payments help encourage renewable energy development by reducing risks for investors. Any added costs are typically passed along to ratepayers and, for technologies like wind and landfill gas, may provide a hedge against electricity price volatility and large price spikes over the long-term.

According to the NREL studies, experience around the world suggests that FITs can effectively expand renewable energy deployment and remove barriers to renewable energy development, while creating jobs and helping meet renewable energy standards.

Best Programs Tailored to Local Conditions

States — or even local communities — may be tempted to copy the successful German model word for word. But, NREL analysts say that FITs are most effective when the policy design is adapted to local context.

"Every jurisdiction has unique characteristics that will influence the details of the FIT design and affect its success — these local differences are critical to consider," said Karlynn Cory (pictured below), co-author of State Clean Energy Policies Analysis (SCEPA) Project: An Analysis of Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariffs in the United States (PDF 1.1 MB).

The NREL reports examine a wide range of FIT programs. For example, Gainesville's tariff is limited to photovoltaic projects with a total city-wide cap of 4 megawatts (MW). Under Washington state's FIT policy, solar PV, solar thermal, wind, and anaerobic digesters are offered a payment that differs by technology and that increases if system components are manufactured in-state.

This spring, the Canadian province of Ontario revised its three-year old program to include a 20-year fixed price of as much as US $0.69 for every kilowatt-hour of solar power generated. In response, SunEdison, First Solar, Everbrite Solar and Nanosolar are developing both solar energy farms and manufacturing facilities near Ottawa, Kingston and other cities. (Below, left: NREL energy analysts Claire Kreycik, left, and Karlynn Cory have examined feed-in tariffs in North America and Europe. Credit: Joe Verrengia)

Timely Topic

With so many tariff options, Cory said it is timely for the Laboratory's Strategic Energy Analysis Center to tackle the topic.

"Understanding the policy design options allows decision makers to formulate more effective policies for their specific circumstances," Cory said. "This was a real opportunity for NREL to evaluate the key lessons learned in Europe and translate them to the U.S. context."

The second NREL study of FITs suggests that the policy can work effectively with renewable portfolio standards (RPS). States use RPS policies to set long-term requirements on how much renewable energy must be developed to meet consumer demand, boost clean energy development and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.

Cory co-authored that report, Feed-in Tariff Policy: Design, Implementation, and RPS Policy Interactions (PDF 446 KB), with NREL analyst Claire Kreycik (pictured above) and Toby Couture, now of E3 Analytics.

Kreycik recently briefed New York state policymakers on how FITs can drive renewable energy deployment and job creation as they prepare to vote on an FIT proposal.

RPS mandates have been adopted in 29 states and Congress is considering a national standard. However, not all of these policies are designed to address investors' needs for revenue certainty. That's where FIT programs can be complementary. (Image: A technician installs meters at a new solar energy project in Gainesville, Fla. The city has adopted a local feed-in tariff to support the development of up to 4 MW of solar energy. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

"RPS policies tend to set the requirement and let the market figure out how to get there," Cory said. "FIT policies can help utilities meet their RPS target. It doesn't have to be an either-or choice."

A third NREL report will focus on best practices for feed-in tariff policies. It will be completed later this year.

Joseph B. Verrengia writes for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.

This article originally appeared as a National Renewable Energy Laboratory feature article.

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