Annual Energy Outlook 2006 with Projections to 2030 - Usinfo.org

Legislation and Regulationsenergy as that which “relies on a resource that isbeing consumed at a harvest rate at or belowits natural regeneration rate” [10]. The Vermontlegislation is designed to encourage contracts fornew renewables capacity by allowing the new capacityto meet multiple States’ RPS requirements.New renewable capacity in Vermont canbe counted toward Vermont’s program, while itsrenewable energy credits may be marketed separatelyto renewables credit markets in neighboringStates.• Pennsylvania’s new Alternative Energy PortfolioStandard includes waste coal and coal gasification,which can contribute as much as 10 percentof the renewable generation requirement (set at18 percent of total generation in 2020).The 23 State renewable energy programs in effect in2005 generally are concentrated in three broad geographicareas, with 11 jurisdictions along the Northeasternand Mid-Atlantic seaboard (Connecticut,Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland,Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania,Rhode Island, and Vermont), 6 in the Southwest(Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico,and Texas), 4 in the upper Midwest (Illinois, Iowa,Minnesota, and Wisconsin), and Hawaii and Montanaeach standing alone. No Southern, Southeastern, orNorthwestern State (except Montana) currently has arenewable energy program.Although efforts to coordinate renewable energy programsamong adjacent States have begun, no formalor informal coordination systems have been finalized.An example of efforts to establish such a systeminclude the newly formed Mid-Atlantic Organizationof PJM States, Inc. In order to prevent double counting,however, States in most interconnected regionsnow coordinate identification and tracking of the originsand contracted destinations of renewable energytransactions via power pools or other organizations.The New England States use the Generation InformationSystem of the New England Power Pool(NEPOOL), and the Mid-Atlantic States employPJM’s Generation Attribute Tracking System(GATS). Although the Midwestern Power Pool doesnot currently track the region’s renewable generation,a multi-State Midwestern effort is underway toestablish the Midwest Renewable Energy TrackingSystem (MRETS). Similarly, the California EnergyCommission and the Western Governors’ Associationare collaborating to establish a Western RenewableEnergy Generation Information Tracking System(WREGIS).New Renewable Energy Capacity, 2004-2005Table 7 summarizes EIA’s understanding of newrenewable energy capacity entering service in 2004and 2005. However, it is difficult to quantify the specificimpacts of State renewable programs. First, neitherthe individual States nor other sources identifyall the new renewable energy capacity that is built,and some new capacity may not be reported.Although large wind projects typically are recognized,smaller projects, such as landfill gas (LFG) or endusersited PV installations, may go unreported. Further,new capacity is not necessarily added inresponse to State renewable energy programs. Projectsmay be constructed for other reasons, and theymay or may not qualify for the State programs. Projectslocated in one State may serve the requirementsof another State or different States over time.Table 7. New U.S. renewable energy capacity, 2004-2005 (installed megawatts, nameplate capacity)Year Biomass GeothermalConventionalhydroelectricLandfillgasSolarphotovoltaics Wind Total2004Without standards 0.0 0.0 65.8 32.5 0.0 199.8 298.1With standards 19.9 0.0 4.5 30.0 3.0 281.6 339.12005Without standards 0.0 0.0 133.2 14.7 0.0 1,077.1 1,225.0With standards 34.1 37.0 26.1 24.6 3.6 1,716.7 1,842.12004 and 2005Without standards 0.0 0.0 199.0 47.2 0.0 1,276.9 1,523.1With standards 54.0 37.0 30.6 54.8 6.6 1,998.2 2,181.2Total 54.0 37.0 229.6 102.0 6.6 3,275.1 3,704.3PercentagesWithout standards 0.0 0.0 86.6 46.3 0.0 39.0 41.1With standards 100.0 100.0 13.3 53.7 100.0 61.0 58.926 Energy Information Administration / Annual Energy Outlook 2006