The Role of State Policy in Renewable Energy Development

This paper quantifies the impact of state-level policies on renewable energy development in order to better understand the role of policy on development and inform policymakers on the policy mechanisms that provide maximum benefit. The results include the identification of connections between state policies and renewable energy development as well as a discussion placing state policy efforts in context with other factors that influence the development of renewable energy, such as federal policy, resource availability, technology cost, and public acceptance.