Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel: Renewable Electricity Markets: Analyzing the Role of Credit Exchanges, Social Risk, and Policy Interactions

(Natural Resource Security, Energy and Environmental Policy)

This panel will focus on renewable electricity development in both the U.S. and global context. All three papers evaluate what drives renewable electricity development and deployment, but each applies a different focus to this topic. The first paper considers markets for renewable energy credits in the U.S. that are exchanged in compliance with state renewable portfolio standards. In this paper, the authors evaluate whether REC transactions are expanding renewable energy development and whether in-state or out-of-state RECs are more influential. The second and third papers focus on two of the most popular renewable electricity policies used across the world: the renewable portfolio standard and the feed-in tariff. The first of these papers is a comparative policy analysis that considers the social risks associated with these two policies, and how such risk factors into renewable electricity market developments. The second of these two papers draws on interviews conducted in the U.S. and Germany over the past two years on the design and perceived effects and effectiveness of the renewable portfolio standard and the feed-in tariff. The final paper considers one type of renewable electricity in particular—that which is produced by solar photovoltaic technologies—and also evaluates the role of risks and benefits inherent in different renewable energy policy mechanisms. This fourth paper also takes a comparative approach to analyze which U.S. state-level policy instruments are more likely to drive residential and business uptake of solar photovoltaics. The discussant will follow the presentation of these three papers with remarks on how these three papers may contribute to our broader understanding of renewable electricity markets and the role of government regulations and incentives. The complete panel provides a mix of scholars from across several disciplines: public policy, economics, and law. The panel also represents a range of methodological approaches to the topic of renewable energy markets. This diverse range of perspectives and approaches should make for a dynamic discussion.