USA: ACORE Recommends Federal High-Penetration Renewable Energy Standard

Enacting a Federal High-Penetration Renewable Energy Standard (ACORE)

Building on Proposals to Date and Addressing Important Additional Considerations

Following the recent enactment of multiple state-level 100% clean energy standards (CES), and fueled by debate regarding a Green New Deal and other recently introduced federal legislation, policymakers and the public are increasingly interested in national initiatives to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy.

Participants in this conversation cite not only the need for action to avoid increasingly severe impacts from climate change, but also the opportunity for America to increase its twenty-first century global economic competitiveness, to generate good-paying jobs at home, and to provide reliable, resilient, and affordable power.

Building on the proposals described above and in the Appendix, we identify the following as important features of any federal high-penetration RES:

• Qualifying technologies should, at a minimum, include wind, solar, hydropower, ocean, tidal, hydrokinetic, and geothermal energy.
• The required percentage of compliant electricity should be at least 50%, on a timeline consistent with climate commitments, recommendations from scientific experts, and other policy goals.
• Alternative Compliance Payments (ACPs) and penalties should be sufficient to achieve RES objectives.
• A federal high-penetration RES should recognize, build upon, and not preempt successful state renewable energy standards.

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