The term green pricing refers to programs offered by utilities in traditionally regulated electricity markets, which allow customers to support the development of renewable energy sources by paying a small premium on their electric bills. Since the introduction of the concept in the United...

The United States (U.S.) geothermal industry has a 45-year history. Early developments were centered on a geothermal resource in northern California known as The Geysers. Today, most of the geothermal power currently produced in the U.S. is generated in California and Nevada. The majority of...

On December 9, the reference case projections from ''Annual Energy Outlook 2005 (AEO 2005)'' were posted on the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) web site. As some of you may be aware, we at LBNL have in the past compared the EIA's reference case long-term natural gas price forecasts...

As the worldwide use of wind turbine generators in utility-scale applications continues to increase, it will become increasingly important to assess the economic and reliability impact of these intermittent resources. Although the utility industry appears to be moving towards a restructured...

Although small wind turbine technology and economics have improved in recent years, the small wind market in the United States continues to be driven in large part by state incentives, such as cash rebates, favorable loan programs, and tax credits. This paper examines the state-by-state economic...

California's recently enacted Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS, Senate Bill 1078) requires the state's investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to increase the renewable portion of their energy mix, with a goal of 20% renewable energy generation by 2017. Renewable generation projects will compete with...

This paper presents the Concentrating Solar Deployment System Model (CSDS). CSDS is a multiregional, multitime-period, Geographic Information System (GIS), and linear programming model of capacity expansion in the electric sector of the United States. CSDS is designed to address the principal...

Wind is the fastest growing source for electricity in the United States. During 2001, U.S. wind power plant installations are expected to increase by 1,850 megawatts (MW), resulting in a total installed capacity of about 4,400 MW. The market expansion is supported by a variety of Federal and...

This paper focuses on the role of electricity markets and renewable energy regulation in wind development across the United States. My findings, using a random effects Tobit model with a 25-state sample, from 1994-2008, indicate that the implementation of state Renewables Portfolio Standards...