Energy-based economic development (EBED) can provide economic, social and environmental benefits related to national economic development and sustainable growth activities. As both policy and research interests in responsible mechanisms for economic development grow, EBED benefits are becoming...

This paper assesses the market developments in North Carolina's solar energy industry following the state's adoption of a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). It first reviews how solar renewable electricity certificates (SRECs) are intended to act as a support mechanism for the installation and...

Energy-based economic development (EBED) can provide economic, social, and environmental benefits, such as job creation, industry development, and alternative energy deployment. The United States has recently devoted substantial financial support to EBED efforts. Although early assessments of...

Over the past decade and a half, state governments have assumed greater responsibility over demand-side management (DSM) operations. Whereas DSM programs formerly were initiated primarily by utilities or state public utility commissions, they are now becoming increasingly state-initiated and...

State governments have taken the lead on U.S. energy and climate policy. It is not yet clear, however, whether state energy policy portfolios can generate results in a similar magnitude or manner to their presumed carbon mitigation potential. This article seeks to address this lack of policy...

The U.S. coal industry has experienced economic decline over the past several decades, which has resulted in a loss of mining jobs and severe economic hardship in many coal communities. Recent efforts to relax environmental regulations are ostensibly intended to help relieve this hardship and to...

The literature on energy transitions tends to focus on forces operating within entire sectors or across multiple sectors, and usually at the national or international-level. This focus can disguise the fact that transitions often have uneven geographic effects, and specifically adverse...

Roughly 60 per cent of Africans lack access to electricity, negatively impacting development opportunities. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have started promoting distributed generation - small-scale, localized electricity generation – to change this situation. Despite widespread need,...

Renewable energy policy has far-reaching implications for national and international economic, environmental, and political sustainability, but thus far within the United States it has been almost entirely the province of state governments. This article examines the factors motivating...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act injected approximately $840 billion into the U.S. economy for job creation, technological advancement, and infrastructure development. This grand experiment of stimulus support targeted education, health care, unemployment assistance, the environment,...