The North American Colloquium (NAC) is a forum that strengthens a wider North American conversation and more fruitful trilateral cooperation between Canada, Mexico and the U.S., led by the International Policy Center at the University of Michigan’s...
This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding a variety of energy issues and policies in their jurisdictions, including the relevance of particular energy policies for their communities, whether the jurisdiction...
A solar project in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula is the first to use state grant funding to clean up contaminated industrial property. The 500 kilowatt solar installation planned at a vacant eyesore is effectively a pilot project that...
The sprawling Roscoe Wind Complex stretches across four counties and 84,000 acres in West Texas — bigger than five Manhattan islands. Located about three hours west of Fort Worth, it’s comprised of 627 turbines that could generate up to 782...
Approximately three out of every four Americans—76 percent—support hotly debated net energy metering policies, which allow residents with wind turbines and solar panels to sell excess energy back to the grid at retail rates. That’s according to a...
In the near future, the Michigan legislature could redefine ‘renewable energy.’ Barry Rabe discusses the potential ramifications with Kate Abbey-Lambertz of the Huffington Post.
In “Michigan May Redefine Fuel From Burning Tires As Renewable...
Join the students of PUBPOL 750: Renewable Energy Policy at the State & Local Level for a Student Symposium on State & Local Renewable Energy Policy. Students will share their research on the web of state and local policies facilitating and hindering renewable energy deployment in California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming.
Free and Open to the Public Panelists: Eric Lupher, Director of Local Affairs, Citizens Research Council of Michigan Sanya Carley, Assistant Professor, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Thomas P. Lyon, Professor, Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan Abstract Michigan and twenty-eight other states have enacted legislation that mandates increases in the amount of electricity that they use from renewable sources.
Gus Cordero*, Kacey Eis*, Cecilia Garibay*, Tyler Orcutt*, University of Michigan
Like many other states, Illinois is moving toward decarbonizing its energy sector. A major part of this effort is shifting to renewable electricity generation. As the nation’s third-largest net electricity supplier, Illinois’ energy sector...
Christian Koch*, Nathan Legault*, Saif Ur Rehman*, Elizabeth Wallace*, University of Michigan
As market forces and policy interventions continue to facilitate a renewable energy transition, U.S. states are increasing their shares of renewable energy technologies. In recent years, Midwest states, such as Michigan – which have historically...
In this memo, we examine the existing ways states have crafted legislation on property taxes for utility-scale solar developments and find two main categories of existing legislation—”exemption or abatement,” and “exemption and replacement.” We...
This study inventories the current property tax treatments for utility-scale wind developments across all 50 states. This inventory was created entirely with publicly available information from a variety of web-based sources and is accurate as of...
As solar development increases, states face new challenges in regulating and taxing solar facilities. To better understand an important piece of the current regulatory landscape for solar, this study inventories property tax treatment for...
Amanda Farthing*, Matilda Kreider*, Bhavesh Rathod*, University of Michigan
In wind and solar resource potential, New Mexico is among the most endowed of the 50 states. While the state’s electricity sector has historically been dominated by coal, the passage of New Mexico’s first Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in 2000,...
This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding a variety of energy issues and policies in their jurisdictions, including the relevance of particular energy policies for their communities, whether the jurisdiction...
New York (NY) is located in the northeastern part of the United States (U.S.) and is home to the largest U.S. city. It is the 4th most populous state and also has the 3rd biggest economy in the U.S. New Yorkers consume less total energy per capita...
As states across the U.S. continue to undergo a vast and seemingly inevitable energy transition (e.g., fossil fuels to renewables), one understudied challenge is ensuring that there is a workforce prepared for this structural shift. This brief...
Christopher Bowman*, Guy Packard*, Zach Pritchard*, University of Michigan
Despite voting Republican in every presidential election since Reagan, Texas was one of the first states to adopt a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and is now ranked third nationally in production of renewable energy, beaten only by California...
Molly Blondell*, Akshat Kasliwal*, Doug Noe*, Owen Watson*, University of Michigan
Californians have a strong history of environmentalism and progressive energy policies, dating back to the days of the gold rush. Some have posited that Californians care so much about the environment because they have had so much to lose from its...
This report presents information from Michigan local government officials regarding local energy issues and policies. In addition, the report looks at local officials’ opinions on environmental leadership in local government. These findings are...
Kseniya Husak*, Jackie Wrage*, Malika Begum*, University of Michigan
The cowboy state of Wyoming more than lives up to its reputation as a rugged, big, beautiful place. Between Yosemite in the West and vast prairies in the East, stupendous mineral deposits and an undeniable presence of grit as well as independence,...
Emily Blackmer*, Katherine Cunningham*, Zoe Fullem*, University of Michigan
With valuable wind and solar energy resources, a history of ranking in the top states for hydroelectric power, and a governor focused on climate change action, Oregon is poised to continue to be a leader in renewable deployment. The current state of...
