scholarly journals Navigating the Winds of Change

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-363
Author(s):  
Dennis W. Donley ◽  
Stephanie S. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Utility ◽  
Wind Generation ◽  
Renewable Portfolio Standard ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Wind Energy Generation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Public Utility Commission ◽  
Generation Capacity

The State of Texas leads the United States in wind energy generation capacity—it has more than twice the wind generation capacity of the next-closest state, California. If Texas was an independent nation, it would rank sixth in the world in total installed wind capacity. Texas has a rich history of legislation and regulatory effort to thank for these statistics, which reflects the knowledge that energy and infrastructure drive the economy. Starting in 1999, Texas became one of the first states to enact a Renewable Portfolio Standard (“RPS”). The RPS set a state-wide goal for new renewable energy installation with deadlines for when that goal was to be met. In addition to passing an RPS, Texas also created Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (“CREZs”). CREZs are areas of Texas that have been designated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (“PUCT”) to receive special benefits for wind transmission and development due to their strong wind resources and large financial commitments in the region by wind developers. These programs, and several others, have helped the wind industry in Texas grow exponentially to continually reach the goals set out by the RPS long before deadlines arrive. In fact, on a recent day towards the end of March, wind generation accounted for 29% of the electricity used by most Texans.

Policy Feedback Takes Hold

2020 ◽  
pp. 108-124
Author(s):  
Leah Cardamore Stokes
Keyword(s):  
Wind Energy ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early History ◽  
Renewable Portfolio Standard ◽  
Policy Feedback ◽  
The Public ◽  
Windows Of Opportunity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Clean Energy Policy

Chapter 4 examines one of the earliest renewable energy laws in the United States: Texas’s renewable portfolio standard, enacted under then-governor George W. Bush in 1999. This chapter provides the early history of clean energy leadership in Texas, when wind energy grew rapidly. Relying on original archival research and primary interviews, it explains why Texas acted on clean energy before California and other more progressive states. It shows how savvy advocates used public opinion to drive policy change during windows of opportunity. More broadly, this case reveals a classic positive feedback dynamic: a growing wind energy sector increased its influence over the legislature and successfully expanded clean energy policy. Here, advocates relied on the fog of enactment to get a clean energy target and an ambitious infrastructure spending bill passed in the legislature. They also worked through the public to convince legislators that clean energy leadership was important for Texans.

Shooting for Perfection: Hawaii’s Goal of 100% Renewable Energy Use

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Barry D. Solomon ◽  
Adam M. Wellstead
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Population Distribution ◽  
The United States ◽  
Renewable Portfolio Standard ◽  
Renewable Energy Resources ◽  
Almost All

In the United States, 29 states, Washington, D.C. and three territories have adopted a mandatory Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for their electric power systems, while eight states and one territory have set renewable energy goals. Many foreign nations have adopted an RPS as well. Thus far, almost all RPSs across the United States have met their interim goals with targets and timetables that vary widely. Hawaii’s RPS is the most ambitious, with a 100% target set for 2045 (though Vermont set a 75% target for 2032). This paper provides a case study of the Hawai’i RPS. The paper focuses on geographical issues and perspectives that may tease out the course of the states’ electricity future: sensitivity to climate change, population distribution, interisland rivalries, as well as the need for greater energy storage and complementary policies. An important complexity is the challenge of meeting electricity demand on six separate Hawaiian Islands (because of the lack of an interisland transmission cable), although all of them have substantial renewable energy resources.

scholarly journals Thirty states of renewability: Controversial energies and the politics of incumbent industry

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110063
Author(s):  
Ingrid Behrsin ◽  
Sarah Knuth ◽  
Anthony Levenda
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Industrial Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Industrial Wastes ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Renewable Portfolio Standard ◽  
Renewable Portfolio Standards ◽  
Value Capture

Renewable energy advocates have positioned a wide array of technologically novel energy sources as fossil fuel alternatives. These efforts to usher in renewable energy transitions have long been shaped by definitional contestations. Political ecological scholarship tells us that such definitions are meaningful. Indeed, labeling energy sources as renewable has become a power-laden act, which may spark innovation, yet simultaneously creates openings for problematic classifications and unjust socio-ecological relations. However, we still know too little about how such classification politics are taking shape within green industrial policy formation; particularly, how they encounter incumbent industries and industrial regions. In this paper, we argue that these theoretical questions are crucial for an emerging industrial political ecology and explore three recent developments in the US context. A country that has notoriously avoided open and coordinated national industrial policy, the United States has approached the renewable energy economy in a similarly geographically fragmented fashion. We highlight a central yet under-examined tool in US energy-industrial policy: the renewable portfolio standard. Mandated by 30 states, renewable portfolio standards are the US’s central mechanism for renewable energy procurement—yet renewable portfolio standards diverge substantially from state to state in terms of the energy sources they classify and incentivize as renewable. We argue that industrial interests and state governments have together capitalized upon renewable portfolio standards’ malleability to support regionally significant sectors, including “dirty” industries and industrial wastes. These industries, often controversially, thereby position themselves for rebranding and new forms of value capture.

Green Energy from Garbage? A Case Study of Municipal Solid Waste’s Contested Inclusion in Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ingrid Behrsin
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Renewable Portfolio Standard ◽  
Policy Tools ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
The U.S

Renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) are powerful state-level climate policy tools that set minimum renewable energy targets. They have been adopted by 29 states, in the United States (U.S.) as well as Washington, D.C., and have fueled much of the growth in the U.S. renewable energy sector. However, because these policy tools are state-driven, the technologies and fuel types included in each state’s RPS vary. In this article, I discuss the inclusion of municipal solid waste in Maryland’s RPS, and a social movement for environmental justice that has emerged around this decision. Given the prominence of RPSs in both fueling renewable energy adoption in the U.S., as well as in encouraging particular technologies, it is increasingly important to interrogate the types of technologies and fuel sources that climate policies like RPSs incentivize, and how they are received by the communities for which they are proposed. Thus, this article’s objective is to inspire critical thought about the classification schemes that govern renewable energy production.

Dual Distribution Systems: The Public Utility Perspective

1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 343-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Water Reuse ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Population Expansion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Utility ◽  
Water Demands ◽  
History Of ◽  
Local Officials ◽  
The City

Diminishing water resources are a worldwide problem. Many countries face serious water supply issues in the near future. The United States has not escaped the problem of providing adequate water for its needs. Rapid population expansion in semi-arid locales, and growth in areas where groundwater resources are sensitive to saltwater intrusion have forced local officials to search for alternatives to satisfy a growing demand for water. The City of St Petersburg, Florida, developed and is operating one of the world's largest urban water reuse systems. The program has been very successful in reducing potable water demands. The city has learned a great deal during the past fourteen years that the system has been in service. The purpose of this paper is to share the history of the development of the St Petersburg Water Reuse System and what has been learned during its operation.

Special Considerations for Evaluation and Treatment of Spanish-Speaking Patients with Cleft Palate

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 41-49
Author(s):  
Ellen Moore
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Culturally Competent ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Oral Pressure ◽  
Language Pathology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Spanish Speaking Population

As the Spanish-speaking population in the United States continues to grow, there is increasing need for culturally competent and linguistically appropriate treatment across the field of speech-language pathology. This paper reviews information relevant to the evaluation and treatment of Spanish-speaking and Spanish-English bilingual children with a history of cleft palate. The phonetics and phonology of Spanish are reviewed and contrasted with English, with a focus on oral pressure consonants. Cultural factors and bilingualism are discussed briefly. Finally, practical strategies for evaluation and treatment are presented. Information is presented for monolingual and bilingual speech-language pathologists, both in the community and on cleft palate teams.

State-by-State Use of AMA Guides

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 3-7, 16
Keyword(s):  
Expert Testimony ◽  
Narrow Range ◽  
The United States ◽  
Workers Compensation ◽  
Federal Employees ◽  
Permanent Disability ◽  
Sixth Edition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Canadian Provinces

Abstract This article presents a history of the origins and development of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), from the publication of an article titled “A Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment of the Extremities and Back” (1958) until a compendium of thirteen guides was published in book form in 1971. The most recent, sixth edition, appeared in 2008. Over time, the AMA Guides has been widely used by US states for workers’ compensation and also by the Federal Employees Compensation Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, as well as by Canadian provinces and other jurisdictions around the world. In the United States, almost twenty states have developed some form of their own impairment rating system, but some have a narrow range and scope and advise evaluators to consult the AMA Guides for a final determination of permanent disability. An evaluator's impairment evaluation report should clearly document the rater's review of prior medical and treatment records, clinical evaluation, analysis of the findings, and a discussion of how the final impairment rating was calculated. The resulting report is the rating physician's expert testimony to help adjudicate the claim. A table shows the edition of the AMA Guides used in each state and the enabling statute/code, with comments.

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