WASHINGTON, March 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- The Clean
Energy Solutions Center, an initiative of the Clean Energy
Ministerial, has released a new report that examines recent
innovations in renewable energy policy. The Next Generation of
Renewable Electricity Policy: How Rapid Change is Breaking Down
Conventional Policy Categories reviews changes in the renewable
energy market that are driving policy innovation, discusses an
emerging breakdown in conventional policy labels, and explores
specific examples of recent policy innovation that can help point
the way toward the next generation of renewable electricity
policies.
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Several key changes are fostering policy innovation. During the
past decade, the role of renewable energy sources has grown
significantly within the global power sector, driven by government
policy, rising energy prices, and declining renewable energy
costs.
"Changes in recent years to both market circumstances and policy
priorities have resulted in numerous policy innovations, including
the emergence of policy hybrids," says Toby
D. Couture, founder and director of E3 Analytics, who also
serves as a Clean Energy Solutions Center policy expert. "By
cracking open the conventional toolbox and combining different
policy design elements in innovative ways, policy makers are
beginning to create a new policy kit, one that is arguably better
adapted to the new market realities."
Although these innovative policies do not fit into traditional
policy categories, they may retain traditional policy labels. In
addition, these labels are no longer being applied in a standard or
uniform manner. In reviewing these changes, the paper concludes
that policy labels themselves are breaking down and evolving and
that, as a result, policy comparisons that rely on the conventional
labels may no longer be appropriate or advisable. Instead, policy
makers should focus on underlying policy design elements and policy
structure.
The breakdown of conventional policy labels represents an
important shift in renewable electricity policy, one that policy
makers, analysts, government officials, and investors around the
world need to better understand.
The paper also explores how recent policy innovation is
illuminating a path toward electricity policy development for the
future energy market. Specific examples focus on three emerging
policy trends: ensuring investor and project size diversity,
addressing socket parity, and integrating renewable electricity
into wholesale markets. As both developed and developing countries
craft renewable electricity policies, they should consider whether
traditional policies make sense or whether new policy innovations
may better respond to their policy priorities.
Read the report: The Next Generation of Renewable Electricity
Policy: How Rapid Change is Breaking Down Conventional Policy
Categories
About the Clean Energy Solutions Center
The Clean Energy Solutions Center provides no-cost policy
assistance, training, and tools to help governments, advisors, and
analysts create policies and programs that advance the deployment
of clean energy technologies. The Solutions Center is co-led and
co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through support from the
U.S. Department of State, and the Australian Department of Industry
and Science. The Solutions Center is an initiative of the Clean
Energy Ministerial, a global forum to share best practices and
promote policies and programs that encourage and facilitate the
transition to a global clean energy economy. For more information,
visit www.cleanenergysolutions.org.
Media Contact: Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat,
Clean Energy Ministerial, +1 202-586-4131,
CEMSecretariat@hq.doe.gov
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SOURCE Clean Energy Solutions Center