Status: Published
Citation Bistline, J; Santen, N; Young, D. 2019. The Economic Geography of Variable Renewable Energy and Impacts of Trade Formulations for Renewable Mandates. Published in RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS 106: 79-96.
This research seeks to understand the costs and value of flexibility provisions for meeting prospective renewable energy mandates and the geographic variation of impacts. EPRI’s U.S. Regional Economy, Greenhouse Gas, and Energy (US-REGEN) model is used to run multiple renewable mandate scenarios with varying flexibility provisions. The results indicate substantial welfare gains from inter-regional electricity and permit trade, but the degree and direction of impact depend on region-specific considerations. Allowing permit trade encourages greater deployment of wind and solar in regions with favorable investment environments and resources, but renewable capacity additions are appreciable in all regions since diminishing marginal returns limit the benefits of overdevelopment in any single region. These insights can help inform utilities, regulators, and other stakeholders to better understand options for inter-state trade towards meeting renewable energy targets.
Link to Journal Publication: RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS.