IER has prepared the following to assist people to understand what the hurdles are regarding the renewable electricity mandates currently under discussion in various forms.   Because of the language invoked by proponents of the various renewable portfolio standards/renewable electricity standards/renewable electricity mandates, there has been scant attention paid to the scale of the hurdles being proposed in congress or the relative costs associated with overcoming those hurdles.  The interactive tools below will allow an individual to select a state and see what percentage of that state’s energy “counts” towards meeting the new standard.  We think some people will be surprised.

The House and Senate are currently considering proposals to implement a nationwide mandate of anywhere from 15 percent “renewable” electricity to 20 percent “renewable” electricity within less than 20 years.  Because “renewable” electricity sources are uneconomic and extremely costly, they currently supply less than 2.8% of the nation’s electricity, despite decades’ worth of hefty taxpayer subsidies. As you can see from the map below, the cost (and feasibility) of complying with a 15-20 percent “renewable” mandate will vary by state…

How Much of Your State’s Electricity Qualifies as “Renewable” Energy Under the House and Senate proposals for a nationwide “Renewable” Electricity Mandate

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Levelized Costs of New Electricity Generation Technologies

The reason why such a small percentage of our electricity comes from renewables is because renewables are more expensive than conventional coal and natural gas.