IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/revpol/v38y2021i2p146-163.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Renewable Portfolio Standards: Do Voluntary Goals vs. Mandatory Standards Make a Difference?

Author

Listed:
  • Barry D. Solomon
  • Shan Zhou

Abstract

This research investigates whether an obligation to meet a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) target in U.S. states affects the policy effectiveness, which is defined as the RPS‐related renewable electricity capacity additions. A voluntary RPS target can serve as a political device for signaling commitment to certain goals, though there is no penalty if the goal is not met. Alternatively, mandatory RPS targets have varying stringency and uneven enforcement. Our results indicate that the compulsoriness of a state RPS is an insignificant determinant of RPS‐related renewable electricity capacity additions. Factors other than whether an RPS target or goal is compulsory are more important in influencing renewable electricity development, including policy stringency. If a state seeks a modest level of renewable electricity development, setting a voluntary goal can sometimes be effective and more efficient. Nonetheless, a mandatory RPS may be required to accomplish a more significant level of renewable electricity deployment. 本研究调查了对达成美国各州可再生能源配额制（RPS）目标所负有的义务是否会影响政策有效性，这种政策有效性被定义为与RPS相关的可再生电力容量增加量（renewable electricity capacity additions）。自愿的RPS目标能充当一种对某些目标预示承诺的政治手段，尽管当无法实现目标时也不存在任何惩罚。另一种方式则是强制性RPS目标，这种目标拥有不同程度的严苛性和不均衡的执行。我们的结果显示，各州RPS的强制性并不能显著决定与RPS相关的可再生电力容量增加量。除去RPS目标是否具有强制性这一因素，其他因素在影响可再生电力发展一事上更为重要，包括政策严苛性（policy stringency）。如果一个州寻求适当程度的可再生电力发展，设定一个自愿目标有时能发挥有效性并更高效。尽管如此，可能要求执行强制性RPS，以期实现更高程度的可再生电力发展。 Esta investigación investiga si la obligación de cumplir con un objetivo del Estándar de cartera renovable (RPS) en los estados de EE. UU. Afecta la efectividad de la política, que se define como las adiciones de capacidad de electricidad renovable relacionadas con RPS. Un objetivo voluntario de RPS puede servir como un dispositivo político para señalar el compromiso con ciertos objetivos, aunque no hay penalización si no se cumple el objetivo. Alternativamente, los objetivos de RPS obligatorios tienen un rigor variable y una aplicación desigual. Nuestros resultados indican que la obligatoriedad de un RPS estatal es un determinante insignificante de las adiciones de capacidad de electricidad renovable relacionadas con el RPS. Otros factores además de si un objetivo o meta de RPS es obligatorio son más importantes para influir en el desarrollo de la electricidad renovable, incluida la rigurosidad de las políticas. Si un estado busca un nivel modesto de desarrollo de electricidad renovable, establecer una meta voluntaria a veces puede ser efectivo y más eficiente. No obstante, es posible que se requiera un RPS obligatorio para lograr un nivel más significativo de despliegue de electricidad renovable.

Suggested Citation

  • Barry D. Solomon & Shan Zhou, 2021. "Renewable Portfolio Standards: Do Voluntary Goals vs. Mandatory Standards Make a Difference?," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 38(2), pages 146-163, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revpol:v:38:y:2021:i:2:p:146-163
    DOI: 10.1111/ropr.12424
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12424
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ropr.12424?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sanya Carley, 2012. "A Clean Energy Standard: Experience from the States," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 29(2), pages 301-307, March.
    2. Barbose, Galen & Wiser, Ryan & Heeter, Jenny & Mai, Trieu & Bird, Lori & Bolinger, Mark & Carpenter, Alberta & Heath, Garvin & Keyser, David & Macknick, Jordan & Mills, Andrew & Millstein, Dev, 2016. "A retrospective analysis of benefits and impacts of U.S. renewable portfolio standards," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 645-660.
    3. Wu, JunJie & Babcock, Bruce A., 1999. "The Relative Efficiency of Voluntary vs Mandatory Environmental Regulations," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 158-175, September.
    4. Nicole Darnall & Joann Carmin, 2005. "Greener and cleaner? The signaling accuracy of U.S. voluntary environmental programs," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 38(2), pages 71-90, September.
    5. Sung Eun Kim & Joonseok Yang & Johannes Urpelainen, 2016. "Does Power Sector Deregulation Promote or Discourage Renewable Energy Policy? Evidence from the States, 1991–2012," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 33(1), pages 22-50, January.
    6. Severin Borenstein & Stephen Holland, 2005. "On the Efficiency of Competitive Electricity Markets with Time-Invariant Retail Prices," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(3), pages 469-493, Autumn.
    7. Daniel C. Matisoff, 2008. "The Adoption of State Climate Change Policies and Renewable Portfolio Standards: Regional Diffusion or Internal Determinants?," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 25(6), pages 527-546, December.
    8. Chiara Criscuolo & Ralf Martin & Henry G. Overman & John Van Reenen, 2019. "Some Causal Effects of an Industrial Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(1), pages 48-85, January.
    9. Sardianou, E. & Genoudi, P., 2013. "Which factors affect the willingness of consumers to adopt renewable energies?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-4.
    10. Matthew Potoski & Aseem Prakash, 2005. "Green Clubs and Voluntary Governance: ISO 14001 and Firms' Regulatory Compliance," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(2), pages 235-248, April.
    11. Rader, Nancy A. & Norgaard, Richard B., 1996. "Efficiency and sustainability in restructured electricity markets: the renewables portfolio standard," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 9(6), pages 37-49, July.
    12. Carley, Sanya, 2009. "State renewable energy electricity policies: An empirical evaluation of effectiveness," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3071-3081, August.
    13. Bird, Lori & Lokey, Elizabeth, 2008. "Interaction of Compliance and Voluntary Renewable Energy Markets," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 18-30.
    14. Trachtman, Samuel, 2020. "What drives climate policy adoption in the U.S. states?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    15. Chandler, Jess, 2009. "Trendy solutions: Why do states adopt Sustainable Energy Portfolio Standards?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3274-3281, August.
    16. Jennifer A. Kagan, 2019. "Multiple Streams in Hawaii: How the Aloha State Adopted a 100% Renewable Portfolio Standard," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 36(2), pages 217-241, March.
    17. Sanya Carley & Lincoln L. Davies & David B. Spence & Nikolaos Zirogiannis, 2018. "Empirical evaluation of the stringency and design of renewable portfolio standards," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(9), pages 754-763, September.
    18. Barradale, Merrill Jones, 2010. "Impact of public policy uncertainty on renewable energy investment: Wind power and the production tax credit," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 7698-7709, December.
    19. Malhotra, Neil & Monin, Benoît & Tomz, Michael, 2019. "Does Private Regulation Preempt Public Regulation?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(1), pages 19-37, February.
    20. JunJie Wu & Bruce A. Babcock, 1996. "Relative Efficiency of Voluntary Versus Mandatory Environmental Regulations, The," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 96-wp172, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    21. Hitaj, Claudia, 2013. "Wind power development in the United States," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 394-410.
    22. Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2007. "Public Voluntary Programs Reconsidered," Working Papers 2007-07, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    23. Zhou, Shan & Solomon, Barry D., 2020. "Do renewable portfolio standards in the United States stunt renewable electricity development beyond mandatory targets?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    24. Carolyn Fischer, 2010. "Renewable Portfolio Standards: When Do They Lower Energy Prices?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 101-120.
    25. Upton, Gregory B. & Snyder, Brian F., 2017. "Funding renewable energy: An analysis of renewable portfolio standards," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 205-216.
    26. Stockmayer, Gabriella & Finch, Vanessa & Komor, Paul & Mignogna, Rich, 2012. "Limiting the costs of renewable portfolio standards: A review and critique of current methods," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 155-163.
    27. Gillenwater, Michael & Lu, Xi & Fischlein, Miriam, 2014. "Additionality of wind energy investments in the U.S. voluntary green power market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 452-457.
    28. Cees Van Beers & Jeroen C. J. M. Van Den Bergh, 1997. "An Empirical Multi‐Country Analysis of the Impact of Environmental Regulations on Foreign Trade Flows," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 29-46, February.
    29. Yin, Haitao & Powers, Nicholas, 2010. "Do state renewable portfolio standards promote in-state renewable generation[glottal stop]," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 1140-1149, February.
    30. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell, 2015. "The US Electricity Industry After 20 Years of Restructuring," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 437-463, August.
    31. Thomas P. Lyon & Haitao Yin, 2010. "Why Do States Adopt Renewable Portfolio Standards?: An Empirical Investigation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 133-158.
    32. Rogowski, Jeannette A. & Newhouse, Joseph P., 1992. "Estimating the indirect costs of teaching," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 153-171, August.
    33. B. Howarth, Richard & Haddad, Brent M. & Paton, Bruce, 2000. "The economics of energy efficiency: insights from voluntary participation programs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 477-486, June.
    34. Shrimali, Gireesh & Kniefel, Joshua, 2011. "Are government policies effective in promoting deployment of renewable electricity resources?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 4726-4741, September.
    35. Salim, Ruhul A. & Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa, 2012. "Why do some emerging economies proactively accelerate the adoption of renewable energy?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1051-1057.
    36. Sanya Carley, 2011. "The Era of State Energy Policy Innovation: A Review of Policy Instruments," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 28(3), pages 265-294, May.
    37. Reinhard Schunck, 2013. "Within and between estimates in random-effects models: Advantages and drawbacks of correlated random effects and hybrid models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 13(1), pages 65-76, March.
    38. Berry, Trent & Jaccard, Mark, 2001. "The renewable portfolio standard:: design considerations and an implementation survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 263-277, March.
    39. Nikolay Anguelov & William F. Dooley, 2019. "Renewable Portfolio Standards and Policy Stringency: An Assessment of Implementation and Outcomes," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 36(2), pages 195-216, March.
    40. Bell, Andrew & Jones, Kelvyn, 2015. "Explaining Fixed Effects: Random Effects Modeling of Time-Series Cross-Sectional and Panel Data," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 133-153, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohammed Turki Fayyadh Al-Mahammedi & Mustafa Onat, 2025. "Optimal Siting, Sizing, and Energy Management of Distributed Renewable Generation and Storage Under Atmospheric Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-34, January.
    2. John C. Pierce & Rachel M. Krause & Sarah L. Hofmeyer & Bonnie J. Johnson, 2021. "Explanations for Wind Turbine Installations: Local and Global Environmental Concerns in the Central Corridor of the United States?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-11, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhou, Shan & Solomon, Barry D., 2021. "The interplay between renewable portfolio standards and voluntary green power markets in the United States," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 720-729.
    2. Zhou, Shan & Solomon, Barry D., 2020. "Do renewable portfolio standards in the United States stunt renewable electricity development beyond mandatory targets?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    3. Rountree, Valerie, 2019. "Nevada's experience with the Renewable Portfolio Standard," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 279-291.
    4. Don Fullerton & Chi L. Ta, 2025. "What Determines Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Standards? General Equilibrium Analytical Model and Empirical Analysis," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(1), pages 65-103.
    5. Payne, James E. & Saunoris, James W. & Nazlioglu, Saban & Smyth, Russell, 2024. "Renewable energy production across U.S. states: Convergence or divergence?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    6. Kim, Jung Eun & Tang, Tian, 2020. "Preventing early lock-in with technology-specific policy designs: The Renewable Portfolio Standards and diversity in renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    7. Daniel J Pastor, 2020. "The effects of renewables portfolio standards on renewable energy generation," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(3), pages 2121-2133.
    8. Parrish Bergquist & Christopher Warshaw, 2023. "How climate policy commitments influence energy systems and the economies of US states," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Sugimoto, Kota, 2019. "Does transmission unbundling increase wind power generation in the United States?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 307-316.
    10. Barbose, Galen & Bird, Lori & Heeter, Jenny & Flores-Espino, Francisco & Wiser, Ryan, 2015. "Costs and benefits of renewables portfolio standards in the United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 523-533.
    11. Sojin Jang & Hongtao Yi, 2022. "Organized elite power and clean energy: A study of negative policy experimentations with renewable portfolio standards," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 39(1), pages 8-31, January.
    12. Upton, Gregory B. & Snyder, Brian F., 2017. "Funding renewable energy: An analysis of renewable portfolio standards," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 205-216.
    13. Fan, Jing-Li & Wang, Jia-Xing & Hu, Jia-Wei & Yang, Yang & Wang, Yu, 2021. "Will China achieve its renewable portfolio standard targets? An analysis from the perspective of supply and demand," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    14. Wei, Shuni & Yuan, Peng & Yu, Renjie, 2025. "Can renewable portfolio standard promote renewable energy capacity utilization? Empirical evidence from China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    15. Karen Maguire & Abdul Munasib, 2015. "The Disparate Influence of State Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) on U.S. Renewable Electricity Generation Capacity," Economics Working Paper Series 1502, Oklahoma State University, Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business, revised Feb 2015.
    16. Prasad, Monica & Munch, Steven, 2012. "State-level renewable electricity policies and reductions in carbon emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 237-242.
    17. Karen Maguire & Abdul Munasib, 2016. "The Disparate Influence of State Renewable Portfolio Standards on Renewable Electricity Generation Capacity," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 92(3), pages 468-490.
    18. Yi, Hongtao, 2015. "Clean-energy policies and electricity sector carbon emissions in the U.S. states," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 19-29.
    19. Schelly, Chelsea, 2014. "Implementing renewable energy portfolio standards: The good, the bad, and the ugly in a two state comparison," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 543-551.
    20. Derek Glasgow & Shuang Zhao & Saatvika Rai, 2021. "Rethinking Climate Change Leadership: An Analysis of the Ambitiousness of State GHG Targets," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 38(4), pages 398-426, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:revpol:v:38:y:2021:i:2:p:146-163. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ipsonea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.