IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v34y2015icp19-29.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Clean-energy policies and electricity sector carbon emissions in the U.S. states

Author

Listed:
  • Yi, Hongtao

Abstract

State governments in the United States have enacted various clean-energy policies to decarbonize electric utilities, diversify energy supplies, and stimulate economic development. With a panel data set for 48 continental states from 1990 to 2008, fixed-effect panel regressions are estimated to test the impacts of clean-energy policies on total carbon emissions, electricity consumption, and carbon intensity. The results indicate that supply-side policy tools, such as RPS and EERS, are negatively correlated with carbon intensity in the electricity sector. More aggressive policies are needed to reduce total carbon emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:34:y:2015:i:c:p:19-29
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2015.04.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178715300023
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2015.04.001?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Ming-Yuan & Alavalapati, Janaki R.R. & Carter, Douglas R. & Langholtz, Matthew H., 2007. "Is the choice of renewable portfolio standards random?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5571-5575, November.
    2. Han, Xiaoli & Chatterjee, Lata, 1997. "Impacts of growth and structural change on CO2 emissions of developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 395-407, March.
    3. Chen, Cliff & Wiser, Ryan & Mills, Andrew & Bolinger, Mark, 2009. "Weighing the costs and benefits of state renewables portfolio standards in the United States: A comparative analysis of state-level policy impact projections," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 552-566, April.
    4. Ang, B.W & Zhang, F.Q & Choi, Ki-Hong, 1998. "Factorizing changes in energy and environmental indicators through decomposition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 489-495.
    5. Ang, B. W., 1999. "Is the energy intensity a less useful indicator than the carbon factor in the study of climate change?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(15), pages 943-946, December.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. James W. Stoutenborough & Matthew Beverlin, 2008. "Encouraging Pollution‐Free Energy: The Diffusion of State Net Metering Policies," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1230-1251, December.
    9. Jiusto, Scott, 2006. "The differences that methods make: Cross-border power flows and accounting for carbon emissions from electricity use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(17), pages 2915-2928, November.
    10. Laurent Viguier, 1999. "Emissions of SO2, NOx and CO2 in Transition Economies: Emission Inventories and Divisia Index Analysis," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 59-87.
    11. Brennan, Timothy J. & Palmer, Karen L., 2013. "Energy efficiency resource standards: Economics and policy," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 58-68.
    12. Jiusto, Scott, 2008. "An indicator framework for assessing US state carbon emissions reduction efforts (with baseline trends from 1990 to 2001)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 2234-2252, June.
    13. Carley, Sanya, 2009. "State renewable energy electricity policies: An empirical evaluation of effectiveness," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3071-3081, August.
    14. Yi, Hongtao, 2014. "Green businesses in a clean energy economy: Analyzing drivers of green business growth in U.S. states," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 922-929.
    15. He, Xian & Keyaerts, Nico & Azevedo, Isabel & Meeus, Leonardo & Hancher, Leigh & Glachant, Jean-Michel, 2013. "How to engage consumers in demand response: A contract perspective," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 108-122.
    16. Denny Ellerman, 2012. "Is Conflating Climate with Energy Policy a Good Idea?," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    17. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2008. "An Empirical Analysis of Energy Intensity and Its Determinants at the State Level," The Energy Journal, , vol. 29(3), pages 1-26, July.
    18. 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.
    19. William Drummond, 2010. "Statehouse Versus Greenhouse," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(4), pages 413-433.
    20. Barry G. Rabe, 2008. "States on Steroids: The Intergovernmental Odyssey of American Climate Policy," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 25(2), pages 105-128, March.
    21. Fagiani, Riccardo & Richstein, Jörn C. & Hakvoort, Rudi & De Vries, Laurens, 2014. "The dynamic impact of carbon reduction and renewable support policies on the electricity sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 28-41.
    22. Greening, Lorna A. & Davis, William B. & Schipper, Lee, 1998. "Decomposition of aggregate carbon intensity for the manufacturing sector: comparison of declining trends from 10 OECD countries for the period 1971-1991," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 43-65, February.
    23. Li, Hui & Yi, Hongtao, 2014. "Multilevel governance and deployment of solar PV panels in U.S. cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 19-27.
    24. Hongtao Yi & Richard C. Feiock, 2012. "Policy Tool Interactions and the Adoption of State Renewable Portfolio Standards," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 29(2), pages 193-206, March.
    25. Sun, J.W. & Malaska, P., 1998. "CO2 emission intensities in developed countries 1980–1994," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 105-112.
    26. Yi, Hongtao, 2013. "Clean energy policies and green jobs: An evaluation of green jobs in U.S. metropolitan areas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 644-652.
    27. 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.
    28. Busch, Timo & Weinhofer, Georg & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2011. "The carbon performance of the 100 largest US electricity producers," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 95-103, June.
    29. Byrne, John & Hughes, Kristen & Rickerson, Wilson & Kurdgelashvili, Lado, 2007. "American policy conflict in the greenhouse: Divergent trends in federal, regional, state, and local green energy and climate change policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 4555-4573, September.
    30. Cristina E. Ciocirlan, 2008. "Analysing preferences towards economic incentives in combating climate change: a comparative analysis of US states," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(6), pages 548-568, November.
    31. Delmas, Magali A. & Montes-Sancho, Maria J., 2011. "U.S. state policies for renewable energy: Context and effectiveness," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2273-2288, May.
    32. Chandler, Jess, 2009. "Trendy solutions: Why do states adopt Sustainable Energy Portfolio Standards?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3274-3281, August.
    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. Ettore Bompard & Daniele Grosso & Tao Huang & Francesco Profumo & Xianzhang Lei & Duo Li, 2018. "World Decarbonization through Global Electricity Interconnections," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-29, July.
    2. Brown, Marilyn A. & Li, Yufei & Soni, Anmol, 2020. "Are all jobs created equal? Regional employment impacts of a U.S. carbon tax," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    3. Rountree, Valerie, 2019. "Nevada's experience with the Renewable Portfolio Standard," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 279-291.
    4. Ping Wang & Bangzhu Zhu, 2016. "Estimating the Contribution of Industry Structure Adjustment to the Carbon Intensity Target: A Case of Guangdong," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-11, April.
    5. Jinying Li & Jianfeng Shi & Jinchao Li, 2016. "Exploring Reduction Potential of Carbon Intensity Based on Back Propagation Neural Network and Scenario Analysis: A Case of Beijing, China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-17, August.
    6. Zhang, Hongwu & Shi, Xunpeng & Cheong, Tsun Se & Wang, Keying, 2020. "Convergence of carbon emissions at the household level in China: A distribution dynamics approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Melikoglu, Mehmet, 2017. "Pumped hydroelectric energy storage: Analysing global development and assessing potential applications in Turkey based on Vision 2023 hydroelectricity wind and solar energy targets," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 146-153.
    8. Hongwu Zhang & Lequan Zhang & Keying Wang & Xunpeng Shi, 2019. "Unveiling Key Drivers of Indirect Carbon Emissions of Chinese Older Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-17, October.
    9. Yi, Hongtao & Feiock, Richard C. & Berry, Frances S., 2017. "Overcoming collective action barriers to energy sustainability: A longitudinal study of climate protection accord adoption by local governments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 339-346.
    10. Wang, Yongpei & Li, Jun, 2019. "Spatial spillover effect of non-fossil fuel power generation on carbon dioxide emissions across China's provinces," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 317-330.
    11. 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.
    12. Youhyun Lee & Inseok Seo, 2019. "Sustainability of a Policy Instrument: Rethinking the Renewable Portfolio Standard in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, May.
    13. Zhang, Pan & Wang, Huan, 2022. "Do provincial energy policies and energy intensity targets help reduce CO2 emissions? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    14. Zhang, Xiaoling & Wang, Yue, 2017. "How to reduce household carbon emissions: A review of experience and policy design considerations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 116-124.
    15. Cheng, Quan & Yi, Hongtao, 2017. "Complementarity and substitutability: A review of state level renewable energy policy instrument interactions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 683-691.
    16. 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).
    17. Asane-Otoo, Emmanuel, 2016. "Competition policies and environmental quality: Empirical analysis of the electricity sector in OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 212-223.
    18. 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.

    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. Cheng, Quan & Yi, Hongtao, 2017. "Complementarity and substitutability: A review of state level renewable energy policy instrument interactions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 683-691.
    2. Rountree, Valerie, 2019. "Nevada's experience with the Renewable Portfolio Standard," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 279-291.
    3. Bae, Hyunhoe & Yu, Sanguk, 2018. "Information and coercive regulation: The impact of fuel mix information disclosure on states’ adoption of renewable energy policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 151-159.
    4. Armstrong, John H., 2019. "Modeling effective local government climate policies that exceed state targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 15-26.
    5. 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.
    6. Daniel J Pastor, 2020. "The effects of renewables portfolio standards on renewable energy generation," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(3), pages 2121-2133.
    7. 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.
    8. Yi, Hongtao, 2014. "Green businesses in a clean energy economy: Analyzing drivers of green business growth in U.S. states," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 922-929.
    9. Kim, Serena Y., 2020. "Institutional arrangements and airport solar PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    10. Trachtman, Samuel, 2020. "What drives climate policy adoption in the U.S. states?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    11. Don Fullerton & Chi L. Ta, 2022. "What Determines Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Standards? General Equilibrium Analytical Model and Empirical Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9565, CESifo.
    12. Prasad, Monica & Munch, Steven, 2012. "State-level renewable electricity policies and reductions in carbon emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 237-242.
    13. Côme Billard & Anna Creti & Antoine Mandel, 2020. "How Environmental Policies Spread? A Network Approach to Diffusion in the U.S," Working Papers 2020.12, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    14. 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.
    15. 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).
    16. Upton, Gregory B. & Snyder, Brian F., 2015. "Renewable energy potential and adoption of renewable portfolio standards," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 67-70.
    17. 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.
    18. Taedong Lee, 2017. "The effect of clean energy regulations and incentives on green jobs: panel analysis of the United States, 1998–2007," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(3), pages 145-155, August.
    19. Li, Hui & Yi, Hongtao, 2014. "Multilevel governance and deployment of solar PV panels in U.S. cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 19-27.
    20. Yi, Hongtao & Feiock, Richard C. & Berry, Frances S., 2017. "Overcoming collective action barriers to energy sustainability: A longitudinal study of climate protection accord adoption by local governments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 339-346.

    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:eee:juipol:v:34:y:2015:i:c:p:19-29. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    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.