After the adoption of Renewable Portfolio Standards: Go greener or back to grey?

Abstract

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) is a state-level policy that mandates renewable energy supply or sales goals in the U.S. In some states like California, Hawaii, and Oregon, renewable energy production goals have become more stringent since adoption and 50% or more electricity is projected to come from renewable energy sources in these states. In contrast, Ohio, Kansas, and West Virginia retracted or even repealed their RPS policies. Less is known, however, about the determinants of post-RPS adoption decisions relative to the amount of empirical and theoretical knowledge accumulated on the drivers of RPS policy adoption. Accordingly, this study conducted a cross-case analysis in order to explore the drivers of RPS repeal in West Virginia and RPS expansion in Oregon through semi-structured interviews of state legislators, secondary data, and literature review. Findings indicate that state government ideology frames views about environmental and economic issues and the effectiveness of RPS, and ultimately guide the directions of policy revisions. More specifically, West Virginia’s RPS repeal effort was initiated by Republican state legislators who were determined to terminate RPS since the beginning of the new legislative session. On the other hand, RPS expansion in Oregon was the output of strategic negotiation between two parties and largely driven by a bottom-up effort from cities and counties, citizens, and environmental organizations.