Renewable Energy Law

Renewable energy law is a particular kind of energy law, and relates primarily to the transactional legal and policy issues that surround the development, implementation, and commercialization of renewable sources of energy, such as solar, wind, geothermal and tidal. Renewable energy (RE) law also relates to the land use, siting, and finance issues encountered by developers of renewable energy projects.

Renewable energy law also encompasses policies that relate to renewable energy and legislative instruments that further encourage its growth. One such form of legislation is feed-in tariffs, which provide economic incentives to the developers of renewable energy projects by setting a fixed price for the sale of energy produced from renewable sources. Feed-in tariff laws also provide financial certainty, are more cost effective and less bureaucratic than other support schemes such as investment or production tax credits, quota based renewable portfolio standards (RPS), and auction mechanisms. In addition, the feed-in tariff generates more competition, more jobs, and more rapid deployment for manufacturing; it also does not pick technological winners, for instance between more mature wind power technology versus solar photovoltaics technology.

The Role of the Sector Regulator is specified in the enabling legislation. For example, regulatory oversight of feed-in tariff programs is essential, whether the price is based on a predetermined number (and with some maximum capacity), an auction/bidding process, or avoided cost. In each case, the regulator monitors activities to ensure abuses do not arise. How external (environmental and health) costs are factored into program evaluation is partly dependent on the enabling legislation (or executive order). If the law establishes Renewable Portfolio Standards, the energy regulator will need to oversee the system and evaluate its effectiveness in meeting RE objectives. Generally, some other agency is responsible for certifying the generators and handling the certification system.

The sector regulator has a number of roles and responsibilities for operationalizing and implementing RE. The policy instruments include those oriented towards prices and quantities. The former (such as Feed-in Tariffs) provide the supplier with certainty regarding price, but the volume depends on whether that price is high or relatively low. The latter includes renewable portfolio standards that require distribution companies to purchase specific quantities of electricity generated by renewable technologies.

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