States With Renewable Targets Made Up Over 60 Percent of U.S. Retail Sales in 2018: EIA

States with legally binding renewable energy mandates represented 63 percent of electricity retail sales in the nation, according to a Feb. 27 article from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, highlighting the potential impact that more ambitious green energy goals can have on the U.S. energy mix.

State renewable portfolio standards, which require utilities and suppliers to source a percentage of energy sales from renewable energy technologies, have been an important policy tool for more than a decade. In all, 37 states and Washington, D.C. have established RPS or voluntary targets. With the federal government gutting environmental policies and continuing to favor a return to coal, the fight against climate change has been largely left to individual states and competition is now fierce for the most ambitious emission-free energy targets.

Already in 2018 there were some major renewable energy commitments. In September, California famously enacted legislation (SB 100) that reinforced the state’s clean energy leadership with a goal of procuring 100 percent of its electricity from renewable and zero-carbon resources by 2045, while boosting the renewable portfolio standard from 50 to 60 percent by 2030. The District of Columbia has joined the bandwagon with the approval of a bill (B22-0904) in December that doubles the renewable energy portfolio standard to 100 percent by 2032

Following the 2018 Midterms, Democratic governors were elected in six states, ranging from Maine to New Mexico, who ran on campaigns to pursue more ambitious renewable energy goals. This political shift points to new, far-reaching policies that may be in store for states like Connecticut, Colorado and Illinois, which will feature Democratic governors who campaigned for 100-percent renewable targets presiding over state legislatures now also controlled by the left.