States With Best Renewable Policies in 2010 (USA)

Recently, IREC issued its “top 10 in ’10″ list, highlighting those states that, for better or worse, made headlines for enacting or altering renewable energy policies. Here are the states that made IREC’s “nice” list:

* California, for raising the cap on net metering under Assembly Bill 510

* Colorado, for boosting its renewable energy standard for investor-owned utilities to 30 percent from 20 percent, by 2020.

* Colorado, for clearing the way for the development of community-based solar installations — or so-called “solar gardens.”

* Hawaii, for making its feed-in tariff program a reality

* Massachusetts, for adding a solar “carveout” to its renewable energy standard. As a result, the state now has a target of nearly 400 megawatts (MW) of solar generating capacity.

* New Jersey, for becoming the first U.S. state to establish a mandatory target for offshore wind in its renewable energy standard policy. The target currently stands at 1,100 MW of offshore wind capacity.

* West Virginia, surprisingly, made the cut for its efforts to boost net metering caps for commercial and industrial customers, to 500 kilowatts (kW) and 2 MW, respectively.

And here are the state’s that made IREC’s “naughty” list:

* Oregon, for cutting its generous Business Energy Tax Credit program.

* Florida, for letting a number of its solar power and renewable energy incentive programs expire.

* Ohio, for suspending funding for solar projects under its Advanced Energy Fund, due to unprecedented demand.

States With Best Renewable Policies in 2010 (USA) >> Offshore Wind