With so much happening at a state level in solar power and energy efficiency, it is difficult to keep up with the variety of approaches and perspectives. So the Yale Center for Business and the Environment is here to help by launching “States of Clean Energy Innovation,” an online news hub with customized clean energy data and stories about the United States and Puerto Rico. Each state is different. Each state has thoughtful leaders working on our transition to clean energy. And each state deserves its own dashboard.

Integrating socioeconomically inclusive behavior is a strong point of South Carolina’s clean energy programs. Three staffers at South Carolina Energy Office, Energy Policy Analyst Darcy Jones (the primary source), Deputy Director of Energy Maeve Mason, and Energy Specialist Stacey Washington, completed a joint written interview where they shared insights about how to protect low-to-moderate-income consumers.

As Missouri’s clean energy policies go back and forth like a ball in a game, advocates are doing their best to negotiate, said James Owen, executive director of Renew Missouri, in this interview. Net metering and other policies are being actively debated by state decision makers. The outcome is still up in the air.

What kept Governor Rick Snyder (R-Mich.) up all night in December? According to Katie Trachsel, manager of the Michigan Renewable Energy Certification System (MIRECS) program, it was the passage of two pieces of legislation that transformed the state’s renewable energy laws, encouraged energy efficiency, and reshaped utility regulation. Meanwhile, Illinois rolled out its new renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Brian Granahan, chief counsel at Illinois Power Agency, said the RPS was designed to resolve a confusing set of policies. The new goals are clearer and easier to follow than the previous ones.

What is the federal government doing to catalyze access to clean energy? Last year, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) launched two programs that work side by side: the Clean Energy Savings for All initiative and the Clean Energy for Low-Income Communities Accelerator. These programs attempt to identify and promote models that work for low-to-moderate-income communities in urban and rural areas in every region of the country.

Growing momentum for energy efficiency financing in the United States has motivated State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network to conduct around 20 interviews with stakeholders in five states to explore what it takes to make utility-sponsored programs succeed. The research team produced a report that outlines the pitfalls and promises of a wide range of evaluation techniques.

Energy costs can impose a harsh burden on low-income families. Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) is seeking to combat this adversity in 12 states with a combination of private and public funds. It is building up from a base of nonprofit commitment to create more partnerships, expand its work, and reach a large population of tenants and property owners.

Solar installers, residential customers, utilities, and a host of other stakeholders in the residential solar market are waiting for the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) Net Energy Metering successor tariff (NEM 2.0), due by the end of 2015. The issue at hand is whether or not, and to what extent, those without solar are subsidizing those with solar by paying for grid upkeep and modernization. Because utilities fall on one side of the spectrum and nearly everyone else falls on the other, there is no love lost between stakeholders in the industry.

What does an effective energy efficiency financing program look like? On May 31 in San Francisco, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) convened 23 representatives from across the country in a workshop led by Cadmus Group. They explored current challenges facing program designers.

The article below is the executive summary of a research report published by Clean Energy Finance Forum at Yale Center for Business and the Environment. Financing Electric Vehicle Markets in New York and Other States by Marissa Galizia and Eitan Hochster The process of sowing the seeds of electric vehicle infrastructure - and thereby creating a backbone of charging stations that can support these vehicles - is still in its infancy. This report outlines the technologies and business models necessary to ramp up growth in the electric vehicle (EV) market in the United States. It also explores the relationship between...