U.S. incentives for energy efficiency and renewables by state 2023
Renewable energy policies – additional informationInvestment in renewable energy worldwide has increased in recent years from some 32 billion U.S. dollars in 2004 to 495 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. As the importance of deploying renewables has become more urgent, countries have begun to develop policies to encourage the development of renewable energy projects.
As of March 2023, California had the highest number of incentives and policies in the United States that were dedicated to renewables and energy efficiency, totaling some 160 regulations. In comparison, Michigan had 48 policies. A large majority of incentives and policies used to promote renewables and energy efficiency in the U.S. are rebate programs, totaling over 1,072 programs.
Based on clean technology policies, California is often considered one of the leaders in the United States. One of the first notable renewable energy incentives to be put in place was the state’s retail rate net metering policy under the California Public Utilities Commission. This incentive has increased California's solar capacity like no other state. Net metering is a type of policy that allows residential and commercial customers who generate their own electricity to feed their unused electricity back into the grid. This electricity provides a credit against periods of time where the consumer’s electricity use exceeds the output of the system. In return, customers must only pay for their net energy consumption.