State demands that production be local conflicts with Commerce Clause
By Jonathan Lesser, Real Clear Wire
Pennsylvania’s renewable energy mandate is finally facing a constitutional test. In a lawsuit filed September 3, West Virginia argues that Pennsylvania’s requirement that many qualifying renewable generators be located within the state violates a basic principle of interstate commerce: states cannot rig markets to favor their own businesses. The case highlights a broader problem with renewable energy mandates: their high cost.
Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia mandate that electric utilities purchase increasing percentages of their customers’ electricity from specific types of ‘green’ generating resources. Qualifying suppliers are issued renewable energy credits, or RECs, which utilities must purchase. Utilities then pass the costs on to consumers.
Most RECs come from wind and solar generation, but some states, including Pennsylvania, allow other resources, such as waste coal and burning garbage. Moreover, solar RECs are often carved out into their own category, called SRECs.
READ MORE>>>>