According to the Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE), which tracks energy legislation in all 50 states, the most common energy legislation in 2014 relates to changes in PUC procedures, authority and rate recovery.
Examples of legislation in this class include a proposal in West Virginia (HB 2803) to require integrated resource planning and a measure in Virginia (SB 643) relating to the recovery of costs for offshore wind facilities.
As of late February, the AEL Tracker contained 1,268 bills introduced in 2014. CNEE has catalogued the policy topics covered by each of these bills and highlights the 15 most common policy topics introduced this year.
The second most popular category is tax incentives, financing programs, and grants and rebates. Three noteworthy examples include a PACE bill in Hawaii (SB 3110) and a measure to authorize, and provide funding for, on-bill financing programs in Nebraska (LB 978). New York has also introduced a bill (A 8381) to provide tax incentives to banks that provide clean energy loans.
As in 2013, energy efficiency continues to comprise a relatively small portion of introduced advanced energy legislation. While most of the bills in this group address existing state government efforts, a few would create new programs or utility savings goals. For instance, a pair of bills in Mississippi would allow energy savings performance contracting (HB 1438 and SB 2521). Legislators in West Virginia (HB 4367) are considering energy efficiency goals, and in New Jersey (A 2535), a recently introduced proposal would create additional incentives for utility programs.
