North Carolina Becomes 25th State to Enact Renewable Portfolio Standard
On August 20, 2007, Governor Mike Easley of North Carolina signed into law S.L. 2007-397, which establishes a Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard for the state. With enactment of the law, half the U.S. states and the District of Columbia now have mandatory renewable energy standards. Under North Carolina's law, by 2021 electric public utilities must meet 12.5% of retail electricity demand through renewable energy or energy efficiency measures, and electric membership corporations and municipalities that sell electric power in the state would have to meet a standard of 10 percent by 2018. Resources that can be used to meet the standard include solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, geothermal energy, ocean current or wave energy, biomass resources, and energy efficiency measures. The law also includes provisions to encourage the use of solar energy, swine and poultry wastes, as well as implementation of energy efficiency programs.