Proposed Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 Raises Opportunities as well as Questions

As election year politics compound the complexity of U.S. energy policy-making, clean power market players face questions about the future of existing policies and the prospects for new ones. Federal investment and tax-based support is expiring; state RPS programs are under attack; climate change legislation has failed; and low power prices are cutting into margins for renewable energy developers and fossil-power generators alike. This issue brief examines the latest significant proposal, the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 (S. 2146), reviews key findings from M.J. Bradley & Associates (MJB&A) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analyses, and identifies questions to be addressed in future discussions.