Dive Brief:

• A study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that utilities spent an average extra $0.02/KWh on renewables-generated electricity in 2012. 
• The cost of complying between 2010 and 2012 across the 24 states with renewable portfolio standards was about 1% of retail electricity prices.
• But different states had different outcomes: Oregon actually saved money on renewable energy as it replaced more expensive generation, while Wisconsin had the highest additional cost at $0.044/KWh. 

Dive Insight:

Although there is variation in the cost of compliance, most states have a cap on the additional cost to ratepayers. In Colorado, for example, the cap is 2% of retail utility customer rates.To cover the costs of the state's renewables mandate, Xcel added $1.44 on to electricity rate bills. In all, 24 utilities in eight states added an average surcharge of $1.99 to customer bills in 2012. The costs of compliance could fall, however, as renewables installation and operation costs drop. 

“The takeaways from the study that the costs for meeting the standards have been pretty modest,” study co-author Galen Barbose said. “[G]oing forward meeting the targets will put pressure on compliance costs, but most state’s have some kind of cost containment that will blunt that upward pressure.”