Chapter 1. Introduction and Background

Across the nation, states are developing and adopt­ ing a variety of clean energy policies and programs to meet energy, economic, and environmental goals. These efforts are significantly increasing end-use energy efficiency, production of renewable energy, and the efficiency of energy generation. They have resulted in substantial energy savings, improved air quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved reliability, and security of the electric grid. They have also enhanced economic development and created new jobs. Clean energy policies and programs with which states now have considerable experience include: • Providing sufficient energy efficiency program funding (through a variety of means) to capture significant portions of the cost-effective energy efficiency potential in the state. • Developing utility incentives and removing disin­ centives to encourage greater utility investment in energy efficiency. • Establishing state-level appliance efficiency stan­ dards for products and equipment. • Establishing or updating residential and commer­ cial building codes and improving building design and operation practices. • Setting electricity portfolio requirements for ener­ gy efficiency, renewable energy, and combined heat and power (CHP) and other clean distributed resources. • Developing electricity market rules that remove obstacles to advanced high-efficiency clean dis­ tributed generation (DG) systems, including CHP. • Leading by example by promoting and investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy for state buildings and facilities, among other initiatives. is a voluntary program designed to help states review and adopt available policies and programs that effectively inte­ grate clean energy into a low-cost, clean, reliable energy system for the state. Clean energy includes energy effi­ ciency and clean energy supply, which includes clean dis­ tributed generation (DG) a. States participating in the Clean Energy-Environment State Partnership Program will use the Guide to Action to devel­ op a Clean Energy-Environment State Action Plan for using existing and new energy policies and programs to increase the use of clean energy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) C Cl le ea an n E En ne er rg gy y-E En nv vi ir ro on nm me en nt t G Gu ui id de e t to o A Ac ct ti io on n identifies and describes 16 clean energy policies and strategies that are delivering economic and environmental results for states. These policies focus on opportunities for homes, public and private organizations, businesses, and electricity genera­ tion. While there are also opportunities for states to pro­ mote clean energy …