Electricity Feed Laws & Feed-in Tariffs

While not exhaustive, this site contains an extensive collection of articles on Feed-in Tariffs, Advanced Renewable Tariffs, Renewable Energy Payments, and what some Americans are calling CLEAN contracts. Learn more about feed-in tariffs and how they have been successful in Europe, and how they can benefit North Americans.

What are Feed-in Tariffs?

Feed-in tariffs are simply payments per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated by a renewable resource. In North America this simple idea is known by many different names: Electricity Feed Laws, Feed-in Laws, Feed-in Tariffs (FITs), Advanced Renewable Tariffs (ARTs), Renewable Tariffs, Renewable Energy Payments, and more recently CLEAN (for Clean Local Energy Accessible Now) contracts. Regardless of the name, they are the world’s most successful policy mechanism for stimulating the rapid development of renewable energy.

Feed-in tariffs are also the most egalitarian method for determining where, when, and how much renewable generating capacity will be installed. Renewable Tariffs enable homeowners, farmers, cooperatives, and First Nations (Native North Americans) to participate on an equal footing with large commercial developers of renewable energy.

Electricity Feed Laws permit the interconnection of renewable sources of electricity with the electric-utility network and at the same time specify how much the renewable generator is paid for their electricity and over how long a period.

Electricity Feed Laws have been widely used in Europe, most notably in Germany, France, and Spain.

Advanced Renewable Tariffs (ARTs) are the modern version of Electricity Feed Laws. ARTs differ from simpler feed-in tariffs in several important ways. Most importantly, ARTs are differentiated by technology, application, project size, or resource intensity. There is one price for wind energy, another price for solar, and so on. Tariffs within each technology can also be differentiated by project size or, in the case of wind and solar energy, by the productivity of the resource. Tariffs for new projects are also subject to periodic review to determine if the tariffs are sufficiently robust to meet the targets desired in the time allotted.

What are Tariffs?

Tariffs are the price paid per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed, or in this case, generated. The term is commonly used in North America’s electric utility industry. The term is also commonly used in Europe. Tariffs are not taxes nor in this context customs duties on goods crossing international borders.

GET: Feed-in tariffs – do they discourage efficiency?

By

Craig Morris

As someone with a moderately open mind, I promote the sharing of best practices. If you support renewables, feed-in tariffs (FITs) seem an obvious choice; they have been used successfully – even predominantly – for practically all types of renewable energy. The IEA says more than 70 percent of PV installed worldwide by the end of 2012 was the result of FITs.

IGov: Achieving energy transitions – Which RES policies are best applied when?

By

Lena Kitzing and Catherine Mitchell

We show, using policy analysis and socioeconomic considerations including uncertainty, that in the first phase, it is beneficial to focus on establishing support policy instruments which reduce risk for investors (such as feed-in tariffs). This will lead to faster and less costly renewable deployment, and will increase the likelihood of achieving a successful transition into the second phase . . .

National Geographic Blog: Time to Break Free of Net-Metering; We Need a “FIT” Policy for Renewable Energy to Soar

By

Paul Gipe

Maybe the electric utilities are right, for a change. Maybe net-metering—the ability to run your kilowatt-hour meter backwards, with solar panels on your roof or a windmill in your backyard–is not the best policy for America, or for Americans.

Feed-in Tariffs & Massachusetts Offshore Feed-in Tariff (MORFIT)

By

Paul Gipe

Presentation on the growth of wind energy worldwide, philosophy of feed-in tariff policies, feed-in tariff design, and feed-in tariffs for offshore wind and examples of near shore and offshore community-owned wind for Cape & Islands Self-Reliance.

Windmaster Noordostpolder Netherlands 28

The Art of Advanced Renewable Tariffs Systems (ARTs) Design: Some Lessons from Past and Ongoing Experiences

By

Bernard Chabot

International energy policy consultant Bernard Chabot’s detailed briefing on how to define a targeted fair and sufficiently attractive profitability for investors through Feed-in Tariffs using the Profitability Index Method (PIM).

Rtemagicc Iea Trends In Solar Pv Applications Worldwide 01 Jpg Jpg

IEA Says Feed-in Tariffs Driving Force in Solar PV Worldwide

By

Paul Gipe

IEA: FITs Not a Subsidy—But Tax Credits are IEA: Net-Metering only 2% of World Market The International Energy Agency (IEA) …