Railbelt Renewable Portfolio Standard: Economic Analysis

The Alaska State Legislature is currently debating bills (Senate Bill 179 and House Bill 301) that establish a Renewable Portfolio Standard for the Alaskan Railbelt region. The bills require 80% renewable electricity production by the year 2040. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) completed a study that identifies five different Scenarios that can achieve the 80% target. Analysis North took the results from Scenario #3 (additional renewable generation is primarily wind and solar) and performed a very preliminary economic benefit/cost analysis. Results were quite favorable (benefits were two times the costs), indicating that a more thorough economic analysis is clearly justified.

Clicking the image below will show a few slides summarizing the analysis.

Here is the Google Sheets model that performs the economic analysis.

Chris Rose of the Renewable Energy Alaska Project presented Testimony to the Alaska State House Special Committee on Energy on March 10, 2022, which included the Analysis North economic analysis.