Ryan W iser zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA is a senior research associate at Lazvrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an M.S. in Energy and Resources from the UnizJersity of California, Berkeley. Steven Pickle, also a senior research associate at zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA LBNL, is a graduate of Grinnell College and holds an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics. Charles Goldman is group leader for the Utility Planning and Policy Group at LBNL. W ork reported here zuas funded by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renezvable Energy, Office of UtiZity Technologies of the U.S. Department of Energy, and by the Energy Foundation. Renewable Energy and Restructuring: Policy Solutions for the Financing Dilemma New renewable energy policies are being created at the state and national levels. As past experience shows, to craft successfil support programs, policymakers must acknowledge the financing d#iculties faced by venewables developers and pay special attention to the impacts of policy design on financing. Ryan Wiser, Steven Pickle and Charles Goldman E lectric industry restructuring has brought renewed atten- tion to renewable energy and re- newables policy Some argue that technology-specific support has no place in restructured power markets. Yet, as highlighted in re- cent articles in this journal by Marty Kanner,’ Peter Fox-Penner, and Rich Cowart, renewables pol- icy looks to be a critical piece of the political puzzle in state and federal restructuring proceedings. Whatever the extent of agreement on the economic and policy ra- tionales for supporting re- newables, it is clear that re- newables policies are good poli- tics. Public policies for renewables are nothing new. In fact, policies, in- cluding tax incentives, contracts en- tered in to under requirements of the Public Utility Regulatory Poli- cies Act, and renewables set-asides have been indispensable in the de- velopment of the renewable energy industry to this point. These poli- cies have sought to promote a di- verse mix of electricity supply re- sources, reduce the environmental impacts of generation, and elimi- nate historic tax and institutional barriers to renewable energy J December 1997 65