Primers on Feed-in Tariffs, Advanced Renewable Tariffs, & Renewable Energy Payments

July 7, 2009

The following primers are intended as background for understanding what feed-in tariffs are, how they work, and why they are important. There are several documents by Paul Gipe. These can be downloaded and used without attribution.

There are also several excellent documents by other authors that are provided here as a courtesy to those trying to learn more about feed-in tariffs. The authors have made them available for public use. Please give these authors appropriate attribution if you use their work.

Documents for Unrestricted Use by Paul Gipe

• Feed In Tariff Primer 250 words.doc
• Feed-in Tariffs What are They.doc: One page document.
• Advanced Renewable Tariffs What Are They.doc: One page document.
• Advanced Renewable Tariffs for North America.doc: One page document.
• Frequently Asked Questions about Feed-in Tariffs, Advanced Renewable Tariffs, Renewable Tariffs, and Renewable Energy Payments
• Evolution of Feed-in Tariffs--Feed-in tariffs are a generic description of a policy that pays a price, a "tariff", for the electricity generated by renewable sources of energy that is "fed" into or sold to the grid. . .
• Feed-in Tariff Primer.ppt: A powerpoint presentation that describes feed-in tariffs and explains what they are and where they are being used.

Other Primers on Feed-in Tariffs

• Feed-in Tariffs: A Mechanism, Not a Goal--10-page detailed primer (*.doc) by Nancy LaPlaca
• Feed-in Tariffs - Overview--Two-page primer (*.doc) by Nancy LaPlaca
• Minnesota Feed-in Tariff Could Lower Costs, Boost Renewables, and Expand Local Ownership: A policy brief by John Farrell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance is part of a grassroots movement of NGOs in Minnesota to put feed-in tariffs on the state's policy agenda.
• Pembina Institute Factsheet on Feed-in Tariffs
• Pembina Institute Primer on Feed-in Tariffs
• Citizen's Climate Lobby Quote from Representative Delahunt
• Citizen's Climate Lobby One page summary
• Renew Wisconsin Primer on Renewable Energy Producer Payments: Frequently Asked Questions

This work was partially supported by the Jan & David Blittersdorf Foundation in cooperation with the Institute for Local Self Reliance, and the Sierra Club's Smart Energy Solutions Fund. The views expressed are those of Paul Gipe and are not necessarily those of the sponsors.