Designing Feed-in Tariff Policies to Scale Clean Distributed Generation in the U.S.

The diversity of institutions that govern, invest in, operate, and maintain the U.S. electric-delivery system pose many unique challenges to the implementation of feed-in tariffs and limit the applicability of direct policy comparisons from other countries pursuing FITs. This article recognizes these distinctive domestic attributes, discusses how FITs can fit into a policy framework to maximize a diverse portfolio of clean energy, and provides some principles for FIT policies in the U.S., with case studies outlining new FIT-style mechanisms in California and New York.