In 2007, the U.S. solar energy industry saw a glimpse of a gigawatt future. There was signi?cant growth in the commercial and residential PV markets and a new utility-scale segment for PV emerged with the fastest growth of all segments representing over 15 percent of the annual U.S. installed PV capacity. The ?rst concentrating solar power plant was built in more than 15 years with dozens more utility-scale projects in the pipeline. The expansion of the solar water heating market continued. Thousands of U.S. jobs were created and billions of dollars were invested. And, the industry strengthened its presence in Washington and our united coalition support across the country.

More than half of the electricity produced in the southeastern states is fuelled by coal. Although the region produces some coal, most of the states depend heavily on coal imports.

The Renewable Electricity Futures Study (RE Futures) is an initial investigation of the extent to which renewable energy supply can meet the electricity demands of the contiguous United States over the next several decades.

Among the available options for encouraging the increased deployment of renewable electricity, renewables portfolio standards (RPS) have become increasingly popular.