PHOTO BY ISTOCKPHOTO/JOEY CHUNG

Here in Kansas we got some unexpected good news this week. There’s new momentum at the state level to pass new regulations to promote renewable energy. (Kansas has lagged behind most other U.S. states on this.) For any fellow Kansans out there, here’s an article from the The Lawrence Journal World with more details.

For others in the United States, here’s how you can find out more about what your state is doing to promote renewable energy. Follow the links below to see how your state compares in two key areas:

1. Does your state have a net metering law?

These laws affect the price homeowners get paid for any electricity they produce. Check out the Department of Energy’s EERE Website for more on how net metering policies work, including this handy map which shows which states have net metering laws. (Hint: All but eight states do.)

2. How about a renewable portfolio standard?  

These are goals the states set to mandate how much of their electricity must come from renewable sources. So far, 24 states have RPS policies. You can find out which ones by checking out this map, as well as this table, to see which states are setting the highest goals. (As usual, California is at the head of the class on renewable energy, but many other states have set ambitious goals.)

I’m looking forward to the day that Kansas is on these lists.

To find out about other renewable energy-related activities that are happening in your state, check out this EERE page of State Activities and Partnerships.

Can you afford solar-electric panels, or a backyard wind turbine? For a growing number of people, the answer is yes.

But how you answer that question depends a lot on your state's net metering laws, because this one policy makes it much easier to pay for home solar or wind-electric systems.

That’s because net metering policies allow you to sell any extra electricity you produce back to the utility at the retail rate. It’s a simplified billing process where when you’re drawing electricity from the grid, your electric meter spins forward; when you’re producing electricity that you’re not using, your meter spins backward.

If you don’t have net metering, the utility can charge you more for the electricity you buy than you get for the electricity you produce. For a grid-connected wind or solar system, that makes a huge difference in how quickly the system pays for itself in reduced electric bills.

Currently, most U.S. states have net metering laws, although they don't all make it equally easy to connect to the grid. For more specifics on state policies, check out this list from the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE). Only eight states don’t have net metering laws: Alaska, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina.

Fortunately, more states are passing net metering laws all the time. So if you want net metering and don’t have it, let your state legislators know!

Photo by Michael Braun/Istockphoto