Report shows renewable energy potential in WV

The report considers the use of utility-scale renewable power projects, like large-scale wind turbine developments, and customer-owned projects, like roof top panels.

The report says many southern states oppose setting a standard on the amount of electricity that should come from renewable sources, because they believe the resources are insufficient, but researchers found that's not the cause. Significant amounts of renewable energy could come from wind, hydro, biomass and methane from waste projects.

Etan Gumerman of Duke University is one of the report's authors.

"With the focus on energy independence or clean energy in the future, I think there's a lot of common ground to be thinking about where we need to move forward with our energy policy, and the South is clearly an important part to bring on board," said Gumerman.

The report estimates that if a national standard is established---that 25 percent of the electricity in the U.S. has to come from renewable energy---the South could produce as much as 20 percent of that renewable power.

"We have more work to do to kind of get these things going, but I think just getting the information out there that we have the potential, and we need to just be thinking about ways to be smarter and important ways to move our energy policy along and getting everyone on board is critical," Gumerman added.

The report estimates that generating more renewable energy could cause small to modest electricity price increases.

The same team of researchers produced a report this spring that looks at the potential impact of energy efficiency polices on southern states.