Humboldt County has abundant wind, solar, and biomass resources, but has made limited progress towards the state’s 2045 requirement of 100% clean electricity. A recently rejected onshore wind project showed that technically and economically viable projects can fall to social and political challenges, emphasizing the need for social considerations in renewable transitions. I therefore integrated community members’ preferences into modeling of RPS-consistent renewable energy scenarios in Humboldt County. My model suggests that offshore wind, utility-scale solar, distributed solar, and biomass power are technically and economically viable sources of significant local generation at varying costs. In interviews with energy-engaged residents, I observed divergent normative conceptions of Humboldt County’s energy future despite climate change mitigation through renewables growth being unanimously desired. Some envisaged a future of minimally intrusive distributed solar, while others support projects at a scale that would transform Humboldt County into “the Silicon Valley of wind energy.” These opinions frequently overlaid conceptions of appropriateness and efficiency, for example, preferring offshore wind over cheaper utility-scale solar because Humboldt County’s wind resource abstractly overshadows its solar resource. Participants prioritized projects which best use Humboldt’s resources. Because some support exclusively distributed solar while others believe it to be technically infeasible, a thorough study of distributed resource potential could help create the shared understanding necessary for productive discourse and concerted political effort against climate change. Continuous discussions among stakeholders could create a permission space for energy infrastructure and avoid wasting time and money on projects inconsistent with social and political desires.

Renewable portfolio standards (RPS), policies that encourage acquisition of electricity from renewable energy sources, have become popular instruments for discouraging the use of climate change inducing-fossil fuels. There has been limited research, however, that empirically evaluates their effectiveness. Using data gathered by three governmental entities - the federal-level Energy Information Administration and two California agencies, the Employment Development Department and the Department of Finance - this paper investigates the impact of California's RPS, one of the nation's most ambitious such policies, on in-state renewable energy generation. It finds that the California RPS did not bring about a one-time increase in generation with its inception, nor did it compel an increase in generation over time. These results raise questions as to the best way to structure RPS policies in light of growing interest in the establishment of a national RPS.