Delaware passed SB33 in 2021, raising the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 40 percent by 2035. In 2024, Delaware passed the Energy Solutions Act, which sets an offshore wind procurement target of up to 1,200 MW and creates a pathway for large renewable generators to use state-owned roadway rights-of-way for transmission infrastructure.

The District of Columbia’s City Council established a 100% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), including cost-saving requirements for long-term renewable energy purchase agreements, through the CleanEnergy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018. In 2022, D.C. passed an updated to the RPS, which increased the amount of solar energy required to be generated within the District from 10% to 15% by 2041 and changed the ACP schedule.

Kentucky passed HB 4 in 2023, which sets standards for a required decommissioning plan for solar developers and gives local ordinances primacy over certain state requirements for merchant generators. 

Solar development has picked up over the last few years with strong demand from corporate customers. As of 2023, projects with a combined capacity of over 4,200 MW are currently under consideration or have been approved by the Kentucky Siting Board.

Maryland’s Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2019 (CEJA) set a renewable energy target of 50% by 2030 and created a path to help Maryland reach 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. CEJA also requires Maryland to procure at least 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind capacity. The Climate Solutions Now Act, passed in 2022, set a statewide goal of a 60% reduction below 2006 emissions by 2031 and a requirement to reach net-zero by 2045. 

In 2023, Maryland passed the POWER Act, which set an 8.5 GW goal for offshore wind and directed the PSC to work with the regional power grid operator to proactively study transmission upgrades necessary to meet this goal. 

In May 2025, Maryland passed the Next Generation Act, establishing a new transmission-connected energy storage procurement program. Two 800 MW procurements – one in early 2026 and a second in early 2027.

The Clean Energy Act of 2018 established a Renewable Portfolio Standard calling for 50% renewable energy by 2030, including 3,500 MW of offshore wind and the procurement of 600 MW of energy storage by 2021, with an increase to 2,000 MW of installed capacity by 2030.

In 2019, Governor Murphy extended this goal to 7,500 MW of offshore wind with Executive Order 92, and in 2022 under Executive Order 307 he expanded the goal again to 11,000 MW by 2040.

In 2023, MAREC Action founded the New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance (NJOWA), a coalition of offshore wind developers interested in bringing clean energy, jobs, and economic development to the Garden State. 

The Clean Energy Energy Solutions for North Carolina (HB 951) became law in October 2021. HB 951 requires the NC Utilities Commission (NCUC) to take “all reasonable steps” to achieve 70% carbon emissions reductions from 2005 levels by 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. HB 951 also gives independent power producers a one-time chance to extend their power purchase agreements with the utility. 

Ohio first implemented its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in 2008, and the policy has undergone significant changes in recent years. In 2019, House Bill 6 reduced the 2026 benchmark for the RPS from 12.5% to 8.5%, while eliminating the RPS’s “solar carve-out” in 2020. It also cut off the RPS as of the end of 2026 by eliminating any maintenance of the standard for “every year thereafter.” Ohio is one of only two states (along with West Virginia) to repeal or roll back its RPS policy.

In 2021, Ohio passed SB 52, allowing counties to create “exclusion zones” where renewable projects can’t be sited. A provision to extend the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program for renewables to 2028 was included in the state’s budget in 2023.   

In May 2025, Ohio passed HB 15 into law with bipartisan support, effective August 15. The law defines energy storage as generation under Ohio’s retail energy framework and makes certain storage equipment eligible for lower tax rates starting in 2027, including the 7% PILOT rate. It also streamlines Power Siting Board reviews to 150 days, sets a 7% tax rate for new or repowered generation, and provides up to $10 million per brownfield redevelopment project. 

Pennsylvania recently achieved the goals of its Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act (AEPS). Initially passed in 2004, the AEPS requires that electric distribution companies and electric generation suppliers meet a 8% benchmark for Tier I energy resources, which includes a 0.5% solar requirement, and a 10% benchmark for Tier II resources by 2021 for all the electricity that they sell to Pennsylvania customers.

In 2024, Governor Shapiro announced his proposal to expand the AEPS to 35% by 2035 under the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS). 

The 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) established a number of ambitious goals including requiring the state’s two largest utilities, Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power, to be 100 percent carbon-free by 2045 and 2050 respectively. The VCEA also establishes that 5,200 megawatts of offshore wind and 16,100 megawatts of solar and onshore wind is “in the public interest.” Additionally, Virginia’s largest energy companies must also construct or acquire more than 3,100 megawatts of energy storage capacity.

Virginia passed HB 206 in 2022, which established mitigation requirements for renewable projects going through the permit by rule (PBR) process. 

With a robust existing wind industry and the state’s first utility-scale solar projects coming online, West Virginia is well positioned to diversify and strengthen its energy sector in the 21st Century.