January 1, 2020

Shared Renewables Policy Catalog

This resource helps policymakers, regulators, and other stakeholders understand the details of existing and proposed shared renewables statutes and program rules.

IREC’s Shared Renewables Policy Catalog is a spreadsheet that covers statewide “shared renewable energy” or “shared renewables” programs, which IREC defines as programs that enable multiple customers to share the economic benefits of one renewable energy system via their individual utility bills (typically through bill credits).

The catalog provides a detailed overview of state program design components and compares them alongside other state programs. It demonstrates which components are commonly addressed by program rules, which are less common, and how each covered component is treated on a program-by-program basis. Each program does not address all of the listed components, however, and a blank cell indicates that a program’s rules are silent regarding a particular attribute.

The catalog’s detailed overview of IREC’s Model Rules for Shared Renewable Energy Programs is organized by the same criteria categories that form the basis of IREC’s National Shared Renewables Energy Scorecard. The catalog, along with our model rules, provides more information about each state program.

The catalog, which is updated periodically, does not include other “community” renewables programs, such as green tariff shared renewables, group purchasing or aggregate net metering programs. This table also does not capture voluntary, utility-level programs. 

Additional Resources

These companion documents provide additional information and useful definitions:

  • Shared Renewables Policy Catalog Overview [PDF]
  • Shared Renewables Policy Catalog Definitions [PDF]

IREC’s National Shared Renewables Scorecard

Check out IREC’s National Shared Renewables Scorecard, a complementary tool that grades state programs using information from our Shared Renewables Policy Catalog. 


Disclaimer: The Shared Renewables Policy Catalog reflects IREC’s interpretation of relevant laws, rules, orders, and tariffs, effective as of the last update date indicated. The catalog should not be considered a substitute for independent review of current versions of these underlying documents. Note that IREC updates the catalog periodically, so new programs may not be reflected at the time of adoption. We welcome feedback, questions and/or corrections. Contact IREC’s Regulatory Assistant Director, Mari Hernandez at [email protected].