Box 1: Should My Government Purchase Renewable Energy? Most likely it should if it can answer “yes” to one or more of these questions: Is it located in or near a Clean Air Act nonattainment area? Do its constituents support renewables? Does it pay a lot for electricity? Is there an abundance of a particular renewable resource in the region and/or on the electricity grid? Are there any renewable energy businesses in the region? Are there relevant incentive programs (such as utility incentives, public trust funds in states with deregulated electricity markets, federal incentives) that can make the cost of renewables more attractive? Are there certain applications where distributed renewables are the least-cost option?

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