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Leveraging state clean energy funds for economic development / Lewis Milford, Mark Muro, Jessica Morey, Devashree Saha, and Mark Sinclair. Brookings Institution, January 2012, 16 p. (Brookings-Rockfeller project on state and metropolitan innovation)http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2012/0111_states_energy_funds/0111_states_energy_funds.pdfSummary : State clean energy funds (CEFs) have emerged as effective tools that states can use to accelerate the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. These clean energy funds, which exist in over 20 states, generate about $500 million per year in dedicated support from utility surcharges and other sources, making them significant public investors in thousands of clean energy projects. However, state clean energy funds’ emphasis on a project finance model—which directly promotes clean energy project installation by providing production incentives and grants/rebates—is by itself not enough to build a statewide clean energy industry. State clean energy funds also need to pay attention to other critical aspects of building a robust clean energy industry, including cleantech innovation support through research and development funding, financial support for early-stage cleantech companies and emerging technologies, and various other industry development efforts. As it happens, some of these state clean energy funds are already supporting a broader range of clean energy-related economic development activities within their states. As more and more states reorient their clean energy funds from a project finance-only model in order to encompass broader economic development activities, clean energy funds can collectively become an important national driver of economic growth...