This blog was written by John D. Wilson, former Deputy Director for Regulatory Policy at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Guest Blog | September 10, 2012 | Energy Policy

Recently, Michael Noble of Fresh Energy offered a terrific post out about how renewable energy growth has far outpaced what everyone thought possible over the past decade or so. He’s writing from a Minnesota perspective:

How wrong we were to think that a $2 billion renewable energy investment would be ambitious. Today, the region supports more than $20 billion.

But we weren’t the only ones that were timid in our predictions of renewable electricity’s potential … many experts were way off on how wind and solar electricity would grow over the last decade.

Across the Southeast, utility staff and other energy experts regularly downplay the scale of the renewable energy opportunity. We all need to remind ourselves that with intent, ambition and effort, we can exceed predictions and, perhaps, meet public expectations!