Renewable energy—wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and hydroelectric—has the potential to reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change and balance out our electricity generation portfolio, thereby mitigating price spikes due to the supply constraints of one resource or another, as well as smoothing out generation and positively impacting shortages. States have long recognized the value of renewable energy for these purposes, as well as for others, such as job creation, and have instituted a variety of policy measures to encourage the adoption of renewable energy generation, from the utility scale down to distributed generation at the consumer level. This article provides a brief illustration of four prominent measures available to state policymakers, as well as the four primary challenges needed to be overcome, in further advancing renewable energy, beginning with the renewable portfolio standard.