Who Has a Voice in the Energy Transition in the U.S. States? A Fifty-State Study of Local News

With federal climate and energy policy largely gridlocked, statelevel renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) were the central tool adopted in the United States on climate change for decades. RPSs vary by state and change over time, providing an opportunity to improve our understanding of which types of actors get a voice in policy debates over climate solutions in local newspapers. To do this, we built a fifty-state database of 1,522 articles about RPSs and conducted named entity recognition to identify the people, organizations, and interest groups mentioned in those articles. We find that electricity utilities have the greatest voice in local newspaper stories on RPSs, especially when Republicans hold power in a state. Utilities receive greater coverage than either Democratic or Republican politicians, and are mentioned about four times as often as other non-political actors, such as civil society organizations. “Earned media” is a primary way utilities are able to receive media visibility, especially for implementing renewables projects. This research suggests that utilities' perspectives dominate over civil society organizations in coverage of key climate solutions in U.S. states, potentially influencing public opinion and the policy landscape.