Enlarge By Rich Pedroncelli, AP The Sacramento Municipal Energy District is funding the construction of a solar energy field. Across the USA, states are falling short of their goals to increase the use of renewable energy as Congress weighs a national renewable-energy standard. Thirty-five states have set goals to use more electricity from solar panels, windmills and other renewable forms of energy, according to a database funded by the Energy Department. There is no central clearinghouse of states' compliance records, but USA TODAY research and interviews with state and power company officials found nine states that have failed or expect to fail to meet their energy goals. The states offer a lesson for the federal government, says Charles Benjamin of Western Resource Advocates, an environmental group. The House of Representatives passed a bill in June that called for 15% of the nation's electricity to come from alternative sources in 2020 — up from 9% last year. A Senate bill with a similar goal is likely to be combined with a climate-change bill introduced last month. "There are sometimes unknown challenges when you begin a venture like this," Benjamin says. "Just because you want renewable energy doesn't mean it will happen." In their quest to draw more renewable power, states have come up against obstacles such as the recession, red tape and an outdated transmission system that makes it difficult to move solar or wind power from where it's made to where it's needed. Some states, including Delaware and New Hampshire, require power companies that don't buy enough renewable energy to make payments to a fund for renewable-energy projects. That allows companies to comply with the rules but doesn't help move a state toward greater reliance on alternative energy. Among the states struggling with the renewable-energy targets they set for themselves: • New Jersey. Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, approved a state energy plan requiring the generation of 1,000 megawatts of power from offshore windmills by 2012. That's enough to power up to half a million homes. The state will miss the deadline "by about a year," says Lance Miller of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, because of delays in finalizing federal rules. • California. The state set a 2010 deadline to get 20% of its electricity from renewable sources. That won't be achieved until 2013 or 2014, according to a state report issued in July that said about 13% of the state's power in 2008 came from renewables. Among the obstacles was a delay in connecting renewable-energy projects to the state's power grid, according to the state's website. • Arizona. The state planned to get 0.3% of its electricity from solar power generated at homes and businesses by 2009. That goal probably will not be met until 2011, says Kristin Mayes, chairwoman of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which oversees electric utilities. Mayes says the troubled economy has made residents and businesses reluctant to invest in solar panels. New York, Ohio and Maryland are also on pace to miss at least one of their 2009 energy goals, the USA TODAY review found. Massachusetts might miss its 2009 goal for certain kinds of renewable energy such as wood, says Dwayne Breger of the Department of Energy Resources. New Hampshire power companies met two-thirds of their 2008 renewable generation goal, according to a Public Utilities Commission report, and Delaware's power companies fell shy of their goal in 2007, the latest year for which data are available, said Courtney Stewart of the Delaware Public Service Commission. When states decided to up their dependence on renewable energy, they didn't realize all the battles they'd face, says researcher David Hurlbut of the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "There was the idea that if you put the renewable-energy goal out there, the energy will just appear by magic," he says. "I wouldn't want anyone to think it's easy … but all the challenges out there are solvable." The stimulus package may help. That bill awarded tax credits for renewable-energy production, and the Energy Department awarded $502 million in stimulus money last month to companies building such projects. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more