This paper argues that waste-to-energy’s stagnation in the U.S. illustrates the failure of state-based renewable energy portfolio standards to efficiently incentivize the growth of renewable energy. The absence of a federal renewable energy standard and resultant patchwork of state-based regimes has left the country with no consistent definition of “renewable energy.” Consequently, developers of certain energy technologies are uncertain as to whether their product will qualify as “renewable,” and thus are unable to confidently invest the millions of dollars needed to deploy these technologies. Using waste-to-energy as a case study, this paper argues that a national renewable portfolio standard, defining “renewable energy” consistently and inclusively, would help to create a maximally efficient renewable energy market.