Full Title: America's Power Plan
Author(s): The Energy Foundation and Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC
Publisher(s): The Energy Foundation and Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC
Publication Date: January 1, 2013
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The electricity system in America, and in many other
nations, is in the early days of a radical makeover that will
drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase
system flexibility, incorporate new technologies, and
shake existing utility business models. This is already
underway: it is not speculation. Managed well, this
transition will give America a great boost, building a
cleaner, more affordable, and more reliable grid, as
well as an industry ready to profit from deploying its
technologies around the globe.
America has an opportunity to lead the world in a vast
power system transformation. As costs of renewable
energy technologies decline, experience across the world
is demonstrating that it is easier to integrate much higher
shares of renewables, more rapidly, than previously
thought. But a clear policy signal is required to drive
efficiency and then switch to ever-greater proportions of
clean power.
America’s power system is remarkably diverse, and there
will be no one-size-fits-all solution for this transformation.
Conversations about the best way to keep costs low,
keep the lights on, and deliver a cleaner power system
are often plagued by arguments over whether utilities
or markets are king, or whether legislators or regulators
are driving system evolution. There is no “right”
answer to these questions: America’s power system is
heterogeneous, and will remain so. Change will happen
on a regional basis, and innovative partnerships must be
forged between previously-siloed decision-makers.