4 item(s) were returned.
Electricity Transmission Research Manager
Niskanen Center
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) invests $369 billion in climate and energy security, including tax credits for clean energy generation. Despite the hefty price tag, it does little to fix how we build the energy infrastructure needed to bring generated power to consumers. The IRA and 2021’s bipartisan infrastructure law combined constitute just a fraction of the policy changes we need for a clean energy economy. Lack of necessary transmission is already a bottleneck in bringing more clean energy online and has catastrophic consequences in extreme weather. Without more interstate transmission, decarbonization will be slower and more expensive. We must… [more]
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Energy storage, a potential solution for integrating intermittent renewables and improving grid stability, again saw rapid growth this past year. A “transition year” for U.S. energy storage, 2016 saw a more diverse market emerge “both in terms of the types of systems (market segments) deployed and the business models.” These trends are expected to continue in the U.S. with combined residential, commercial, and industrial energy storage deployments predicted to surpass 2 GW by 2021. Despite this rapid growth, there are those who claim that the adoption of storage has been slowed by a “web” of regulations at all levels. Some… [more]
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Director, Midwest Clean Energy
Environmental Defense Fund
In a long-awaited decision, Ohio regulators with the Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) approved a $600 million electricity rate plan for Ohio utilities provider, FirstEnergy. FirstEnergy has been struggling financially since a 2011 merger with Allegheny Energy. The utility paid a premium to acquire Allegheny’s coal dependency just as the cost of natural gas began its rapid decline. The PUCO decision was in response to FirstEnergy’s $4 billion bailout plan, which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected after determining the bailout equated to an illegal subsidy that distorted competitive electricity markets. In order to avoid FERC jurisdiction, FirstEnergy revised its… [more]
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President & CEO
The Electricity Consumers Resource Council
On June 10, 2016, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman, sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding the state of organized wholesale electricity markets. This included questions on how federal and state energy subsidies affect organized markets and the jurisdictional “bright line” between state (retail) and federal (wholesale) authority. Deployment of new technologies, regulations, and subsidies are affecting the outcomes and compositions of electricity markets. The Congressmen are exploring whether the Federal Power Act should be altered to help markets… [more]
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