The OurEnergyLibrary aggregates and indexes publicly available fact sheets, journal articles, reports, studies, and other publications on U.S. energy topics. It is updated every week to include the most recent energy resources from academia, government, industry, non-profits, think tanks, and trade associations. Suggest a resource by emailing us at info@ourenergypolicy.org.
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California’s Senate Bill 100 sets targets of 60% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. In December 2020, the Joint Agencies SB 100 report (hereafter, referred to as the “SB 100 report”) analyzed the feasibility of the SB 100 targets and showed that accelerating this timeline to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030 or 2035 could be cost-effective. However, the SB 100 report identified the need for further analysis to understand the reliability impacts of a clean portfolio. The reliability events that occurred
during August 2020 highlight the shifting resource adequacy challenges for California and the increasing importance …
Distributed energy resources (DERs) are small-scale energy resources usually situated near sites of electricity use, such as rooftop solar panels and battery storage. Their rapid expansion is transforming not only the way electricity is generated, but also how it is traded, delivered and consumed.
Accordingly, DERs can create new power system opportunities, but at the same time, can pose new challenges when a grid has not been properly prepared. Many jurisdictions are just beginning to understand how DERs fit into the wider energy landscape – what they are and what impacts they have on the grid, and how they can …
View Full ResourceThe U.S. transmission network needs to meet 21st century challenges with 21st century solutions. Decarbonization and clean energy procurement targets set by states, utilities, and corporations for the not-so-distant future will require high levels of new renewable energy capacity to be quickly and efficiently integrated onto the power grid. The large influx of generation will require an increase in overall system transmission capacity to manage its integration and to alleviate congestion and reliability issues that might arise. While new, large-scale transmission infrastructure will be key to enabling the clean energy transition, regulatory and planning obstacles often delay their construction for …
View Full ResourceThe goal of this study is to provide a detailed assessment of key policy and technology options and choices and their implications for New Jersey’s pathway to 100% carbon-free electricity. In particular, this study examines least-cost pathways to reach New Jersey’s current laws and stated policy goals under a range of possible future conditions and explores the role of in-state solar PV, offshore wind, nuclear power, and imported electricity in the state’s electricity future. Our goal is to provide an independent assessment of costs and trade-offs associated with different choices facing New Jersey stakeholders provide actionable insights for decision-makers.
For …
View Full ResourceConventional semiconductors are a keystone technology that are essential for the operation of nearly every electronic device, including those that are critical to decarbonization, such as electric vehicles (EVs), industrial and building applications, and electricity generation and end use. In addition, power electronics have been applied to industrial equipment to improve energy efficiency and enhance controllability. Power electronics have also been used to improve the reliability of data centers and critical infrastructure, including the stabilization of the electric grid while subjected to disturbances. Increasingly, power electronics are being used to integrate renewable energy and battery storage systems, enabling new grid …
View Full ResourceThis study assesses how the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) would increase costs for families and businesses in the Commonwealth and make the grid more fragile. It also assesses an alternative scenario, the Reliable Resource Scenario (RRS), where reliability and affordability are given the prioritization they deserve.…
View Full ResourceThe authors conduct a step-by-step examination of various factors that were blamed for the extended power outage on the ERCOT electricity grid in February 2021. While no single factor fully explains the calamity, the bureaucratic failure in identifying and addressing risks along fuel supply chains was a major failure. Most proposed remedies do not fundamentally address what occurred. The authors make several recommendations, some of which have already been implemented.…
View Full ResourceThis roadmap offers a vision for the radical transformation and decarbonization of the U.S. electricity system. It articulates where the solar industry stands today, establishes new goals for the next decade and outlines the steps we must take to get where we want to go. The pages that follow lay out how the solar industry will expand exponentially from comprising 3.7% of the U.S. electricity mix today to 30% of all electricity generation by 2030. This will put solar on pace to provide essential reliability services, deploy with storage for resilient community infrastructure and fully decarbonize the electric grid by …
View Full ResourceThe California ISO—or CAISO—is the only independent grid operator in the western United States and manages the flow of electricity for the grid that serves 80 percent of California and part of Nevada. Its competitive wholesale electric marketplace has been described as a hybrid of the New York Stock Exchange and NASA’s mission control, employing advanced technologies to monitor the grid to ensure that power reaches more than 30 million consumers when they need it.
Recent energy reliability concerns, including rolling blackouts in California, demonstrate a need for CAISO planners to ensure enough electricity is available to meet demand. As …
View Full ResourceThe Texas freeze of February 2021 left more than 4.5 million customers (more than 10 million people) without electricity at its peak, some for several days. The freeze had cascading effects on other services reliant upon electricity including drinking water treatment and medical services. Economic losses from lost output and damage are estimated to be $130 billion in Texas alone. In the wake of the freeze, there has been major fallout among regulators and utilities as actors sought to apportion blame and utilities and generators began to settle up accounts. This piece offers a retrospective on what caused the blackouts …
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