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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In 2018, the power sector emitted 13.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, 41 percent of total global emissions.1 To have a chance of holding global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to its preindustrial level, global emissions from all economic sectors, including the power sector, must be reduced to net-zero around 2050.2
One of the challenges of decarbonizing the power sector is sufficiently reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while guaranteeing reliability, security, and affordability. Solar and wind power are zero-carbon technologies, but their variability could challenge grid stability if they are not properly balanced by …
View Full ResourceElectricity, as it is currently produced, is largely a commodity resource that is interchangeable with electricity from any other source. Since opportunities for the large-scale storage of electricity are few, it is essentially a just-in-time resource, produced as needed to meet the demand of electricity-consuming customers. Climate change mitigation has increased the focus on the use of renewable electricity. While energy storage is seen as an enabling technology with the potential to reduce the intermittency and variability of wind and solar resources, energy storage resources would have to be charged by low- or zero-emission or renewable sources of electricity to …
View Full ResourceWind and solar energy are leading sources of new electricity generation, driven by increasing
demand and rapidly declining costs. The shift in generation types will affect the whole electric
industry — generation, system operations, transmission and distribution.
This report focuses on the wholesale power markets and system operations aspects of the
electric industry, with particular focus on the Mid-Atlantic (“PJM”) and Midwest (“MISO”) regions.
Two-thirds of the electricity in America passes through centralized wholesale electric markets,
serving much of the nation’s economy and population. Those market rules and practices
are developed by stakeholders in those markets, overseen by federal energy …
Distributed residential photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the United States increased from about 0.4
GW in 2010 to 10.5 GW in 2017 (GTM Research and SEIA 2018). Distributed PV and other
emerging distributed energy resources (DERs) like battery storage and electric vehicles (EVs)
may provide demand response, voltage regulation, and other grid services. When many DERs are
aggregated and called upon to provide certain services simultaneously, they may provide the
distribution grid with ancillary and other services that enhance reliability. These initiatives are
often referred to as DER aggregation or virtual power plants. If nascent U.S. utility-led DER
aggregation projects prove …
State and local energy efficiency and renewable energy investments can produce significant benefits, including lower
fuel and electricity costs, increased grid reliability, better air quality and public health, and more job opportunities.
Analysts can quantify these benefits so that decision makers can comprehensively assess both the costs and the benefits
of their energy policy and program choices.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) State and Local Energy and Environment Program is pleased to release
the 2018 edition of Quantifying the Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: A Guide for State and
Local Governments. The Guide is intended to …
Electric power systems around the world are rapidly changing. For over a century, these systems have relied largely on centralized, fossil fuel plants to generate electricity and sprawling grids to deliver it to end users. Utilities had a straightforward objective: provide electricity with high reliability and at low costs. But now, governments have new ambitions for electric power systems. Many are requiring these systems to rely heavily on volatile wind and solar power; several are also aiming for a high share of electric vehicles (EVs), which can strain grids. Further complicating the matter, customers are installing their own equipment—from solar …
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The issue of ‘resilience’ of the power system—including how to best define, measure, and ensure it—has
garnered substantial attention in recent months. The energy policy community turned its collective focus
to resilience issues following the devastating electric grid failures in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane
Maria, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) September 2017 proposal of the Grid ResiliencyU
Pricing Rule. DOE submitted the proposed rulemaking to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with the stated purpose of expeditiously bolstering the grid’s resilience and reliability. The proposal called for tariff changes to ensure the recovery …
The United States power sector is in the midst of profound transformation. Energy demands and the role of the consumer are shifting, bringing new stresses and strains to an aging grid. Energy sources are also in transition, as the economics of natural gas and electricity continue to disfavor coal, and renewables increasingly prove to be a least-cost option in markets. Recently, advancements in energy storage technologies are improving the economics of accommodating these changes, while improving reliability and resilience, and enhancing electric system performance.
These trends necessitate an electricity network that is flexible and adaptable to the rapidly changing needs …
View Full ResourceRegional electricity markets—operated by regional transmission organizations (RTOs)— span multiple states and bring significant benefits to the electricity grid. States policies—such as renewable or clean energy portfolio standards or procurement mandates—have always helped shape market outcomes, but increasingly they are aimed at addressing perceived market shortcomings. Recent state policy actions to support new or existing resources in RTO markets have renewed attention to issues of RTO market design, including how RTO markets and state policies interact. Those actions, a rapidly changing electricity sector, and low electricity and capacity prices have heightened the urgency of calls for changes in market designs …
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