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.
Resource Library
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Dozens of clean energy records have been shattered across the United States in the last year and a half. Solar energy is growing at an unprecedented rate and the first U.S. offshore wind farm now provides clean electricity off the coast of Rhode Island. Grid operators and utilities are implementing new techniques and grid improvements that allow us to integrate more clean energy into America’s electricity system without compromising reliability. At the same time, states and utilities have increased their energy efficiency investments, reducing energy waste and energy costs across the U.S. economy. Taken together, the United States is slashing …
View Full ResourceExperts at the forum suggested that one-half to as many as two-thirds of nuclear plants are economically challenged – far beyond the numbers that are generally reported. Also, the issue now extends beyond the merchant generation fleet to plants in vertically integrated states. Currently, there are 99 operational reactors in the United States. However, since late 2012, six nuclear reactors have retired, and seven more are scheduled to close by 2025. If this trend continues or accelerates, there could be serious climate implications. Nuclear supplies 20 percent of total U.S. electricity production, but 57 percent of zero-carbon electricity. As all …
View Full ResourceThe Winter Energy Market Assessment is staff’s opportunity to look ahead to the coming winter and share our thoughts and expectations about market preparedness, including an assessment of risks. Natural gas markets are entering this winter with a strong storage base and an expanding pipeline network that is delivering more supply to local markets and beyond. A lag in natural gas production over the past year-and-ahalf is expected to give way to renewed production growth as a result of increased drilling activity, while LNG projects in the Gulf and East coasts are expected to increase demand. Weather forecasts call for …
View Full ResourceEnergy storage could effectively put New York City on a path to transition away from an aging electric generation fleet to a cleaner grid and achieve the state’s clean energy goals, according to the report, “New York City’s Aging Power Plants: Risks, Replacement Options and the Role of Energy Storage”, released by the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST), in partnership with Strategen Consulting. The report shows that deploying battery energy storage, in lieu of the city’s oldest fossil-fueled electric generating units, could reduce ozone-forming pollution by more than 60 % and greenhouse gas emissions by more …
View Full ResourceMedia headlines touting the falling costs of solar power do not tell the full story. While the manufacturing and installation costs of solar are in fact falling, solar’s value to the electricity grid is also in decline. Solar power is reaching a steep drop-off point beyond which additional solar production contributes no additional capacity to the grid, and indeed begins to actively harm the grid’s reliability and economics. This paper dubs the phenomenon the solar value cliff.
This paper seeks to refocus the discussion of solar where it should be: how solar production fits into the generation mix in a …
View Full ResourceFor decades, federal energy and water efficiency standards have demonstrably saved consumers money, reduced pollution, and increased grid reliability. The U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) periodically reviews standards and test procedures for more than 60 products, representing about 90% of home energy use, 60% of commercial building energy use, and 30% of industrial energy use. Due in part to their incremental nature and proven track record of success, these standards have been relatively uncontroversial, and often have been reached via consensus between manufacturers seeking regulatory certainty and environmental advocates seeking greater efficiency.
Recently, however, the political winds have shifted. Immediately …
View Full ResourceAmericans’ safety, productivity, comfort, and convenience depend on the reliable supply of electric power. The electric power system is a complex “cyber-physical” system composed of a network of millions of components spread out across the continent. These components are owned, operated, and regulated by thousands of different entities. Power system operators work hard to assure safe and reliable service, but large outages occasionally happen. Given the nature of the system, there is simply no way that outages can be completely avoided, no matter how much time and money is devoted to such an effort. The system’s reliability and resilience can …
View Full ResourceCalifornia’s electric sector is undergoing unprecedented change, brought about by a sequence of innovations in technology as well as many incremental policy actions taken in several different decision- making arenas. Between rooftop solar, Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) and Direct Access providers (ESPs), as much as 25%1 of Investor Owned Utility (IOU) retail electric load will be effectively unbundled and served by a non-IOU source or provider sometime later this year. This share is set to grow quickly over the coming decade with some estimates that over 85% of retail load served by sources other than the IOUs by the middle …
View Full ResourceThe U.S. and Canadian electric power grids are connected through 37 major transmission lines from New England to the Pacific Northwest. The interconnected North American power grid provides numerous benefits for Canada and the United States, including enhanced electric reliability, security, affordability and resilience as well as increased economic benefits. The two countries have worked together to improve service through markets, international regulatory bodies and various bilateral engagements. Increasing actions by provinces, states, cities and businesses are growing demand for clean energy. Due to the comparatively clean mix of Canadian electricity, increased exports could assist the United States as well …
View Full ResourceSince the start of the 21st century, the U.S. energy system has seen tremendous changes.
Technological advances in energy production have driven changes in energy consumption, and
the United States has moved from being a growing net importer of most forms of energy to a
declining importer—and possibly a net exporter in the near future. The United States remains the
second largest consumer of energy in the world, behind China.
The U.S. oil and natural gas industry has gone through a “renaissance” of production.
Technological improvements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have unlocked
enormous oil and natural gas resources …