A Strategic Framework for Utility Cost Control

The electric grid will require significant investments in the coming years to address a variety of system needs, including replacing aging assets, modernizing the grid and strengthening its resilience, and preparing for projected load growth. Meeting these needs while ensuring utility costs increase no more than necessary will be critical to maintaining affordability for customers.

This report examines the major drivers behind increasing utility costs in recent years. These have included increased spending on T&D infrastructure, reliance on natural gas for electricity generation, extreme weather and wildfires, and the slow adoption of new technologies. Exacerbating these challenges is the traditional …

Get a Load of This: Regulatory Solutions to Enable Better Forecasting of Large Loads

In the United States, electricity demand, or load, has begun to grow following several stagnant decades. This trend appears first in utility forecasts, the backbone of the utility investment plans that inform billions of dollars of infrastructure investments. The scale of projected load growth and its potential risks require regulators to ensure that load forecasts remain useful in guiding consequential decisions.

This report is a resource for regulators who wish to understand the current landscape of large load forecasting and explore options for how to evolve forecasting practices as large loads emerge in their jurisdictions.

Specifically, this report includes:

– …

Upgrade your home: the complete guide to green and eco-friendly renovations for homeowners

This guide provides important insights on:

The benefits of sustainable home renovations Eco-friendly options such as solar energy, insulation, and energy-efficient windows Practical tips, including planning your living arrangements during major renovations Financial considerations, such as green financing options and special insurance policies for eco-renovations

The ultimate guide to heating your home sustainably

This resource covers current climate change goals, data on current home heating practices and practical advice to update home heating to greener options. It also discusses the benefits of switching to renewable heating, aiming to raise awareness of alternative heating that could help combat climate change.…

Potential Dangers of Blending Hydrogen and Natural Gas in Pipelines

Could blending hydrogen with natural gas help decarbonize the natural gas supply chain?

This 4-page fact sheet outlines the potential dangers of blending hydrogen and natural gas in pipelines. These dangers include hydrogen’s corrosive effects on pipeline materials, its tendency to leak, and its highly explosive nature.

Hydrogen blending is also inefficient and costly: a 30 percent blend of hydrogen into the natural gas system could almost double costs per megawatt-hour for power plants, and would not effectively lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing natural gas use in the US is crucial to reach necessary emissions reduction goals, but hydrogen blending …

Optimizing Energy Resilience to Support Medically Vulnerable Residents in Multifamily Affordable Housing

Power outages can quickly turn into a health crisis for the millions of Americans that rely on electricity for home medical devices, including life-support equipment (such as dialysis machines and ventilators) and technologies for independent living (such as electric wheelchairs, refrigeration for medicine, and internet for telehealth appointments). Many electricity-dependent residents live in multifamily affordable housing communities, yet affordable housing providers have limited access to programs that advance the development and affordability of backup power resources.

This report outlines opportunities for solar paired with battery storage to maintain electricity to essential services, both in-unit and in communal spaces, at multifamily …

Rebalancing “Return on Equity” to Accelerate an Affordable Clean Energy Future

Achieving a rapid, just, and affordable energy transition will take balance. There are a host of regulatory, legislative, strategic, and financial levers and tools worth exploring and using to realize this clean energy future. One component of utility regulation in which reform can play a crucial role is the allowed return on equity (ROE), or the allowed rate of profit (%) on capital investments made by regulated utilities.

As background, evidence suggests that allowed utility ROEs have become increasingly generous over the past few decades. In fact, since the 1990s they have fallen less than prevailing interest rates and costs …

How “Power Couples” Can Help the United States Win the Global AI Race

The race is on to power the artificial intelligence revolution. AI’s strategic importance to national security and American economic competitiveness is making headlines, but at the same time, companies looking to build out very large data centers are struggling to find enough electric power. Inadequate and outdated market and regulatory processes have led to wait times of nearly five years to get grid access for new generation and lead times of eight years or more to build out new transmission infrastructure.

Big tech companies working to bring data centers online quickly have tried siting these large loads alongside existing power …

A Wide Array of Resources is Needed to Meet Growing U.S. Energy Demand

Annual peak electricity demand in the U.S. is expected to increase 30% over the next decade, and a wide variety of resources is needed to support that and the associated economic growth; renewables and storage are ready now. A portfolio of all forms of energy resources can meet demand reliably and most cost effectively, but not all are available today.

Elimination of clean energy credits would raise customer rates, reduce economic growth and eliminate jobs. Eliminating or altering clean energy credits would dramatically reduce investment in low-cost solar and wind generation, hurting economic growth.…

Accelerating Zero-Emission Trucking Policies: A Global Policy Handbook with a Roadmap for India

With global trucking demand expected to double by 2050, transitioning to zero-emission trucks (ZETs) is critical to reducing emissions, improving public health, and enhancing energy security. While ZET sales are gaining momentum — global sales surged by 170 percent since 2020 — many regions remain in the early stages of adoption, requiring a dedicated push for ZET-specific policy measures. This report provides a comprehensive policy handbook, detailing how demand, supply, and infrastructure-related interventions can accelerate ZET adoption.

Drawing from successful global case studies, the report illustrates how targeted policies can de-risk investment and scale up adoption, providing valuable insights for …