Regulatory Agility

Utility grids in the United States are at an inflection point, and equipping regulators to be more agile can help ensure we are prepared for the future. State public utilities commissions (PUCs) are critical for ensuring the health and economic vitality of households and businesses across the country. State PUCs have historically been tasked with ensuring access to safe, reliable, and affordable energy services. Now, they face new and more complex responsibilities due to shifting economics, aging and fragile infrastructure, and new customer demands for cleaner and more transparent service.…

Empowering Cost Benchmarking

Accurate cost estimates for decommissioning nuclear facilities are crucial for countries with nuclear installations. Since the 1980s, many countries have faced significant cost and schedule overruns due to factors such as immature radioactive waste management infrastructure, poor site characterisation and changes in national decommissioning policies. Efforts have been made to improve cost estimates and reduce overruns through better waste management, decontamination techniques and workforce development. From the 1980s to 2003, initial efforts focused on identifying problems and risks in cost estimation. Major studies, such as the Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants: Policies, Strategies and Costs report, highlighted the challenges in comparing …

Empowering Cost Benchmarking

Accurate cost estimates for decommissioning nuclear facilities are crucial for countries with nuclear installations. Since the 1980s, many countries have faced significant cost and schedule overruns due to factors such as immature radioactive waste management infrastructure, poor site characterisation and changes in national decommissioning policies. Efforts have been made to improve cost estimates and reduce overruns through better waste management, decontamination techniques and workforce development. From the 1980s to 2003, initial efforts focused on identifying problems and risks in cost estimation. Major studies, such as the Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants: Policies, Strategies and Costs report, highlighted the challenges in comparing …

The Return on Investment of U.S. Clean Hydrogen Policy

The Return on Investment of U.S. Clean Hydrogen Policy (June 2025) quantifies the economic return of U.S. clean hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs) and policy incentives by comparing low-carbon hydrogen program costs with their potential economic benefits.

In 2021, Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), providing $8 billion in funding for new energy infrastructure nationwide. States, local governments, and the private sector have strongly supported H2 Hubs, with at least 469 companies committing up to $50 billion for hub projects.

As momentum for clean energy investment continued, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, creating an incentive for producing …

Modernizing American Energy Innovation

Modernizing American Energy Innovation: Five Ways to Re-energize DOE (June 2025) analyzes challenges and opportunities at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as it increases end-to-end support for energy innovation.

DOE has long played a key role in driving innovation and economic growth, supporting national security, and maintaining U.S. competitiveness. With unprecedented resources granted by Congress through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), DOE is positioned to scale energy innovation like never before. However, the department’s outdated structures are struggling to keep pace with its evolving clean energy mission; recent cuts …

Energy Allies Communities and Utilities Building Resilience Together

In recent decades, utilities and communities have witnessed how the combination of aging electric grid infrastructure and increasingly extreme weather leads to more frequent and longer power outages. The costs have been steep—up to $150 billion annually for U.S. homes and businesses. Beyond the economic impacts, communities suffer health and safety threats when residents lose heating or cooling, and emergency services become strained.

It is increasingly clear that communities and utilities must strengthen their energy systems to ensure these impacts are minimized or avoided. So, what defines strengthening an energy system? There are a variety of terms used to describe …

Full Expensing is Pro-Growth, Pro-Environment Policy

Congress should replace clean energy tax credits with immediate full expensing for all new capital investments and research and development expenditures. Immediate or full expensing is a neutral tax code improvement that allows businesses to deduct investment costs upfront rather than over several years. This simple change would encourage broad based investment, including in clean energy infrastructure and research and development, without the market distortions created by subsidies. Replacing green subsidies with full expensing will support the economy and the environment more effectively, at a lower cost to taxpayers.…

Long-Term Planning among Regulated Natural Gas Utilities

State policymakers generally delegate the evaluation of proposed utility investments in energy resources and infrastructure to appointed or elected public utility commissions. Legislatures and governors reserve the authority to set state-wide energy policy goals, mandates for the use of in-state resources, equity and public engagement goals, economic development priorities, and others.

Across the U.S., state utility regulators are responsible for ensuring that utilities provide safe, affordable, and reliable energy at just and reasonable rates. Regulated utilities are granted the opportunity to earn a rate of return on expenditures on used and useful assets, as determined by state utility regulators (public …

2025 Manufacturing Roadmap

This report details how renewing investments in onshoring domestic manufacturing for critical materials and infrastructure support progress in economic security, energy transition goals, and resilience.…

Partnerships for Power: Unlocking Scale for Interconnected Minigrids in Nigeria

In Nigeria, 150 million people — 75 percent of the population — face unreliable or no access to electricity, with the national grid meeting only 20 percent of demand. Households and businesses spend $12 billion annually on costly fossil fuel generators, while manufacturers allocate up to 40 percent of operating costs to energy. Interconnected minigrids (IMGs) offer a transformative solution by combining distributed energy resources (DERs), like solar PV and batteries, with existing grid infrastructure to deliver reliable, affordable power to underserved communities.…