The Importance of Dedicated Green Hydrogen Pipeline Infrastructure

It is imperative that California engages in comprehensive long-term gas planning that includes establishing a 100% green hydrogen-dedicated pipeline system designed to meet the requirements of the state’s decarbonization goals.…

Maximizing the Value of the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program for Utility Customers

This insight brief, which builds on a February RMI article, describes how different Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program implementation choices will impact the financing costs that utility ratepayers will bear over the coming decades. The brief covers:

– The legacy costs and risks of a fossil-intensive system and the challenges they pose for utility reinvestment in clean energy;

– How the EIR program can be used to facilitate capital recycling;

– Quantitative examples of capital recycling using EIR applied to our previously published Missouri and Iowa utility case studies;

– The transaction costs of EIR lending and securitization; and Compliance …

A Quantitative Analysis of Variables Affecting Power Transmission Infrastructure Projects in the US

Upgrading the US electric grid is vital to a successful energy transition. Transmission expansion lowers electricity costs for consumers; speeds deployment of new generation resources; provides economic opportunities for communities; increases system reliability, particularly in the face of extreme weather events; and enables large-scale transfers of power from areas of the country with high renewable energy potential to customers. But experience over the past twenty years has shown that new transmission projects often face extensive delays, impeding or even denying these potential benefits to consumers and communities. In response, policymakers at the state and federal level are considering reforms to …

Forecasting a Realistic Electricity Infrastructure Buildout for Medium- & Heavy-Duty Battery Electric Vehicles

Numerous new pressures are being placed on the trucking industry. States and the federal government are examining regulations to quickly transition the industry by 2040 to full electrification with the goal to reduce commercial vehicle carbon emissions. The Clean Freight Coalition contracted a study with Roland Berger to determine the added costs to the freight industry and utilities if commercial vehicles reach 100% electrification. This study examined two scenarios- one with current vehicle and charging technology offerings, and the other with modest improvement in both vehicles and chargers- to determine the realistic electricity infrastructure buildout scenario for medium- and heavy-duty …

Marriott Infrastructure Resilience & Adaptation (MIRA) Program

In 2019, Marriott International (Marriott) launched the Marriott Infrastructure Resilience and Adaptation (MIRA) program to evaluate climate-related risks across its global portfolio of nearly 8,600 properties spanning 139 countries and territories. Through this comprehensive program, Marriott identified current and future climate risks to its portfolio and has a strategy in place to manage potential impacts, improve resiliency and mitigate losses to stakeholders.…

Labor Supply, Labor Demand, and Potential Labor Shortages Through New U.S. Clean Energy, Manufacturing, and Infrastructure Laws

Between November 2021 and August 2022, three major economic policy laws were enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden. These three laws are the BIL (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) and the CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) Act. In combination, the purpose of these three measures is to support a large-scale expansion of investments in the U.S. in the areas of clean energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure.
This report considers the BIL, the IRA, and the CHIPS Act with respect to their employment impacts within the U.S. economy. This report is …

How Much, How Fast: Infrastructure Requirements of EPA’s Proposed Power Plant Rules

This report focuses on the infrastructure needs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed rules for fossil-fueled power plant emissions reductions. This modeling-driven study analyzes the potential outcomes of EPA’s proposal on the energy system by region, including the costs of the potential electricity, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide (CO2) infrastructure requirements.

The report is the first in a new report series called the U.S. Hydrogen Infrastructure Action Plan, which analyzes the opportunities of hydrogen infrastructure for enabling market formation. This series is a follow-up to the February 2023 Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) report, The U.S. Hydrogen Demand Action Plan, …

Environmental Consequences of Hydrocarbon Infrastructure Policy

“We study policies that aim to ‘keep carbon in the ground’ by blocking fossil fuel infrastructure investment. Our analysis relies on a model of hydrocarbon production and transportation, incorporating substitution between pipeline infrastructure and flexible alternatives, like crude-byrail. We apply the model to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which moves oil from North Dakota to Texas and was controversially completed in 2017. Had DAPL’s construction been enjoined, we estimate that 81% of the blocked pipeline flows would move by rail instead. This substitution induces both private costs and local environmental damage, since rail transport imposes greater local externalities than pipelines.”…

Non-Pipeline Alternatives to Natural Gas Utility Infrastructure: An Examination of Existing Regulatory Approaches

The primary audience of this paper is public utility commissions (PUCs) that are considering the role of NonPipeline Alternatives (NPAs) in gas utility planning. The purpose of this paper is to examine the existin proceedings, rules, and studies that are currently or have been under consideration to inform PUCs as they consider developing their own NPA frameworks. This is the first of two papers on the topic of non-pipeline alternatives. The second will address best practices in the construction of an NPA framework.…

How Software Accelerates EV Charging Infrastructure

A record number of EVs were sold in the U.S. in the first half of 2023 – and forecasters believe one million EVs will be purchased in America for the first time this year.

While it’s good news for the climate and drivers’ pocketbook, there is just not enough public chargers being built. According to S&P Global Mobility, the U.S. currently has about 140,000 EV chargers but needs to build another 420,000 by 2025 and about one million by 2030. Building a robust nationwide network of chargers in a few years means working fast and efficiently.…