Clean Energy Boom

Since the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) became law in August 2022, companies are racing forward with massive investments to build our clean energy future. New manufacturing in wind, solar, batteries, and electric vehicles—along with storage projects across the country—mean new, good-paying jobs for hard working Americans. In the six months since the landmark climate and clean energy investments became law, clean energy companies have announced more than 100,000 new clean energy jobs for electricians, mechanics, construction workers, technicians, support staff, and many others.

As the largest U.S. investment in clean energy and climate in history, this national clean energy …

Microgrids Maximize Value from Solar Power – On and Off the Grid

Solar energy is rapidly developing as one of the most common forms of renewable energy production. They produce clean, locally generated energy — a must-have in a time of ambitious sustainability goals. But not all solar installations are alike. While they capture the benefit of lower emissions and reduce the cost of electricity consumed, many do not realize the full investment value because of disruption costs that stem from utility grid dependence.

Our white paper will provide you with valuable insights and practical advice on how to optimize your solar installation to achieve maximum value. Learn about the limitations of …

Top State Policies To Cut Carbon Emissions

Many states are already considering new emissions reduction goals or ways to increase ambition. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New York, and Washington, among others, have ongoing processes to cut carbon emissions that may be strengthened with the Inflation Reduction Act on the books and new state leadership. However, determining which policies can most effectively meet emissions targets and the tradeoffs between different policies can be challenging. 

With the release of state-level Energy Policy Simulators (EPS) for the contiguous 48 states, Energy Innovation Policy & Technology LLC and RMI aim to solve this challenge. The free, open-access EPS …

50 States of Grid Modernization Q4 2022 and Annual Report Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to provide state lawmakers and regulators, electric utilities, the advanced energy industry, and other energy stakeholders with timely, accurate, and unbiased updates about how states are choosing to study, adopt, implement, amend, or discontinue policies associated with grid modernization. This report catalogues proposed and enacted legislative, regulatory, and rate design changes affecting grid modernization during the most recent quarter. The 50 States of Grid Modernization report series provides regular quarterly updates and annual summaries of grid modernization policy developments, keeping stakeholders informed and up to date. …

Ensuring Efficient Reliability: New Design Principles for Capacity Accreditation

As the power system changes due to increased renewables, coal and gas retirements, and the increased use of storage and load flexibility for reliability, new methods and principles are needed to measure each resource’s contribution toward reliability. The ESIG Redefining Resource Adequacy Task Force developed this report to provide an overview of capacity accreditation: the measure of the contribution of individual resources toward meeting the system’s resource adequacy.

The report details the ways that resources are accredited today, how those processes are evolving with a changing resource mix, and limitations inherent in these techniques, and provides suggestions on ways to …

Analyzing the Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on Electric Vehicle Uptake in the United States

This study assesses the future impact of the IRA on electrification rates for LDV and HDV sales in the United States through 2035. We analyze the value of the personal and commercial EV tax credits, factoring in the various supply chain, income, and price caps on new EVs, and combine this with new estimates of future light-duty and heavy-duty EV cost declines. We find that, on average over the period 2023–2032, the IRA tax credits will reduce light-duty EV purchase costs by $3,400 to $9,050. Using methodologies from the Energy Policy Simulator, we project how these changing costs and …

OurEnergyPolicy Event Summary – The Road Ahead for Oil and Gas

This event summary highlights key comments made by oil and gas industry leaders at an OEP live event in Houston, Texas in January 2023. Featuring a keynote conversation between BP Senior VP for the Gulf of Mexico and Canada, Starlee Sykes and Paul Pavlou, Dean of C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Additionally, panelists from Shell, Citigroup, and the American Petroleum Institute discuss the current status of oil and gas production and markets, challenges facing the sector, and the industry’s role in the energy transition. …

Rethinking the Role of Financial Transmission Rights in Wind-Rich Electricity Markets in the Central U.S.

Transmission congestion can cause a divergence between wholesale power prices at the individual pricing nodes where power is generated and the more-liquid trading hubs where that power is often delivered and sold. This nodal price difference is commonly referred to as the “locational basis” (or just “basis”). Because the basis varies over time, it can, if not hedged, unpredictably affect a wind plant’s revenue and/or value, which increases investor risk and potentially slows deployment. We find wind plants typically face a larger and more-negative basis than do thermal generators, and hence are more-negatively impacted by congestion. Moreover, while most thermal …

The State of AI in the Utility Industry: Challenges and Projections

For over a century, energy companies have embraced a well-understood and reliable paradigm. Fossil fuel (or electricity generated from it) passes along transmission and distribution lines from centralized locations to homes and businesses.

That familiar model is now undergoing dramatic and accelerated changes, forcing utilities to reconsider how they operate a resilient and reliable power system. Renewable generation and electrification initiatives across transportation, heating and cooling, manufacturing, and other sectors are driving efforts to decarbonize the power system to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. At the same time, more and more severe weather events that emerge from our …

Realizing the Green Jobs Promise: The Benefits of a Regenerative Approach

The switch to a carbon-free economy is the biggest economic opportunity of our era. The international Energy Agency (IEA) and other analysts have predicted that this wave of market-driven innovation will create two to six “green jobs” for each fossil fuel job lost. The promised jobs are already arriving; the 2022 Annual Review by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reported that renewables alone had created more than 12 million jobs as of 2021.

But as well-researched and credible as such studies are, unfulfilled promises of prosperity have left many people skeptical about clean …