News

AEE supported Yes on Amendment 4, a campaign in Florida to make solar power more affordable to Floridians. Amendment 4 was successfully passed on August 30. Here's the round-up of coverage: 

Statement of AEE upon Passage by Florida Voters of Amendment 4, Exempting Solar, Renewable Energy from State Property Tax

“We are pleased that the California Assembly has voted to continue California's commitment to advancing its energy and climate objectives beyond 2020,” said Steve Chadima, senior vice president, Advanced Energy Economy, a national business association active in California. “The passage of SB 32, which sets a greenhouse gas emissions cap of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, will encourage investors and increase market certainty, and we commend the legislature for taking action. We encourage the legislature to do the same with companion bill AB 197, so that the state continues to lead with cost-effective and market-based strategies to reduce emissions.” 

[Chicago, August 16, 2016] – Public utility commissioners from across the Midwestern states gathered today in Chicago to discuss distribution system planning for the 21^st Century electric grid in light of technology advancements, the growth of distributed energy resources (like storage, demand response and solar) evolving customer expectations, and the evolution of planning processes. The gathering of 12 commissioners from six Midwest states (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin) also discussed related issues around rate design and utility business models. Session topics were selected in advance by the commissioners.

[Chicago, August 10, 2016] — Today, Advanced Energy Economy Institute; Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; and the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN) convened a discussion with utility, advanced energy, and thought leaders to discuss the status of the industrial energy efficiency sector in Chicago and across Illinois. AEE Institute and its Illinois state partner, Clean Energy Trust (CET), partnered with the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern University to bring together twenty leading thinkers in the energy industry to discuss the opportunities and challenges for industrial efficiency in Illinois. 

Meister Consultants Group, an international sustainability consulting firm, today released a report outlining policy changes states can enact to expand corporate access to advanced energy – identifying 11 states with a strong corporate presence where one or more of the policies could create new opportunities for corporate competitiveness, the firm said this morning. The report focused on six policies to enable firms to purchase advanced energy and for each one, considers where these policies have the greatest potential to expand corporate access to advanced energy, it added.