News

Utility Dive published Caitlin Marquis' op-ed on how ISO-New England could lead the country in creating the first "clean energy RTO." Read snippets below and the full article here.

New England faces an unprecedented set of questions about its energy future: What measures should states prioritize as they work to achieve ambitious clean energy targets set in legislation? How can distributed energy resources (DERs) be leveraged as part of the solution? What tools can a region with cold winters use to reliably transition to a fully decarbonized economy? 

Smart Energy Decisions published AEE’s Caitlin Marquis’ piece on competitive wholesale markets and the SEEM proposal. Read snippets below and the full story here.

The benefits of competitive wholesale markets to customers are generally boiled down to two simple words: cost and reliability. But ask any large buyer of clean energy, and you’ll hear a host of additional reasons why organized, competitive wholesale markets overseen by regional transmission organizations or independent system operators (RTOs/ISOs) make it easier to access clean energy resources. Unpacking what makes wholesale markets work for buyers also helps to explain why buyers have not enthusiastically endorsed the Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM) proposal put forward by a handful of Southeastern utilities.

Smart Energy Decisions published Caitlin Marquis' column about key issues in keeping corporate clean energy and sustainability programs going forward during the covid-19 crisis. Read excerpts below and the entire Smart Energy Decisions piece here. 

As companies adjust to a new normal during COVID-19, develop strategies to ride out the economic storm, and navigate various state reopening schedules and rules, sustainability teams face their own challenge: assessing whether and how the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout will affect progress toward their company’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals. 

Smart Energy Decisions featured a guest column from AEE's Caitlin Marquis explaining the impact of FERC's Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) on corporate renewable energy buyers. Read excerpts below and the entire Smart Energy Decisions piece here. 

The energy world is full of acronyms, and the hottest four-letter word of 2020 is, without contest, MOPR. MOPR stands for “Minimum Offer Price Rule,” and it has become a top concern of clean energy advocates, advanced energy developers, and states since December when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a much-anticipated decision on the rule. Applying to PJM Interconnection, which operates the bulk power system in all or part of 13 mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia, the FERC order poses a threat to both state clean energy policies and voluntary purchases of renewable energy in the largest U.S. energy market, and potentially all the organized wholesale markets under FERC jurisdiction, where direct corporate purchases of renewable energy are expanding.

Smart Energy Decisions published AEE's Caitlin Marquis' look back at key advanced energy trends for large corporate procurement this past record-breaking year and a look ahead at what 2020 might hold. Read excerpts below and the entire Smart Energy Decisions piece here. 

Corporate renewable energy procurement is no longer a new trend. Commercial and industrial (C&I) customers have become an important slice of the overall market driving renewable energy development.  While increasingly mature, the C&I market for renewable energy is far from static. In this column, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) provides a look back at key trends from the past year and a look ahead at what 2020 might hold.

Smart Energy Decisions published an article by AEE's Caitlin Marquis about ways corporate buyers can work with utilities, regulators and state officials to shape renewable energy program offerings with appeal to meet their sustainability goals. The piece draws from a recent report by AEE's Advanced Energy Buyers Group, "Renewable Energy Offerings that Work for Companies: A Practical Guide to Meeting Corporate Renewable Energy Demand in Vertically Integrated Markets," highlighting a six-step process to engage key players. See excerpts below and the entire SED article here and the related AEE webinar here.

Energy procurement and sustainability teams tasked with meeting corporate renewable energy targets are all too familiar with the fact that doing so is much easier in some states than in others. Specifically, in states that lack retail choice, and especially in states that are not part of an organized wholesale market, customers rely on either policy changes or the introduction of utility programs to make progress on their renewable energy goals. That means customers can wait for change – or work to make it happen.

Facility Executive published this column by Caitlin Marquis, AEE's manager of federal and state policy. Learn more about AEE’s Advanced Energy Buyers Group here. See column excerpts below and read the entire Dec. Facility Executive piece, including details about the four key takeaways and what to look for in 2019, here.

Corporate demand for renewable energy is no longer a fringe issue talked about on the sidelines of the clean energy industry — it is a mainstream phenomenon, and growing quickly.As of 2016, 71 companies out of the Fortune 100 had set a clean energy or sustainability target, and these companies aren’t just talking the talk. By mid-2018, corporate buyers had signed contracts for over 11 gigawatts (GW) of projects since 2014, and put in hundreds of installations onsite.