RTO Insider outlined Biden's executive order in support of 100% carbon-free power by 2030, quoting AEE's Harry Godfrey on the order's manufacturing and jobs benefits. Read snippets below and the full article here.

President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order Wednesday directing the federal government to use carbon-free electricity for its 300,000 buildings and to decarbonize its 600,000 vehicle fleet.The order requires 100% carbon-free power on a net annual basis by 2030, including 50% 24/7 carbon-free electricity. What that means, a White House fact sheet says, is that “the federal government’s real-time demand for electricity will be met with clean energy every hour, every day, and produced within the same regional grid where the electricity is consumed.”

The policy will “catalyze the development of at least 10 GW of new American clean electricity production by 2030,” according to the fact sheet...

Clean energy advocates praised the order, saying it will result in economic growth and job creation while also calling on Congress to finalize passage of the Build Back Better Act...

Assuming that building retrofits and vehicle fleet transitions will roll out gradually over a number of years, Harry Godfrey, manufacturing policy lead at Advanced Energy Economy, estimated the order could stimulate business sales of $35 billion to $70 billion by mid-decade, while adding 90,000 to 180,000 jobs in advanced energy manufacturing. The near-term impact on U.S. gross domestic product could be an additional $13 billion to $26 billion, he said.

"As we await the essential clean energy investments contained in Build Back Better to pass Congress, this executive order utilizes the vast purchasing power of the federal government to begin to scale up a large variety of advanced energy technologies and create good jobs in America,” Godfrey said in an email to RTO Insider.

Read the full article here.