Advanced Energy Perspectives

AEE and our member companies were busy meeting with gubernatorial candidates in nine states this fall. In Nevada, AEE and our member businesses sat down recently with Democratic nominee Steve Sisolak and his campaign staff to talk about the growth of the advanced energy industry, workforce development opportunities, and how Nevada can continue attracting businesses to the Silver State.

Yesterday, AEE Members met with Chris King, Democratic nominee for Florida lieutenant governor, and Chris Lipson, policy director for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum to discuss policies that could accelerate the adoption of advanced energy resources and growing the number of advanced energy jobs in Florida. The business representatives discussed policy mechanisms and regulatory initiatives that a Gillum administration could utilize to ensure that Floridians reap the economic benefits and cost savings of advanced energy technologies – such as growing the 160,000 jobs now supported by the advanced energy industry in Florida. AEE member companies met with Republican nominee Ron DeSantis in August, prior to the primary election.

Even as Ohioans get ready to elect a new governor, the Ohio legislature is once again struggling to determine whether it will move forward, or backward, on energy policy. More than a year has passed since the Ohio House voted to approve House Bill 114, a bill that would effectively eliminate the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards. Since then, Senate Leaders have worked to develop a compromise that preserves the state’s requirements but reduces them enough to satisfy the House without running afoul of Gov. Kasich, who vetoed lawmakers’ last attempt to gut the state’s RPS and EERS outright. The bill also needs to address the state’s burdensome wind setback requirement, which the Senate tried to fix in the 2017 budget bill. With time running out before the legislature breaks for summer recess, many are wondering – do Ohio lawmakers have the will to reach a constructive deal that finally puts Ohio’s energy policy on a stable course this year? Or will Ohio’s energy future be left to the legislature’s next session – and next governor?

Nevada’s 2017 legislative session was jam-packed with bills that will reshape the state’s energy future. The legislature passed 11 energy bills and sent them to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s desk. Of the 11, the Governor signed nine into law. The bills covered a wide range of issues and settled them in favor of advanced energy: prioritizing energy-saving resources for dispatch, setting annual energy savings goals, studying energy storage deployment, and even solving the state’s contentious net-metering policy. After this session, one thing is apparent – in Nevada, advanced energy is not a partisan issue. With a Republican Governor and a Democratic legislature, Nevada is moving toward advanced energy in the name of economic development and consumer benefit. But one bill that went unsigned – and was, indeed, vetoed – by the Governor kept the Silver State off the Gold Medal stand for advanced energy leadership.

In Nevada, disputes over net metering controlled much of the energy conversation in 2016. Now, lawmakers and Gov. Brian Sandoval are looking to go big on advanced energy. First, at the end of last year, the Public Utilities Committee of Nevada (PUCN) issued an order requiring a utility to consider “all attributes,” not just cost, in evaluating energy options – a boon for advanced energy technologies, which provide a range of benefits. Now, lawmakers are pressing forward on legislation that would boost the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), establish annual energy efficiency goals, and consider requiring utilities to deploy energy storage by 2018. If they keep working together like this to enact policies that reduce costs for ratepayers and diversify the state’s energy portfolio, Nevada Republicans and Democrats could catapult the Silver State into the driver’s seat on advanced energy in 2017.