Advanced Energy Perspectives

In January, Gov. Jerry Brown declared he would seek a two-thirds vote to extend California’s cap-and-trade system to 2030. The extension to 2030 would keep in place the market-based mechanism that enables the state to reach its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals on a cost-effective basis – and send a market signal in favor of advanced energy technologies and services – while passage by two-thirds would protect the system from legal challenges claiming it is a tax, which by law requires approval by supermajority vote. Supporters and neutral observers alike agreed that was the ideal scenario for locking in cap and trade for the next decade, but there was substantial doubt that the votes were there. The idea of a two-thirds vote became even more challenging after the Governor asked the Legislature to hike the gas tax as part of a transportation package. Could he get a two-thirds vote twice in one year? Yes, he could and he did. Here’s how – and how AEE was engaged all along the way.

As the industry waits with bated breath for the DOE grid reliability study to be released, advanced energy marches on! In this week’s news roundup, we’ll cover California and Hawaii taking big steps forward, a leaked draft version of the DOE report, Virginia’s first offshore wind project, using Bitcoin technology for advanced energy transactions, and training by virtual reality. 

Late last week, Bloomberg reporters unearthed a draft of the grid reliability study ordered by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and pointed out contradictions between the DOE draft and Trump Administration statements, which called coal generation key to electric system reliability, and blaming policies favoring renewable energy for “premature” retirement of “baseload” generating resources like coal and nuclear energy. In response, a spokesperson for DOE simply said the report is “constantly evolving,” and when it comes to the passages cited by Bloomberg, “those statements as written are not in the current draft.” So we’ve done our own read of the leaked draft. We see five broad findings, with specific language from DOE’s internal experts justifying those findings, that capture the reality of today’s changing, but robust, power grid, as we see it. The question is: Will they make it into the final report?

This post is one in a series of feature stories on trends that shape advanced energy markets in the U.S. and around the world. It is drawn from Advanced Energy Now 2017 Market Report, which was prepared for AEE by Navigant Research.

Historically, the United States has imported large quantities of natural gas, mostly from Canada. In 2005 alone, the United States imported 4 trillion cubic feet of this fuel. But hydraulic fracturing has resulted in an abundance of domestic natural gas supply. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects the country to become a net exporter of natural gas in 2017 for the first time since 1958, citing declining pipeline imports from Canada, increased pipeline exports to Mexico, and greater LNG exports elsewhere. By 2026, EIA projects U.S. exports at 4 trillion cubic feet even if oil prices remain at current lows.

In this week’s news, utility scale storage is on the up-and-up, led by a new partnership between two AEE members, and Microsoft makes major deals for advanced energy. Both stories exemplify two trends we’re tracking this year: major corporations choosing advanced energy and the rapid growth of the storage market. Any way you slice it, advanced energy is on the rise!