Advanced Energy Perspectives

In recent years, Maryland has emerged as a frontrunner in clean energy leadership nationally, fueled by ambitious goals for clean energy and clean transportation. Policies like the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022, the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Rule, the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) Rule, and the Maryland Building Energy Transition Plan prioritize electric vehicles (EVs), clean energy, and building electrification. However, while these policies are vital and the goals in them need to be met, their full implementation is going to require an electric system that we don’t yet have—and now there is groundbreaking legislation being considered in Annapolis that would address this aspect of the clean energy transition as well. 

Every three years, Arizona Public Service (APS) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) conduct a comprehensive study predicting the amount of energy their customers will need in order to determine the energy resources required to meet those needs. This study, known as an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), is a common exercise that utilities undertake in many states. While different parts of the country have different electricity needs and varying resources available, we at Advanced Energy United (United) believe all IRPs should include a comprehensive assessment of the advanced energy resources available, a competitive procurement process, and full incorporation of any additional policies that will change resource needs or costs.

Our transmission grid is overdue for an upgrade. More than 70% of America’s transmission lines are nearing the end of their 50-80-year lifespan, and the older our antiquated grid gets, the more vulnerable it becomes to failure. According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office analysis, power outages have become longer and more frequent in recent years, affecting nearly three in four Americans and jeopardizing the health and safety of vulnerable people. America needs more transmission to keep up with its growing electricity needs.

Electric utility resource and infrastructure planning has been a staple of electricity policy in most U.S. states for decades. Conducted in the public eye, with regulatory oversight and stakeholder participation, integrated resource plans, distribution plans, transmission plans, transportation electrification plans, energy efficiency and demand side management plans, grid modernization plans, and rate cases have all served to guide prudent electric system investments through an increasingly distributed and complex energy and policy landscape.  

Roughly one-third of Americans report having a side hustle to supplement their income. Side hustles range from delivery drivers to social media influencers and may soon include something surprising—electricity providers. That’s the promise of a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), letting consumers sell their unused energy back to the grid and get compensated for it. A VPP is formed when distributed energy resources – like solar panels, batteries, and EVs – are combined, or “aggregated” together and managed as a single resource like a power plant.