Advanced Energy Perspectives

Another giant of industry has gone all-in on advanced energy, this one a company that will be on both sides of the transactions. In an op-ed in the New York Times published last week, CEO John Kaesser announced that Siemens A.G. would incorporate a variety of advanced energy generation technologies and energy efficiency measures to completely eliminate or offset CO₂ emissions by 2030. This would make Siemens both a supplier of advanced energy products and a customer making full use of them to meet the company’s energy needs. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is.

Straight out of August recess, Congress wasted no time to making national headlines. The District was abuzz with votes on the Iran nuclear deal, a visit from Pope Francis, and a potential government shutdown – which the surprise resignation of Speaker John Boehner helped to avert. Despite all the attention of these events, the House Energy and Commerce committee continued its efforts to enact sweeping energy legislation. As predicted, however, the committee turned once-unanimous agreement into a mostly party-line vote.

Image courtesy of Clean Energy Resource Teams, from a workshop and tour on community solar gardens at Lake Region Electric Cooperative in Minnesota.

More and more, across the U.S., consumers want access to solar energy. However, according to a new GTM market report, only an estimated 13.5% of U.S. households have rooftops suitable for solar. In what many are hailing as the solution - community solar - the remaining 86.5% of households could benefit from solar power as if the panels were installed on their homes. Community solar makes solar an option for everyone: renters, apartment dwellers, owners with shaded rooftops, consumers with sub-optimal credit, people living in historic districts, and those hampered by unfavorable building codes or zoning ordinances.

Photo courtesy of Walmart. Solar panels atop a Walmart and Sam’s Club in Chino California.

This week we saw dozens of major companies join the ranks of those already focused on choosing their own advanced energy future. Walmart, Goldman Sachs, Starbucks, Nike, Proctor & Gamble, Salesforce, Johnson & Johnson, AEE member Siemens, and others joined ranks with Apple and Google to commit to go 100% renewable.

This blog post is the second in a two-part series on states' reactions to the EPA's Clean Power Plan. Check out Part 1 here.

To comply or not to comply with EPA’s Clean Power Plan? For states, that is the question. In yesterday’s post, we looked at states that are getting ready to develop compliance plans, even those that are planning to fight the CPP in court. Today, we take a look at the states that are showing no sign of preparing to submit a plan, whether they don’t have to, they haven’t decided how to respond, or they just refuse to — in which case EPA will impose a federal plan.