Advanced Energy Perspectives

Disruptive new technologies, aging infrastructure, strengthened environmental regulation, and increased energy efficiency adoption are all contributing to a rapidly changing energy landscape. In order for utilities to plan for meeting future energy demand in the most cost-effective way, many states require utilities to file integrated resource plans (IRPs) with their state public utility commissions (PUCs). IRPs first started in the 1980s in response to the desire to better integrate energy efficiency into utility planning, the unexpectedly high costs of developing nuclear plants, and the oil embargoes of the 1970s. Today, new technologies, changing market conditions, and new environmental regulations are making IRPs change with the times.

Photo by Richard Caperton of Opower, who joined AEE's Malcolm Woolf and Arvin Ganesan in the audience for the announcement. 

The big news came early this week. On Monday, President Obama announced the final version of the Clean Power Plan, the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule regulating carbon dioxide emissions from power plants under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. Here at AEE, our experts are poring over the nearly 1,500-page rule, making sure we can help our members make the most of the opportunity for advanced energy growth created by the new regulation. But this week, the media has been writing the first draft of Clean Power Plan history – what the plan is, and what the reaction to it has been thus far.

It’s a busy time for advanced energy! Between the imminent release of the final Clean Power Plan and New York’s vision for a 21^st century electricity system coming ever closer to reality, there’s no dearth of news or excitement. Let’s begin this week with major news from an AEE member, SolarCity, which just had a record-breaking quarter.

Who said Congress wasn’t trying to legislate? After months of discussions, Congress took action on several fronts before taking off for the August recess. The Senate Finance Committee approved a tax extenders bill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee swiftly unveiled and passed energy legislation through subcommittee, and Sens. Murkowski and Cantwell released and passed their comprehensive energy bill through committee. Progress!

In a recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal (“States Are Unplugging Their Renewable-Energy Mandates”), two state directors of the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity trotted out several tired and misinformed arguments against Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). The problem with this piece and others like it isn’t only that they mislead the reader with inaccurate statements and outdated information. The real problem is that they sidestep the central rationale for an RPS – overcoming the market and regulatory barriers that distort energy choices in this country.