Advanced Energy Perspectives

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Earlier this year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are small-footprint nuclear power plants that can be sized between 10 MW and 300 MW, like the schematic from NuScale (left). There are numerous SMR plant designs, though SMRs all rely on the same nuclear fission technology of larger plants. Nuclear fission releases heat in the reactor core to produce steam, which spins a turbine attached to a generator that produces electricity. Unlike utility-scale plants that can take years to construct, SMRs can be assembled offsite and delivered fully constructed. SMRs are smaller, simpler, and can be sited in more places than utility-scale nuclear plants, including submarines, which have been powered by a type of SMR for decades. SMRs generally have their reactors buried in the ground, away from weather hazards. They often use passive cooling systems that are not vulnerable to power outages, increasing the safety of the plant. 

While no SMRs are operating on the grid in the U.S. or elsewhere as of yet, the DOE believes there will be a substantial domestic and international market once products are developed. DOE is presently working with several companies, including mPower America and NuScale Power, to develop, test, and deploy different types of SMRs. DOE is assisting in design certification, site characterization, licensing, and engineering activities, aiding companies that are targeting SMR commercial operation in the next decade.

After the comment period closed on December 1, the stats were in: EPA received more than 4 million comments on the Clean Power Plan from individuals, organizations, and state regulatory bodies. It would take 71 people working eight hours a day from now until June to read them all. But don't worry—our Carbon Policy Analysts identified the top comments and plowed through them. This is the fourth of five blog posts presenting AEE’s summary of and take on comments from a few key stakeholders: federal and state regulatory organizations, states, ISO/RTOs, utilities, and industry and environmental groups. This post covers comments from major utilities and utility groups.

Utilities reacted strongly to EPA’s Proposed Rule. The Edison Electric Institute, which represents most of the country’s IOUs, filed 400 pages of comments; one of EEI’s key messages was that the rule fails to ensure reliable operation, which echos comments from states and ISOs/RTOs. Nearly all of the comments from individual utilities also contain some discussion of the Proposed Rule’s impact on reliability.

Advanced vehicles, front and center at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show, enjoyed another week in the spotlight at the annual Detroit Auto Show. Some impressive numbers in solar employment were released this week, and renewable energy got new recognition from an unlikely source.

America’s Motor City served as a showcase of innovation with this year’s Auto Show as the major car companies pull out all the stops.

The year 2015 is starting out with signs that the U.S. economy is picking up steam. Recent reports show strong economic growth in 2014 and 3 million jobs created – the most since 1999. The advanced energy industry has played a role in this return to prosperity. Thanks to a number of recent reports, we can now say with certainty that advanced energy is a significant job creator. 

Over the past year, a bumper crop of surveys and studies – by state agencies, by our AEE Institute, and by our state partner organizations – documented the jobs gained and retained by the advanced energy industry state by state. 

The states enjoying the greatest job benefits are those that have made advanced energy a priority in state policy. California has long been the leader in forward-looking energy policy. It has the jobs to show for it: more than 431,000 advanced energy jobs, 2.4 percent of the state’s workforce, half-again as many as are employed in the state’s marquee motion picture, radio, and television sector, according to AEE Institute’s California Advanced Energy Employment Survey. California is well on its way to more than half a million people employed in the advanced energy industry, with employers reporting plans to hire at a 17 percent clip in the coming year.

To kick off 2015, we look at 10 key issues before state public utility commissions this year, from comprehensive grid modernization to rate design and utility mergers. Note: some links in this post reference documents in DocketDash, BillBoard or PowerPortal, applications in AEE's energy policy software platform, PowerSuite. Click here and sign up for a free 14-day trial of PowerSuite.

1. New York PSC to Issue First Major Orders in Trailblazing Reform Effort

The New York Public Service Commission’s multi-stage Reforming the Energy Vision Proceeding continues into 2015, with the Track One order expected early in 2015. That order is expected to address the major system design aspects of REV, including the role of distribution utilities in enabling market-based deployment of distributed energy resources (DER). A straw proposal addressing Track Two of REV, expected in the second quarter, will examine changes in the regulatory structure, tariffs, and incentives needed to better align utility interests with achieving the state’s policy objectives (of more efficient energy use, deeper penetration of renewables and widespread DER adoption). After stakeholder input on the straw proposal, a Track Two order will likely be issued in the second half of 2015. Following the issuance of the Track Two order, REV will move into its next stage, which will include an extensive implementation period of utility-specific filings and additional stakeholder input on a number of issues.