Advanced Energy Perspectives

We all have the power to save energy and today’s technology providers make it easier than ever to make a big difference. Whether you want to save money on your home energy bills, improve building comfort, reduce office, commercial and industrial costs, drive U.S. economic growth and jobs, or make a significant dent in harmful emissions, energy efficiency (EE) is a superpower we can all tap right now.

That’s why AEE is supporting the fourth annual national Energy Efficiency Day on Oct. 2 and encouraging you to join us. Working with national and regional EE colleagues, we are taking this fall day to highlight all the benefits of EE, shed light on enabling technologies, share valuable, cost-saving tips, and make it fun.

In the advanced energy industry, all eyes are on the incredible shrinking FERC. With now two open seats, the Commission can barely muster a quorum – and not always, as a Trump Administration ethics pledge is keeping Commissioner Richard Glick from participating in important cases. Media outlets have reported that the White House plans to offer a single nomination to fill McIntyre’s seat, a potentially troubling departure from the tradition of pairing Republican and Democratic nominees. In flux as it is, FERC faces a range of pending decisions that could have huge impacts on the nation’s electricity market – and on advanced energy growth. Ultimately, what the advanced energy industry is looking for from FERC Commissioners – those now seated, and new ones to come – is for barriers to competition in wholesale markets to come down.

Given how long we’ve been waiting – nearly three years now – for FERC to issue a final order directing RTOs/ISOs to develop rules for aggregated distributed energy resources (DERs) to take part in wholesale markets, it may seem that actual DER participation is still years away. In reality, several types of DER – from energy storage to distributed solar to electric vehicles and more – are slowly breaking through barriers to participate in wholesale markets, providing value to their owners and the electric power system as a whole. Read on for five real-world examples of DER participation in wholesale markets across the country. These examples provide just a glimpse of the value DERs could bring to wholesale markets, if they were given more of a chance. A final rule from FERC requiring systematic removal of barriers to DER participation in wholesale markets would unlock more of this value for wholesale markets and for consumers.

Move over, California, there’s another trailblazer in the West making its mark as an advanced energy success story. Through new market opportunity and steady, sustained job growth, Colorado is seeing the fruits of its policy leadership: advanced energy job growth of 4% last year, double the state’s overall employment gains, for a total that exceeds hospitals and doubles extractive industries like mining, oil, and gas. All over the state, Coloradans are making a living making the way we produce and use energy cleaner, more efficient, and cheaper. California may be bigger, and may have gotten there first, but Colorado is giving the Golden State a run for its money. 

“Indiana – a State That Works.” That’s the state’s motto, and every Hoosier knows it. What Hoosiers may not know is that the cost of doing business in Indiana has gotten higher due to significantly increased electricity rates over the past few years. If you ask business owners across the state, they will tell you that their energy-related costs have gone up, leaving them with less money to spend on expanding their business, hiring more employees, or investing in their own companies. The ability to control energy costs and sources is critical, especially for companies that consume a large amount of energy. Fortunately, advanced energy offers an opportunity for Indiana to offer low-cost and reliable energy to businesses. At the same time, advanced energy has become a significant source of  employment in the state – more jobs than auto parts manufacturing, twice as many as in schools and universities, and growing four times as fast as Indiana jobs overall.