Advanced Energy Perspectives

The energy sector is currently undergoing a massive transformation as dynamic technologies change the way customers receive and use electricity. This change has brought economic growth to the United States, with the advanced energy industry burgeoning to $200 billion in annual revenue to support more than 3 million jobs. Dozens of states have already taken notice of the advanced energy opportunity – and taken advantage, whether by comprehensive legislation, as in Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia, or by reducing barriers to technologies, as Texas, Pennsylvania, and New York have done. Despite the progress being made, some policy hurdles remain for advanced energy. That’s why AEE and CRES Forum teamed up to write a policy paper outlining five ways Congress can modernize the grid.

Photos by Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit and Janitors, used under this Creative Commons license; and by BeyondDC, used under this Creative Commons license.

The federal government may be getting ready to freeze emissions standards in place for conventional cars and trucks, but electric vehicles (EVs) are still on the rise. No longer the stuff of science fiction movies, but not yet commonplace, EVs have yet to fully take off in the mass market. But recent news shows that production of EVs is reaching scale, states are starting to build out the charging infrastructure needed to support a mass market, and even electric scooters are running up impressive numbers, not to mention electric buses. Here is the latest from the front lines of transportation electrification.

Image by Stormotion.io, used under a Creative Commons license. 

This is the sixth in an occasional series from AEE published in Utility Dive that addresses how the power sector can successfully transition to a 21st Century Electricity System.

Throughout the economy, businesses rely heavily on services to fulfill their needs. In the utility sector, however, the use of services has taken hold more slowly, especially when those services reduce the need for capital investment in their systems. At the heart of the matter is the way utilities recover costs and generate earnings. At stake is faster adoption of modern technology, better service, a more efficient system, and lower costs for customers.

What is the price of political cronyism? High, when it comes to paying power plants that are not needed to keep the lights on, just to exist. But that is what the Trump Administration is apparently getting ready to do. Or at least trying to do – an earlier attempt to do so was rejected by regulators, most of them appointees of President Trump. Not taking no for an answer, the Administration has decided to go bigger, with a bigger price tag. How much bigger? That’s what we wanted to find out.

This post was originally published by Clean Energy Economy Minnesota.  

Clean Energy Economy Minnesota (CEEM) and Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) are hosting business roundtables this summer with Minnesota’s candidates for governor. On July 18, we had the pleasure of hosting U.S. Congressman Tim Walz (DFL).