Publish Date: May 2, 2023
In 2020 and 2021, three of Indiana’s investor-owned utilities, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (“NIPSCO”), Indiana Michigan Power Company (“I&M”), and CenterPoint Energy Indiana (“CenterPoint”), proposed to build new natural gas-fired combustion turbine (“CT”) plants in their Integrated Resource Plans.
Topics: State Policy, Indiana
Publish Date: April 24, 2023
With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), funds are available to state, local, and tribal governments; electric utilities; businesses; schools; nonprofit organizations; households; and other entities for a variety of advanced energy infrastructure projects.
Topics: State Policy, Economic Impact, Michigan, Federal Priorities
Publish Date: March 20, 2023
State vehicle procurement often relies on a pure up-front cost assessment. Recently, states have started to look at ways to holistically assess up-front cost, fuel, and maintenance when procuring fleet vehicles. A total cost of ownership approach is a straightforward, fiscally responsible way to ensure that state fleets are affordable, modern, and maximize state dollars. A new report from national business association Advanced Energy United found the state of Florida could save almost $280 million by considering the total cost of ownership in vehicle procurement decisions, compared to the current practice of only considering purchase price. The report, a joint effort between Advanced Energy United and the Electrification Coalition with support from Atlas Public Policy, highlights the lower lifetime maintenance costs that ultimately make an electric fleet significantly more affordable for the state.
Topics: State Policy, Advanced Transportation, Florida
Publish Date: February 14, 2023
In 2021, Duke Energy Indiana proposed to build a 1,221 MW gas-fired Combined Cycle (CC) plant to begin operation in 2027. Since these plans were announced, the U.S. Federal Government has passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) to dramatically reduce the cost of clean energy resources, natural gas prices have spiked, and MISO has modified its capacity accreditation process. These changes justify a reassessment of Duke Energy’s plan and consideration of alternatives to the CC.
Topics: State Policy, Indiana, Building Decarbonization
Publish Date: November 15, 2022
State decision makers, from Governors and their administrations to utility regulators and lawmakers, are working to address the economic headwinds facing families and businesses – combating inflation, creating jobs, and building an American energy future that’s more affordable, reliable, clean, and independent. With deep roots in their states and communities, these leaders are working to make sure the benefits of this transition – from new jobs and investment to cleaner air and more affordable electricity – flow to those who need them most. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and bipartisan Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) contain a wealth of resources, programs, and incentives to support all this work.
Topics: State Policy, Economic Impact, Federal Priorities, Federal Priorities
Publish Date: October 11, 2022
United partnered with the Burning Glass Institute, a nonprofit labor market analytics center, to research jobs in demand by advanced energy employers as manifested in online job postings and applying that analysis to the distribution of new advanced energy jobs on a granular basis, identifying the top job opportunities for those with and without college degrees, what those positions require in terms of education, training, and experience, and the salaries those positions provide.
Publish Date: October 7, 2022
With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), funds are available to state, local, and tribal governments; electric utilities; businesses; schools; nonprofit organizations; households; and other entities for a variety of advanced energy infrastructure projects.
Topics: State Policy, Economic Impact, Federal Priorities
Publish Date: September 26, 2022
On June 16, 2022, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing changes to its regulations governing interconnection processes and agreements. The NOPR comes as interconnection delays across the country are slowing project development, with three times as many requests waiting in interconnection queues today as there were five years ago. FERC’s NOPR seeks to resolve these backlogs by proposing solutions that balance increased requirements for interconnecting generators to demonstrate commercial viability and “readiness” to stay in the interconnection queue and firmer obligations for transmission providers to complete studies on time.
“Understanding FERC’s Proposal for Relieving Interconnection Delays” summarizes the key provisions of FERC’s NOPR, describes how FERC proposes to change the responsibilities of interconnection customers and transmission providers, and highlights the challenges that FERC will need to address in a final ruling in order to break the delays and wait times that plague clean energy projects today.
Topics: State Policy, Wholesale Markets, Transmission
Publish Date: September 8, 2022
AES Indiana’s 2022 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is an important planning exercise that will set the direction of the utility’s investments over the next two decades. Indiana’s electric system in 2042 will be fundamentally different from the grid of 2023, and will require a fundamentally different resource mix.
Topics: State Policy
Publish Date: September 6, 2022
Nationally, advanced energy employment bounced back from COVID-related job losses with 4.8% growth from 2020 to 2021, faster than overall U.S. job growth of 2.8%, adding 155,000 jobs. Advanced energy jobs are not all the way up to the previous peak of 2019, but they are on an upward trajectory that will only accelerate with the billions of dollars for clean energy investment provided by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act.
Topics: State Policy, Advanced Energy Employment, Economic Impact