Advanced Energy Perspectives

In his State of the State address in January, Gov. Jerry Brown set a new goal of 5 million zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the road in California by 2030. Just a day later, the Governor formalized this goal through an Executive Order, which identified an expansion of charging infrastructure – specifically, 250,000 installed chargers by 2025 – along with an expansion of vehicle rebates as the most critical needs in order for the state to hit the target. A new bill sponsored by AEE would address the charging infrastructure challenge and set the state on course toward having the charging capacity needed to support a mass market for EVs.

The 2018 legislative session of the Virginia General Assembly ended Saturday, capping a two-month sprint that included breakthrough legislation that will accelerate renewable energy development and energy efficiency investment in the Commonwealth, with AEE engaged all the way. But the legislature left behind some unfinished business: while much ink has covered the Assembly’s inability to pass a budget, lawmakers also failed to reach consensus on appointing a new member of the State Corporation Commission (SCC), which has potential implications for Virginia’s advanced energy future.

Here is a look back at the progress we have made, and ahead to unfinished business, as we work to build a greater presence in the Commonwealth and expand the market for advanced energy companies.

Last Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a long-awaited final order on its storage and distributed energy resource (DER) docket. This is a big step toward opening up the wholesale electricity markets under FERC jurisdiction to advanced energy technologies that have not been allowed to compete. Energy storage gets an immediate boost, as regional grid operators will now have to implement market rules to let energy storage participate. Aggregated DERs, which FERC considered in this proceeding at the urging of AEE, will be on a slower path, starting with a technical conference, but are also headed toward market participation. AEE and our member companies will stay engaged until these markets are truly open to all advanced energy technologies.