Advanced Energy Perspectives

This week, Governor Whitmer signed into law a suite of clean energy policies that set Michigan on a path to a decarbonized power system. The new laws include some of the most significant energy policy reforms since the establishment of the state’s renewable portfolio standard in 2008 and electric integrated resource planning in 2016.

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced and opened applications for a new school bus procurement funding program last fall, school districts from every corner of the country rushed to apply. Unfortunately, over 70 Pennsylvania districts from across the Commonwealth were waitlisted or deprioritized for funding from the nationwide Clean School Bus Program. There simply wasn’t enough funding set aside to meet the enthusiasm of school administrators for electric school buses in Pennsylvania.

This past weekend, President Biden signed a bill to raise the national debt ceiling that also included modest improvements in the permitting process for building clean energy projects. As part of the negotiation process, Congressional leaders considered policy changes to speed up the buildout of large-scale electric grid transmission, such as expanding transmission capacity between regions. Ultimately, and unfortunately, those reforms were not included in the bill.

The 88th Texas Legislative Session featured a clash of two forces struggling to influence the future of Texas energy—one side looking to reverse the Texas energy miracle, characterized by rapid development of large-scale wind and solar power generation, and the other side staunchly defending the competitive market, a hallmark of the state's energy system.