Advanced Energy Perspectives

Following a year complicated by the unique challenges and constraints of responding to a public health crisis, the Colorado Legislature lost no time this legislative session diving into an ambitious, jam-packed policy agenda. With over 30 bills on advanced energy and transportation across the finish line by the time the Legislature gaveled out on June 8, this session proved to be another banner year for Colorado’s advanced energy industry. Taking this latest boon of policy wins together with its 62,000-strong (and growing) advanced energy workforce, Colorado has flexed its position of strength and once again showed itself to be a leader to watch in the West.

Offshore wind, electric vehicle (EV) technology, and workforce equity have emerged among the hottest advanced energy trends in 2021, with EVs alone making up three of the Top 10 issues considered by state lawmakers this year. In our latest webinar, “Equity, EVs & Offshore Wind: Top State Legislative Issues of 2021 and What’s Driving Them,” these topics were discussed by AEE and industry experts.

On May 6, the clean energy train slid off the tracks in Arizona, taking with it the hope for the timely passage of the proposed Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Energy Rules to reach 100% clean energy by 2050. More than three years after the rulemaking train left the station, the ACC rejected the proposed rules in a surprise 3-to-2 vote. That decision came after nearly three years of official stakeholder engagement, bipartisan cooperation, and extensive participation of utilities, consumer advocates, and communities of faith in the robust process, with all of those groups ultimately supporting the proposed rules package. But it turns out this was not the end of the line for the proposed rules. They are now back on track, in a new form, although the journey is far from over.

In a blink of an eye, AEE Indiana ran through the finish line of the 2021 legislative session of the Indiana General Assembly at the end of April, and we’re just now catching up. While in the past two sessions we mostly  played defense, working to stop coal bailouts and moratoriums on plant closures. But this session the advanced energy industry got an opportunity to go on offense, with several bills that we favored making it to the Governor’s desk. We still had to temper a last minute Hail Mary from the Coal Council, which would have hindered utility efforts to move beyond coal, but overall the pros outweigh the cons in 2021. Here’s a rundown of where we ended up on our priority issues at the end of the Indiana legislative session.

It was a dark and stormy session for the Texas legislature, dominated by electric power issues surfaced by Winter Storm Uri. With the Texas electricity system under more scrutiny – and more up for grabs – than at any time since restructuring in 1999, we at the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance (TAEBA) had our hands full. But when the dust settled and the legislature gaveled out on Memorial Day, the outcome for advanced energy was net positive – even though the legislature missed a golden opportunity to enhance grid resilience with distributed energy resources.