Advanced Energy Perspectives

In the early morning hours of September 1, California policymakers frantically concluded a legislative session much in keeping with the disquieting, disorienting mood of 2020 and all its unforeseen complications. California continues to grapple with colliding crises – an enduring pandemic, economic recession, and a catastrophic wildfire season. But at least there’s now a stack of bills on the Governor’s desk, including two that would support and indeed accelerate California’s nation-leading push toward electric transportation – and which were AEE’s top priorities for this session.

AEE members and staff hold virtual meeting with Indiana state Sen. Andy Zay (R-Huntington), now a candidate for re-election.

Indiana has quietly become a major market for advanced energy. Two utilities, the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) and Vectren, have announced plans to shift their resource mix from predominantly coal to mostly advanced energy resources, including wind, solar, storage, and demand side management. This shift is largely driven by economics, as the two utilities have estimated that ratepayers will save over $4.3 billion from these investments. But in the past two sessions, the Indiana legislature has been consumed with legislation aimed at delaying the retirement of uneconomic coal plants. While AEE has been actively engaged in opposing such legislation, which would prevent investment in advanced energy resources, and had some success in making the law passed last year less harmful, this engagement has also made us recognize that policymakers need to learn more about the benefits advanced energy can bring to Indiana – and the best time to teach them is when they’re running for office. 

In the past five years, 100% clean or renewable has become the new standard of ambition in energy policy. As the map above shows, states across the U.S. are embarking on a path to a 100% clean energy supply.  Today roughly one in three Americans lives in a state, county, or city committed to 100% clean energy.  The latest to join the club is Virginia, which in April passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, making it the first southeastern state to set a 100% target. This would have been unthinkable a few years ago, when AEE began work in the Commonwealth. But now, for a growing number of states, declining costs and clear economic benefits are making clean energy not just a policy aspiration but a compelling value proposition.

Florida historically has been a difficult state for the advanced energy industry, despite the great potential for these resources there. Over the past five years, the biggest win for the advanced energy industry was passage of property tax exemption for solar energy in 2017. Other policy ideas to boost solar, storage, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles have been proposed infrequently and passed even more rarely. But as the legislature adjourned March 19, it showed that Florida is ready to move forward on advanced energy – starting with electric vehicles (EVs). Approved by the legislature and now ready for the Governor’s signature is a bill to put Florida in a position to encourage statewide investment in EV charging infrastructure.

Note: This was originally posted on powersuite-blog.aee.net

Can’t find toilet paper or eggs at the grocery store? We can’t help you there. But we can help you find everything you need to know about what’s happening in state public utility commission dockets and legislation around the country related to energy and COVID-19.  And since schools are closed and many of us are trying to figure out how to make learning fun, we’ll do this in the form of an interactive map and a coronavirus acrostic.