Advanced Energy Perspectives

In the final days of Maryland’s legislative session, a bill to extend the state’s successful energy efficiency program – known as EmPOWER Maryland – through 2023 became law. With AEE and other efficiency advocates persuading Gov. Hogan not to veto the bill, which had passed the legislature with veto-proof majorities in both houses, the law took effect without his signature, but also with no need for an override vote. The result: an estimated $1.6 billion market opportunity for energy efficiency companies across Maryland unleashed over the next six years.

Pennsylvania’s landmark energy efficiency law – known as Act 129 – continues to deliver huge electricity savings for the Commonwealth’s residents and businesses. In its most recent report on Act 129, the Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) Statewide Evaluator found that residential, commercial, and industrial consumers saved $2.2 billion in the last three years alone. So why the repeated – and so far failed – attempts to jam through legislation that would cripple the Keystone State’s energy efficiency efforts?

The electricity sector is changing. New technologies are being integrated into the grid and installed behind customer meters, including a range of smart grid technologies, distributed generation, demand response, and energy efficiency. These same technologies are putting pressure on the traditional utility business model, which is focused on providing a regulated rate of return on capital investment. As a result, both utilities and regulators are looking for ways to modernize the regulatory framework to better align utility financial incentives with the changes taking place on the grid and with public policy goals. One way to do that is performance-based regulation (PBR). A new paper from AEE Institute explores the potential for Pennsylvania to benefit from PBR to deliver better service (and more options) for customers and greater economic development for the state.

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are becoming an increasingly important element in the U.S. electricity system, capable of driving us toward a more flexible, reliable, resilient, affordable, and clean grid. However, when any industry goes through a substantial change, there are questions that must be answered. What entities should be allowed to own, operate, and control DERs and DER services? Should a monopoly (i.e., the utility) be allowed to compete against private advanced energy companies given their inherent competitive advantages? In places like Arizona and New York, answers are starting to emerge, but are not yet settled.

Solar array atop the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness at the University of Richmond. 

As we’ve reported before, companies across the country are increasingly looking to advanced energy to meet their electricity needs, and in Virginia, the story is no different. A new AEE state market brief shows that unleashing this demand would bring huge benefits to the Commonwealth, including significant investment and development activity. With the renewable energy tariff of Dominion Virginia Power, the Commonwealth’s largest investor-owned utility, expiring at the beginning of April, Virginia has a chance to do just that. The question legislators and regulators need to ask themselves now is this: How can Virginia expand and improve options for renewable energy procurement to attract and retain top corporate citizens and reap the jobs and economic benefits that come with a dynamic renewable energy market?