Advanced Energy Perspectives

California’s 2014 legislative session has finally come to a close. August was a busy month in Sacramento as the Legislature worked to get bills through both houses in the final stretch, after which Gov. Brown signed them into law during the month of September. In addition to approving several bills and budget items that will improve the business climate for advanced energy companies, the Legislature also faced an attempt to push off a key milestone in the state’s climate plan.

As the UN summit on climate in New York City came to a close last week, all eyes were on the United States as the world’s leading economy. Yet, those seeking action from the U.S. should actually be looking at the states and what they’re already doing. As international climate talks open up to “sub-national” participants, states may get a chance to take their rightful place among the world’s advanced energy leaders.

It may be hard to imagine the U.S. Senate ratifying an international agreement on climate change (which requires a two-thirds vote). But every year states around the country pass legislation to move advanced energy forward to serve a growing U.S. and global market. As documented in AEE’s Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, advanced energy products and services improve the electric power system in myriad ways – and reduce emissions associated with climate change as well.

We are now a little over four months into the landmark regulatory proceeding in New York State called “Reforming the Energy Vision,” or REV. With REV, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) is seeking to fundamentally transform the way the state’s electric distribution utilities are regulated and how they do business – changing the way electricity is generated, bought and sold in New York. The REV proceeding is arguably the most comprehensive yet to tackle what is variously known as “Utility of the Future,” “Utility 2.0,” or as we at AEE call it, the “21st Century Electricity System.” (Users of PowerSuite can track and collaborate on this vital regulatory proceeding here.) Whatever you call it, the idea is to create a high-performing electricity system that runs on advanced energy. With the release of a new straw proposal on August 22, the PSC is moving the vision toward reality.

As the deadline for comment on the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan approaches, more and more states are seeking input from stakeholders. In drafting their comments, the state utility commissions and air regulator offices have taken different approaches: some are holding formal public hearings, some are accepting public comments, and some are conducting private or invitation-only stakeholder meetings. AEE is tracking the comment drafting process in our 23 partner states, plus Texas and Florida. We have already submitted comments with our partners in Arkansas, Ohio, and Virginia, and we submitted our own set of comments in Florida.

In Texas, stakeholders began holding invitation-only meetings attended by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Texas utilities and power producers. Donna Nelson, Chair of the PUC, publicly questioned the future of Texas’ deregulated energy market. “There’s almost nothing in this rule that there could be any other outcome other than the junking of the competitive market,” she said. The CEO of Luminant, Texas’ biggest retail power generator, Mac MacFarland said that the proposed rule “not only overestimates the feasible efficiencies at existing power plants, but also the called-for steep increase in renewable energy sources. The plan disproportionately impacts Texas, and, in our opinion, it oversteps the law.”

Third party financing of solar energy has become a hot commodity around the country.  Historically, individuals or businesses that wanted solar power had to pay for the system up front and then realize the savings over time. Essentially, the first kWh cost $16,000 or more, but then the electricity is free as long as the panels last.  Solar owners who bought systems this way always got the question, “how long does it take that system to payoff?” (Funny, I’m not aware of any electric utility saying the bill they send you is going down because they’ve “paid off” their power plants, but I digress.)