In the last year alone, states from Maine to New Mexico have enacted measures mandating the study of microgrids, showing the growing interest in harnessing the technology to shore up grid reliability and accomplish broader policy goals in which microgrids may play a role.
Utility resource planning is becoming more complex in the fast-changing energy landscape, prompting intense scrutiny from regulators. State measures are transforming the way utilities procure energy in light of continued growth in intermittent large-scale energy, customer-sited generation, demand response, energy efficiency, and clean energy commitments.
An unprecedented number of states are rushing to procure battery storage resources as the technology is seen as increasingly critical to balance supply and demand on power grids more saturated with intermittent supplies. Thanks to innovation and declining costs, battery technologies are increasingly presenting themselves in utility resource planning, interconnection procedures, renewable energy procurement, and utility pilots.
A growing number of states are redesigning policies and incentives for distributed generation as customer-sited installations spread amid falling costs. Regulators have initiated a number of actions this year, ranging from examining the value of distributed energy resources (DER) to overhauling interconnection rules, and equipping utilities with the planning structure required to accommodate new resources.
Carbon reduction is becoming ingrained in the planning strategies of utilities across the Northwest in response to state-level decarbonization policies and market changes. As coal plants are no longer cost-competitive, utilities are taking advantage of new technologies and favorable economics of natural gas and renewables.
California’s energy landscape is evolving rapidly driven by its ambitious clean energy and carbon reduction goals. Recent actions range from enhancing renewable integration to reforming carbon market rules, strengthening auto-emission standards, and revising energy efficiency policies.
Since distributed-level solar generation just started to proliferate across the U.S. a decade ago, as many as 21 states are now reexamining or revamping policies for compensating the power source, upsetting the status quo and deepening a divide among states for and against the incentives.
New York has adopted sweeping measures to propel the state’s clean energy agenda, including adopting the nation’s most ambitious climate targets, awarding the largest offshore wind contract, and refining compensation rules to boost distributed solar.
Ameren, FirstEnergy, and Pepco are advancing sweeping plans to modernize the power grid. The programs, exceeding $7.5 billions in investments, mark the latest efforts by utilities to overhaul an aging, antiquated transmission and distribution system to make it more resilient, accommodate the growing penetration of renewable and distributed energy, and enhance customer-interaction.
Competition among U.S. states eager to take the lead in the nation's still nascent offshore wind sector is fueling growth and bringing the industry to new highs. Turning these goals into reality will be no small feat, as the targets are several hundred times the current installed capacity. Still, this hasn’t dissuaded states from doubling down on offshore wind commitments.
The transportation sector’s overwhelming reliance on higher-emitting fossil fuels combined with a federal retreat on climate change policy and fuel economy standards has made the widespread deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) one of the top priorities for states looking to achieve increasingly stringent emission cuts. Electric utilities, playing a central role in the shift away from gasoline-powered cars, are now rolling out of hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure investments and a grab bag of consumer incentives.
As legislatures adjourn, U.S. states take stock of their progress on expanding clean energy and climate policies. Measures to tackle greenhouse gas emissions have long been a political lightning rod, but mechanisms like carbon pricing are coming up more regularly in legislative sessions and evolving to play a key role in the shift to a low-carbon economy.