Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc.

Join our newsletter to receive a note every month or so with our latest clean energy analyses, explained. You can expect to read about topics like resource adequacy, electricity market design, AI and load growth, the future of gas, and green hydrogen. You are always welcome to respond and keep the conversation going. We expect these emails will be most relevant for utilities, governments, research groups, nonprofits, developers, investors, and operators, but we welcome anyone interested in clean energy. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/g733iC9y

Our team is excited to present at #GridFWD 2024 with Grid Forward this week! Arne Olson will discuss the history of western energy markets, Lakshmi Alagappan on making beneficial electrification truly beneficial, and Zach Ming on resource adequacy. Let us know if you'll be there, too.

Happy #ClimateWeekNYC from E3 and our sister companies at Willdan! New York set major climate goals and we're proud to support the state's progress toward those ends. E3 has worked with a broad range of clients within the state, including NYSERDA, New York City, all of the major New York utilities, NYISO, as well as clean energy developers and investors building in the state. This sweeping view has given us reason to hope, but as this year's theme states, #ItsTime to get to work.

Join us *this Thursday* for a webinar on how to make Integrated System Planning a reality. This event will drill down to the nuts and bolts, focusing on key, near-term practical steps and what an end-to-end analytical process can look like. Register for this free discussion, featuring Arne Olson, Lakshmi Alagappan, Joe Hooker, and Aaron Burdick, here: https://lnkd.in/gk6g9_yb

A key aspect in the transition toward a more resilient grid requires more attention: how the impacts of future climate change intersect with the transformations required to decarbonize the energy system. We looked at this question with NYSERDA, coupling temperature projections under three climate scenarios (mild, moderate, severe) with two infrastructure cases (reflecting varying levels of decarbonization). In a reference case, climate-driven increases in temperatures can place significant additional pressure on summer peak demand, and the challenge of maintaining reliability during heat waves would be compounded by the impacts of rising temperatures on electric infrastructure, including both generator availability and transmission capacity. Investments in building decarbonization, like insulation and efficient heat pump technologies, can help to mitigate the impacts on summer peak demand. Building an energy system that is both clean and resilient is possible, and investments in building decarbonization can even have additional climate resilience benefits. Read our new opinion piece in Utility Dive, by Kevin Steinberger, Vignesh Venugopal, and Tory Clark, on what New York can teach us about planning well for deeply decarbonized energy systems, even under climate uncertainties: https://lnkd.in/gbhCuYYs

Core energy policy objectives have changed since the 1970s, but electric rate design is stuck in the past. Historically, with conservation as the overarching goal, the primary objective in rate design was to increase the marginal price of electricity – leveraging volumetric pricing with low fixed charges. Today, stakeholders increasingly see electrification as the overarching policy, but existing rates are still designed to penalize additional electricity consumption. Going forward, regulators will need to consider new approaches that balance the drive to support electrification with the goal of supporting affordability for low-income customers, regardless of electrification status.   We're working on this question with Massachusetts, who launched an Interagency Rates Working Group tasked with developing near- and long-term electric rate design strategies that align with the state's decarbonization and affordability goals. E3 recently completed the draft Near-Term Rate Design strategy. Read about what we found, and find links to the full presentation and draft report here: https://lnkd.in/gvDjBjTm For more like this in your inbox, subscribe to our monthly newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/g733iC9y

Excited to return to my home state of Connecticut next week to discuss the potential of energy storage and offshore wind in supporting New England’s long-term resource adequacy needs, particularly in a Net Zero future. Punchline: In a deeply decarbonized future, the complementary features of storage and offshore wind can provide greater firm capacity together than either could alone — valuable to meeting critical reliability needs. A big thanks to the ISO-NE Consumer Liaison Group for organizing what promises to be an insightful session on both the opportunities and real challenges ahead. You can register to join in person or virtually at the link below! https://lnkd.in/eTzSXJw9

It's a big month for Integrated System Planning! Join us for a webinar on Sep 26 at 9am PT / Noon ET, where we'll share our vision and practical steps on how to make ISP a reality. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gk6g9_yb

The EPA awarded $4.3 billion in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants to 25 applicants, and this week they convene in Minneapolis for a three-day workshop on the next major stage of the program: developing Comprehensive Climate Action Plans (CCAPs). Many are wondering not only how to fulfill the EPA’s requirements of their CCAPs, but where to find additional funding opportunities that can turn ambitious climate plans into action. E3 is supporting a number of states and cities through the CPRG program, on how to develop actionable economy-wide decarbonization policies that align near-term measures and programs with long-term goals. Here are the some of the projects we’re excited about right now: https://lnkd.in/gTtVnifg