Energize Weekly, February 21, 2018
Politics may make strange bedfellows, but apparently, so can the utility business as the environmental group, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the industry trade group, teamed up on 21 policy recommendations to bolster clean energy and a modern grid.
The recommendations include supporting energy efficiency programs, a transition to grid integration, more pricing data and transparency, and support for more clean energy.
“We share the goal of continued progress in upgrading the grid and improving the energy system to further reduce carbon and other emissions cost-effectively,” the policy statement said.
Other recommendations are for better coordination between electric power systems and natural gas pipeline planning, markets and operations; and reducing barriers to environmentally responsible permitting and siting for new electricity infrastructure.
“NRDC and EEI have not always agreed on energy issues,” Ralph Cavanagh, co-director of the NRDC energy program, said in a blog. “However, today’s joint statement reflects common ground on the progress of the nation’s clean energy momentum and the role that utilities and others can play in supporting it.”
For the industry’s part, the policy recommendation states that “regulated electric companies are and will remain essential in electric resource portfolio management and investment.”
It also calls for “authorization by state regulators and local utility boards for increased levels of prudent investment in cost-effective smarter, cleaner, and more resilient grids.”
“On a state-by-state basis, we reaffirm our commitment to review the linkage between electric companies’ financial health and their retail energy sales and to evaluate alternative regulatory approaches, such as performance-based regulation, to encourage electric company investment,” the policy paper said.
“Utilities have made remarkable progress in reducing carbon and other emissions while making energy products and services even more affordable and reliable,” Cavanagh said. “But progress must accelerate in order to combat the worst effects of climate change, lower customer bills, and clean our air.”
Among the recommendations to speed clean energy installations is promoting partnership and ownership opportunities for regulated electric companies and independent providers in all aspects of clean energy development, including energy efficiency.
“EEI’s member companies are committed to delivering America’s energy future,” Phil Moeller, an EEI executive vice president, said in a statement. “At the center of our industry’s vision of the future is meeting customers’ needs by building and using smarter energy infrastructure, providing even cleaner energy, and creating the energy solutions customers want. This statement provides valuable opportunities to make progress on several key policy priorities, including smarter energy infrastructure, rate design, and regulatory reform.”
