Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc.

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A new E3 study looks at the impact of different clean energy accounting frameworks on systemwide or "consequential" carbon emissions under voluntary clean energy purchases. The study uses E3’s California RESOLVE capacity expansion model (https://lnkd.in/giG8wYN9) to dynamically evaluate changes in system dispatch and investments over time under both annual and hourly matching approaches. We find that annual and hourly matching approaches result in similar impacts on long-run, consequential carbon emissions except under a relatively narrow set of circumstances. We also find that hourly matching will be much more difficult and costly to achieve in real life than in a capacity model context, and will expose participating customers to significant market risk due to the overprocurement that is required to match hourly demand during the most challenging hours. Finally, we conclude that long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) will continue to be needed to finance capital-intensive clean energy projects, underscoring the important role of demand for PPAs from both the compliance and voluntary markets in facilitating clean energy development. We thank Meta for its partial support for this analysis; all report conclusions and findings are our own. Find the blog post and download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/giVBVzCR. E3’s Arne Olson, Kush Patel, Elizabeth Mettetal, Gregory Gangelhoff, Angineh Zohrabian, Ph.D., Hugh Somerset, Ruoshui Li, and Joshua Spooner contributed to the report.

Between rapid load growth, a changing generation mix, and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, the power system is poised for stress in the coming decades. Multiple recent studies highlight the benefits of interregional transmission to address these challenges, but few interregional projects have been built. E3, in collaboration with NARUC, examined the barriers that prevent interregional transmission from getting built and explored solutions in planning, permitting, and operations to unlock interregional transmission. These changes could be implemented by states, planning regions, or the federal government, and will be key for efficiently integrating renewables and balancing supply across regions. You can download the report titled "Collaborative Approaches to Unlocking Interregional Transmission" and watch the report release webinar here: https://lnkd.in/gDp32Z5s Congratulations to the study authors, Lakshmi Alagappan, Jack Moore, Ben Joseph, Stuart Mueller, and Arne Olson! #interregionaltransmission #transmissionplanning #transmission #energypolicy

In Texas, the summer of 2023 was an outlier, both in terms of temperature and energy pricing. This forced market participants to prepare assets for a broader range of scenarios, and increased risk perceptions for August 2024. Energy storage will be the resource to watch as large additions are being deployed, and may prove very valuable. Find deeper insights on the Texas energy market (ERCOT) in our recent webinar, hosted by Grant Freudenthaler and Jack Moore and available to watch in full now: https://lnkd.in/giw4ypTQ

We are delighted to share the culmination of a 2.5-year research project on targeted electrification and strategic gas decommissioning, an approach that can help to manage gas system costs in California as the state pursues its building electrification goals. This project was funded by the California Energy Commission and done in collaboration with Gridworks and Ava Community Energy, with support from Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The final report is available in full here: https://lnkd.in/g8RsGtYq. This report builds on prior work, covers new findings from our community engagement process and our development of a deployment plan for project implementation, and summarizes our findings and recommendations across the project. Previously, we had published an interim report (https://lnkd.in/g__mYfRJ) focused on site selection and recommendations for policymakers, and a benefit-cost analysis report (https://lnkd.in/gGs9mbM2) that performed a detailed cost-effectiveness assessment for eleven candidate projects. Congratulations to the E3 team, which includes Ari Gold-Parker, Jared Landsman, Fangxing Liu, Dan Aas, and Amber Mahone!

E3 has been working on a project that is truly the first of its kind with Salt River Project, a public utility that serves more than 2 million people in Arizona. Earlier this year, the utility published its first-ever integrated system plan, which combines resource, transmission, distribution, and customer program planning in a single process. This was a pioneering effort to do planning in an entirely new way that considers the interdependencies of each part of the system. How should system planners and regulators be thinking about this holistic way to plan? Can integrated system planning help developers anticipate grid needs and get the most out of demand-side resources? What is the role for industry stakeholders? We’ll respond to these questions in a webinar on July 29 at 12pm PT, where E3’s Arne Olson and Joe Hooker will sit down in conversation with Angie Bond-Simpson of Salt River Project. We’ll leave time for Q&A and expect the conversation to be especially informative for utilities, project developers, system planners, regulators, utility stakeholders, and environmental groups. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gpnBDFaJ

E3 has been working on a project that is truly the first of its kind with Salt River Project, a public utility that serves more than 2 million people in Arizona. Earlier this year, the utility published its first-ever integrated system plan, which combines resource, transmission, distribution, and customer program planning in a single process. This was a pioneering effort to do planning in an entirely new way that considers the interdependencies of each part of the system. How should system planners and regulators be thinking about this holistic way to plan? Can integrated system planning help developers anticipate grid needs and get the most out of demand-side resources? What is the role for industry stakeholders? We’ll respond to these questions in a webinar on July 29 at 12pm PT, where E3’s Arne Olson and Joe Hooker will sit down in conversation with Angie Bond-Simpson of Salt River Project. We’ll leave time for Q&A and expect the conversation to be especially informative for utilities, project developers, system planners, regulators, utility stakeholders, and environmental groups. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gpnBDFaJ

Rhode Island's Act on Climate sets ambitious goals: net-zero by 2050. As part of the state’s Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) exploration of the role of gas in a net zero future, we looked at six pathways for the gas system, and how each affects both the industry and ratepayers. While the scenarios vary, all six pathways require big transformations in the heating sector: 50-100% of buildings are assumed to electrify in order to meet the Act. This means gas use falls, and the electric system, powered by renewables, expands to meet the needs of heat pumps and EVs. To prevent these changes from raising utility bills for remaining gas customers, Rhode Island must implement new programs and policies to support affordability and decarbonization, and consider targeted electrification, a strategy that minimizes reinvestment in existing gas infrastructure. We considered many perspectives on these topics through regular meetings with a stakeholder committee formed by Rhode Island's PUC and led by Apex Analytics, as well as a technical working group make up of subject matter experts. Find the blog post and our full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/g5PcxEqZ Kudos to the E3 team: Niki Lintmeijer, Tory Clark, Stephanie Kinser, Molly Bertolacini, McKenzie Schwartz, Bill Wheatle, Xiaoyuan (Charles) Li, Ph.D., Dan Aas, and Sean Smillie! #FutureofGas #EnergyTransition #NetZero

E3 is joining NARUC for a collaborative webinar sharing and discussing our new study on interregional transmission. Join us this Thursday at noon ET. Register at https://lnkd.in/eGDGdZJB.

In a new webinar happening next month, E3 will present its storage revenue forecasting methodology and views on California’s energy storage market. Emily Rogers, E3 modeling lead, will provide an overview of RESTORE, E3's in-house energy storage optimization model, and discuss the drivers of storage adoption in California. She will then host a Q&A session along with other E3 experts like Kush Patel and Nathan Miller. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gcAXidsN