NARUC: COVID v. Renewables

Deck: 

NARUC Summer Summit

Fortnightly Magazine - September 2020
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Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia so far have implemented greenhouse gas targets and fifty utilities have carbon or emission reduction goals. Sixty-five percent of customer accounts are served by a utility with a carbon or emission reduction goal. What has changed since March 2020 amid the coronavirus crisis?

Topics in this panel at NARUC's Summer Policy Summit on July 21, 2020 included national renewable energy tax incentives. How much will be expected in guidance from the Treasury to help to soften the blow from construction delays? Before March 2020, clean energy had been one of the fastest-growing employment sectors, growing 10.4 percent since 2015. In March and April, some six hundred thousand clean energy jobs were lost. How will projects proceed without them?

Of the fifty utilities with goals, fifteen of them have near-term — 2025 or earlier — milestones. Are these utilities concerned about meeting near-term targets? Are there emerging opportunities to reach clean energy goals hidden within this pandemic? For example, with lower cost of capital available, lower fuel costs from reduced demand, and potentially lower operating expenses.

Moderated by Jeffrey Ackermann, Chair, Colorado Public Utilities Commission, the panel included Sarah Hofmann, Commissioner, Vermont Public Utility Commission, Ben Fowke, CEO, Xcel Energy and EEI Chair, and Gregory Wetstone, CEO, ACORE.

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