Federal Clean Energy Research Articles

Defining environmental justice communities: Evaluating digital infrastructure in Southeastern states for Justice40 benefits allocation

Evaluating the impact of the Justice40 Initiative requires clearly defining and publicly disclosing both the “benefits” of the clean energy transition and the “disadvantaged communities” who should receive these benefits. Robust digital infrastructure at the state level is necessary to ensure that federal clean energy and climate funding intended for disadvantaged communities reaches those communities. This paper evaluates the digital environmental infrastructure capabilities of southeastern U.S. states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) using accessibility, timeliness, methodology, and usefulness metrics drawn from the open government data and environmental data justice literature. The results of this evaluation are compared to each state's environmental justice policies. Southeastern states' environmental digital infrastructure tends to exclude qualitative information, data collected by non-governmental actors, and multi-media information. The states that have developed clear definitions and mapping tools relating to EJ communities (Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia) tend to score well across the evaluation metrics. Policy recommendations to advance environmental justice policy in southeastern states include developing EJ mapping tools, advocating for a Justice40 oversight committee at the state level, defining EJ communities, and ensuring transparency in reporting the expenditures of federal funds.

Greening the Old New Deal: Strengthening Rural Electric Cooperative Supports and Oversight to Combat Climate Change

New Deal cooperatives succeeded in electrifying rural America when for-profit utilities would not. Today, however, rural electric cooperatives are lagging behind when it comes to meeting the challenge of climate change. Cooperatives have collectively been slower to embrace the shift to low-carbon electricity than for-profit and municipal utilities and have served as a drag on state and federal clean energy and climate policies. This is partially because of the structural differences between cooperatives and other utilities, but also because of a weak and under-determined federal and state regulatory structure. A few cooperatives in Colorado and New Mexico are seeking to lead the charge to a low-carbon electricity system, but they are finding themselves stymied by their own power supply cooperative. Drawing on insights from organization, public choice, and energy regulation theories, this Article argues that institutional incentives at power supply cooperatives inhibit prudent resource planning in a time of climate change. It concludes that cooperatives need significant changes to state and federal regulatory structures to counter these factors. These changes include subjecting power supply cooperatives to rigorous integrated resource planning requirements and providing state utility commissions oversight over power supply contract buy-out fees. It also includes reconsidering the wholesale electricity rate structure between power supply and distribution cooperatives.

Building clean energy support with young millennials in the United States

Young millennials will play an important role in addressing the intergenerational climate change crisis related to energy production. Drawing from the Theory of Planned Behavior and community resilience literatures, we analyzed how awareness of local clean energy initiatives, risk perceptions, environmental messaging, and environmental orientation influence young millennial support for federal clean energy policy and taxes as mediated through local clean energy support.

Residential support for energy efficiency by utility organizations in the Southeast US

This study examined residential policy support for energy efficiency (EE) subsidies for investor-owned utility organizations in the southeast United States. Residents in this region continue to increase electricity consumption, and utility organizations remain reliant on fossil fuels for generation. States in the region are resistant to federal clean energy policy. Investor-owned utilities in the region have offered residential EE programs, however, with mixed results. The study explored the likelihood that awareness of EE, past participation in EE, perceptions about utility motives for offering EE, socio-economic factors, attitudes, and planned behaviors would influence residential policy support for EE subsidies for utility organizations. Drawing from the theory of planned behavior, the study is the first to the author's knowledge to explore the mediating role that residential attitudes and planned behaviors occupy between the focal intrinsic and socio-demographic variables in the study and residential policy support for EE. The study found that the influence of Democratic affiliation on residential EE policy support was fully mediated through both attitudes and planned behaviors, and that perceptions of utility motives were fully mediated through planned behaviors. A large gap between attitudes and planned behaviors emerged for Democratic affiliates. Partially mediated relationships emerged for awareness in EE programs, past participation in EE programs, gender, and perceptions of utility motives. Gain- and loss-framing of messages was introduced and was significantly related to both residential attitudes and planned behaviors. The use of effective messaging strategies and implications for policy makers, utility organizations, and energy efficiency implementers are discussed.

Low carbon standard and transmission investment analysis in the new multi-region US power sector model FACETS

This paper presents a new US multi-region energy systems model built in the TIMES modeling system: the Framework for Analysis of Climate-Energy-Technology Systems (FACETS). The model is designed to analyze energy technology options and policy scenarios across sectors and regions, including the increasingly important interactions between state, regional, and federal policies. FACETS contains a realistic representation of key infrastructure, while retaining the flexibility to explore deep carbon emission reductions and other large changes from the baseline energy system. It is built using a unique, flexible multi-region approach so that the geographic relationships that drive the costs of energy technology transitions can be captured. Significant enhancements to the Veda-TIMES system and a GIS-results viewer permit the massive data handling needed to represent these relationships and interpret results. An analysis of a federal clean energy standard (CES) and investment in the transmission grid is presented.

General Equilibrium Impacts of a Federal Clean Energy Standard

Economists have tended to view emissions pricing (e.g., cap and trade or a carbon tax) as the most cost-effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This paper offers a different view. Employing analytical and numerically solved general equilibrium models, the paper indicates plausible conditions under which a more conventional form of regulation — namely, the use of a clean energy standard (CES) — is more cost-effective. The models reveal that in a realistic economy with prior taxes on factors of production, the CES distorts factor markets less because it is a smaller implicit tax on factors. This advantage more than offsets the disadvantages of the CES when relatively minor reductions in emissions are called for. Numerical simulations indicate that the cost-effectiveness of the CES is sensitive to what is deemed “clean” electricity. To achieve maximal cost-effectiveness, the CES must offer significant credit to electricity generated from natural gas.

General Equilibrium Impacts of a Federal Clean Energy Standard

Economists have tended to view emissions pricing (e.g., cap and trade or a carbon tax) as the most cost-effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This paper offers a different view. Employing analytical and numerically solved general equilibrium models, it provides plausible conditions under which a more conventional form of regulation—namely, the use of a clean energy standard (CES)—is more cost-effective. The models reveal that the CES distorts factor markets less because it is a smaller implicit tax on factors of production. This advantage more than offsets the disadvantages of the CES when minor emissions reductions are involved. (JEL H23, Q42, Q48, Q54, Q58)

Including alternative resources in state renewable portfolio standards: Current design and implementation experience

Abstract As of October 2012, 29 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have instituted a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Each state policy is unique, varying in percentage targets, timetables, and eligible resources. Increasingly, new RPS polices have included alternative resources. Alternative resources have included energy efficiency, thermal resources, and, to a lesser extent, non-renewables. This paper examines state experience with implementing renewable portfolio standards that include energy efficiency, thermal resources, and non-renewable energy and explores compliance experience, costs, and how states evaluate, measure, and verify energy efficiency and convert thermal energy. It aims to gain insights from the experience of states for possible federal clean energy policy as well as to share experience and lessons for state RPS implementation.

South West Hub: a carbon capture and storage project

The South West CO2 Geosequestration Hub (the South West Hub) is located in South West Western Australia in proximity to industrialised regions around Kwinana, Kemerton, and coal mining and power production facilities around Collie. Recognition that there is a potentially suitable geosequestration site in the region near extensive emission sources led to the formation of the South West Hub and its submission as a potential Flagship under the Australian Federal Clean Energy Initiative (CEI). An area with geosequestration potential was identified based on data from years of active research in the region to investigate oil and gas potential, ground-water resources and more recently for geothermal energy potential and now carbon storage. Three interesting factors stand out regarding this site: (1) the storage site relies primarily on residual and dissolution trapping, (2) some of the CO2 will be sequestered by mineralisation during the amelioration of bauxite residue from some nearby alumina plants, and (3) the subsurface storage area can be tested at a relatively early stage by accessing significant pilot-scale quantities of high-purity CO2 from existing industry in the Kwinana area. CO2 is already being captured and vented at a site in Kwinana, and a proposed pipeline will transport the CO2 to the alumina plants with the remainder of the gas used for a pilot-scale test. The upfront capital costs are therefore reduced to the pipeline cost rather than for a full-scale capture-ready power plant. In preparation for an investment decision (to drill a new data well addressing the main criteria for characterising carbon storage potential of the proposed Lesueur site) a series of studies have increased the understanding of the geology of the area. Modelling studies suggest that up to 6.4 million tonnes per annum could be stored in the Triassic aged Lesueur Sandstone, with total capacity estimates of 200–260 million tonnes of CO2 over the lifetime of the project. This paper primarily discusses the evolution of the geological understanding of the Lesueur Sandstone and associated formations in and around the Harvey Ridge structure, which falls within the Lesueur study area, as well as how the Collie coal users and producers and other local industries and government have become engaged in the project. Recent activities in the project have included seismic data acquisition and the drilling, coring and logging of a data well that will allow significant reductions in geological uncertainties for the project.