[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/EW-12-17-13-New-Relationship-with-Energy.mp3|titles=EW 12-17-13 New Relationship with Energy]
The demand for clean energy is accelerating and its use is increasing steadily. Last year, 49% of all new power plant investment in the U.S. was for renewables, in part because the costs of solar energy and wind energy have been dropping dramatically over the past five years.
In this country, what stands in the way of greater expansion of clean energy is a complex regulatory system designed for traditional fossil fuel power plants. These regulations actively thwart innovations in energy provision. As new technologies increasingly penetrate the grid, the centralized utility model becomes increasingly inappropriate.
To tackle this issue, the Energy Foundation in partnership with Energy Innovation assembled a group of 150 experts across academia, industry, and non-profits to create “America’s Power Plan”, with recommendations for dealing with dramatic changes in the power sector. America’s Power Plan is designed to facilitate the decision-making process at the local, state, and regional levels.
The plan calls for utilities to move away from rate-of-return regulation and towards performance regulation. Instead of basing their profits on how much electricity they sell, they should be rewarded for keeping rates low, increasing reliability, and lowering greenhouse emissions.
Other recommendations encourage distributed generation, reward energy efficiency, and increase utilities’ ability to utilize all options for enhancing electricity services.
The energy industry is rapidly incorporating new technologies, and new technologies require new rules. Americans want cleaner, more efficient and more reliable sources of energy.
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America’s Power Plan
Photo, taken on April 23, 2008, courtesy of Nick Cross and Gurit Composites via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.