Energy storage technologies and advanced geothermal energy are making significant progress, reducing the concerns associated with the variability of wind and solar energy. The enactment of the IIJA and IRA have already begun to steer hundreds of billions of dollars toward new and existing clean energy technologies, further reducing the cost of renewable energy projects and providing the foundation for a clean energy manufacturing renaissance in the United States. Because of these developments, more than 95% of new energy generation projects under development seeking to connect to regional electricity grids consist of wind, solar, and energy storage projects.
Corporate demand for clean energy to power buildings and business operations coupled with state legislative clean energy standards (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, California, New York, and many others have enacted aggressive decarbonization mandates for electric utilities) provide additional business and regulatory momentum for a clean energy transition.
At the federal level, the Biden administration has committed the nation to achieving 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035. Based on these developments, a fully decarbonized electric grid would seem to be right around the corner, providing the basis for an increasingly decarbonized economy. But there are multiple hurdles standing in the way of this trajectory. This policy digest “The Untapped Potential Of ‘Repurposed Energy” by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy focuses on two of them: local opposition to new clean energy generation projects and inadequate electric transmission line expansion.
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