Back
The following commentary was written by Jesse Velazquez, Climate Justice Manager at the Ohio Environmental Council. See our commentary guidelines for more information.
In his victory speech, President-elect Donald Trump promised to further boost “liquid gold,” also known as oil and gas. Today, oil and gas production is at record highs and continues to grow. As the industry expands, so do concerns about methane pollution.
The primary component of natural gas is methane, a potent greenhouse gas that warms the planet more than 80 times as much as carbon dioxide over 20 years. It’s also a significant contributor to smog and public health issues like asthma and respiratory disease, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities. Yet, efforts to reduce methane emissions present a rare win-win opportunity: they not only curb pollution but also create jobs and foster innovation.
Take Pennsylvania, one of the largest natural gas producers, for example. By adopting innovative methane mitigation strategies, the state is reducing harmful emissions from oil and gas operations while creating jobs and fostering a cleaner, more sustainable energy future. This balanced approach showcases how economic growth and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand, offering a model that Ohio should replicate.
According to the 2024 State of the Methane Mitigation Industry Report, developing and implementing technologies to cut methane pollution would create jobs ranging from manufacturing leak-detection equipment to technicians skilled in repairing faulty infrastructure. Pennsylvania saw a 22.2% growth in methane mitigation companies over the last three years. Since 2014, the industry has expanded by 65% with the state now hosting 33 methane mitigation companies. In fact, Pennsylvania is now home to 8.5% of the total employee locations in this sector nationwide.
These good-paying, family-sustaining jobs bolster local economies while addressing critical environmental challenges. And the opportunity for Ohio is immense.
The benefits extend far beyond jobs. Reducing methane emissions means less wasted energy. Nationally, oil and gas companies emit enough methane waste annually that could be utilized to meet the energy needs of millions of homes. Capturing the lost gases would translate directly into increased efficiency and cost savings. For a state like Ohio, with its large-scale oil and gas operations, this represents a tangible economic benefit.
This isn’t just about economic gains. Methane mitigation is also a crucial climate strategy. The U.S. EPA’s Section 111 Methane Rule, finalized a year ago, set robust federal standards to limit methane emissions from oil and gas operations. While essential, this rule relies heavily on state-level implementation to achieve its full potential. States like Ohio have a chance to lead by adopting and building on these standards, aligning economic growth with environmental stewardship.
And we know clean air and economic growth are priorities that transcend party lines, as evidenced by the broad coalition of businesses, environmental advocates, and community leaders rallying behind these initiatives.
Ohio is at a crossroads. We can continue business as usual, or we can follow Pennsylvania’s lead, investing in proven technologies and practices that cut emissions, prevent waste, protect public health, and drive economic growth.
By prioritizing methane mitigation, the state can chart a path that aligns with both the nation’s energy ambitions and the pressing need for climate action. This is not just a moral imperative but an economic one that promises cleaner air, healthier communities, and a thriving workforce for generations to come.
Three Ohio companies are investing in hydrogen fuel cell passenger vehicles even as the U.S. market for electric vehicles continues to grow. Each has an innovative approach to the chicken-and-egg problem of having fuel available when and where drivers need it.
The Ohio companies’ focus on fuel cell passenger vehicles is unique nationwide, especially for a state that doesn’t yet have any public hydrogen fueling stations. California, where almost all of the country’s hydrogen fuel cell cars are registered, still has fewer than 60 public stations.
“When we see hydrogen transportation deployment projects, it’s really more on the medium- and heavy-duty side,” said Mark Henning, a researcher at Cleveland State University’s Energy Policy Center at the Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs.
A hydrogen car is essentially an electric vehicle with an onboard fuel cell providing electricity alongside a battery. General Motors first displayed a prototype for a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle back in the 1960s, but hydrogen cars weren’t available to U.S. consumers until leases for the 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell began, with sales of the Toyota Mirai starting that fall.
Hydrogen car sales have been essentially limited to California, where state policy and public funding supported the development of some public fueling stations. Since then, only about 18,000 fuel cell cars have been sold in the U.S.
Yet Ohio companies have been working on hydrogen energy for more than two decades. The state trade association, the Ohio Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Coalition, traces its history back to 2003.
If successful, the current efforts could eventually provide another option for switching away from gasoline-powered cars. While electric vehicles are comparable in price, hydrogen cars can be refueled quickly — assuming the infrastructure is available — and offer more consistent range in cold weather. But much could hinge on how quickly hydrogen infrastructure develops, as well as how quickly and effectively plug-in electric vehicle makers deal with their own range and charging challenges.
One example of the desire for hydrogen vehicle alternatives comes from DLZ, an engineering, architectural and project management company headquartered in Columbus with offices across the United States as well as in India and Costa Rica. The company has a fleet of about 250 vehicles across the Midwest, including electric vehicles. In 2022, it added six Hyundai hydrogen fuel cell cars for use by professionals from its Columbus office.
“The hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have a lot more consistent performance in range and durability,” especially in cold weather, said Ram Rajadhyaksha, DLZ’s executive vice president. The range for the cars is sufficient for round trips the office’s professionals make to site locations around the state, he explained at the Ohio Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Coalition symposium in North Canton last month.
Hydrogen fuel cell cars aren’t sold in Ohio yet, so DLZ had its six Hyundai vehicles shipped from California to Columbus. Except for the fuel cells, dealers in Ohio can provide any necessary service the vehicles may need, Rajakhyasksha said.
The cars also need a regular source of hydrogen, so DLZ added its own. Its station in Columbus can generate about 20 kilograms of hydrogen per day, using electricity from a solar array atop a large building on company property. A net metering agreement lets DLZ sell any excess electricity from the array to the grid.
Nonetheless, there were hurdles, including permitting, building codes, supply chain issues during the tail end of the pandemic, and even signage codes.
While California has been the country’s epicenter for fuel cell vehicles, Honda Motors is now producing the first American-made hybrid hydrogen vehicle at its Marysville plant in Ohio. Its 2025 CR-V e:FCEV model can go roughly 270 miles on a tank of hydrogen. There’s also a small electric battery which provides a driving range of about 30 miles. A 110-volt power outlet on the vehicle can run small home appliances or other equipment.
That range is about the same as Honda’s all-electric Prologue SUV, which also has a comparable list price. But the company believes there is room for both.
“It’s not one or the other,” said Dave Perzynski, assistant manager for hydrogen solutions business development at Honda, who also spoke at the Ohio Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Coalition symposium. “It’s using the right equipment at the right place at the right time.” The CR-V’s electric charging range is about right for his daily round-trip commute, he said, while the fuel cell offers flexibility for longer trips.
Honda’s goal is to achieve 100% decarbonization, Perzynski said. However, limits on local electric grids can make that difficult in some places. “If you can electrify it, if it works, then do that,” he said. “And once that stops working, then thank goodness we’ve been investing in hydrogen for the last 20 years, because there are places and times when you run out of power.”
As a practical matter, the Ohio-made cars’ initial market will be California. For other states, Honda is counting on others to build out the fueling infrastructure.
“The only way we can do that is through a coalition,” Perzynski said. “We can’t build infrastructure alone.”
Millennium Reign Energy in Dayton has a membership model to develop hydrogen infrastructure along with the demand for it. Its Emerald H2 network will help customers buy used fuel cell vehicles, while also providing access to hydrogen fueling stations designed and built by the company.
As the number of customers in an area grows, Millennium Reign Energy would swap out the fueling station for one with larger capacity. The smaller station would then go to another location. Access to the stations would be for members only, although members traveling outside their local area could use stations elsewhere.
“Our mission is to build the first transcontinental hydrogen highway,” said CEO Chris McWhinney as he explained the model at the fuel cell program last month. The company’s fueling stations are already operating at places outside the United States, as well as three private facilities in Ohio. The company plans to add its first Emerald H2 network stations in the Dayton area early next year.
The stations use electricity and water to make hydrogen, so using one with a nearby source of solar, wind, hydropower or geothermal energy can provide green energy, versus just moving emissions from tailpipes up to power plants, McWhinney said. That can also bring the cost for the hydrogen fuel down below that of gasoline, he suggested, as renewable electricity continues to get cheaper.
Whether hydrogen-powered passenger vehicles are the best use for renewable energy remains questionable. A study published in Joule last August found battery-electric vehicles were roughly three times more efficient in using renewable electricity than fuel-cell vehicles.
“The battery-electric case is much more efficient than the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle,” said Greg Keoleian, co-director of the University of Michigan’s MI Hydrogen initiative, and one of the co-authors of the Joule study. Ideally, renewable energy will be used efficiently, given the limited amount on the grid now and the urgent need to decarbonize because of climate change, he said.
Battery electric cars also have a much bigger charging network, with nearly 70,000 stations nationwide, Keoleian noted. Cost is also an issue, he added, noting that hydrogen fuel in California currently costs about five times as much as gasoline would to go the same distance.
Henning did note that one of Ohio’s public transit systems, SARTA, the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority, has had hydrogen buses as part of its fleet since 2016. Transit fleets also often need a handful of passenger vehicles, which might be able to use tbuses’ hydrogen fueling station while also qualifying for bulk discounts that may start with the acquisition of five or six vehicles, he said.
The Department of Energy’s recent push for hydrogen hubs might also play an indirect role, suggested Sergey Paltsev, deputy director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy. None of the hub projects so far focus on light-duty vehicles, but infrastructure developed for other purposes could make it easier to develop fueling stations. In that case, the Ohio companies could be angling for a competitive advantage.
Yet much remains unknown about whether the incoming Trump administration will continue incentives begun in the Biden administration, Henning said. The law’s tax credit can apply to fuel cell vehicles with final assembly in North America, which might apply to Honda’s hybrid car — if the Inflation Reduction Act continues.
“I do think there is an appetite and there is a customer base for fuel cell electric vehicles, and I can imagine different use cases where that makes more sense” than an all-electric car, said Grant Goodrich, executive director of the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University. Multiple people in Northeast Ohio have expressed reluctance to buy an electric vehicle now, especially given the challenges of harsh winter weather.
Yet the infrastructure for electric vehicles is much farther ahead, and electric vehicle makers continue to work to improve performance. “Will the technology of battery and electric vehicles improve enough to stay ahead of FCEV adoption so that is able to keep that challenge at bay?” Goodrich asked.
Early last month, he would have put money on the EV makers to stay ahead. After hearing the presentations from Honda, Millenium Reign Energy and DLZ, he’s not so sure.
“It’s not a done deal,” Goodrich said, noting that the hydrogen fueling experience also seems to be a more natural replacement for the habits customers have adopted as drivers of vehicles with internal combustion engines. “If it was to roll out faster, I think you could see some competition there.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify Greg Keoleian’s role.
BUILDINGS: The city of Indianapolis grapples with how to boost compliance with a mandatory energy benchmarking program for large buildings after most owners missed a deadline this summer. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: Ohio and Kansas are among the latest states to apply for federal money for home electrification rebates and tax credits — funding that is considered at risk under the incoming Trump administration. (Canary Media)
GRID: Michigan lawmakers pass legislation that would offer tax breaks to large data centers, which critics say would undermine the state’s climate goals and burden utility ratepayers. (Planet Detroit)
PIPELINES:
OIL & GAS: Ohio’s General Assembly passes legislation that would lengthen fracking leases in state parks and wildlife areas and define nuclear power as “green energy,” sending the bill to the governor’s desk. (Ohio Capital Journal)
CARBON CAPTURE: Michigan environmental groups say carbon capture legislation advancing in the state Senate lacks safeguards for water, air quality, and public safety, and could increase emissions and local pollution. (Planet Detroit)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Michigan receives $4.4 million in federal funding to deploy 15 electric recycling trucks along with charging stations in three southeastern counties. (Michigan Advance)
SOLAR: A utility and developer have recently revived three once-stalled solar projects in Minnesota and North Dakota. (In Forum)
GEOTHERMAL: Chicago and Ann Arbor, Michigan, are selected to receive about $10 million each in federal funding for community-scale geothermal heating and cooling projects. (Utility Dive)
CLIMATE: Lake Michigan surface temperatures peaked at over 6 degrees above normal last month, highlighting how fossil-fuel-driven climate change has made the Great Lakes among the fastest-warming lakes in the world. (Chicago Tribune)
COMMENTARY: Ohio’s Oil and Gas Land Management Commission sells out Appalachian Ohio to the highest bidder, allowing corporate interests to ravish the region for private benefit, an editorial board member writes. (Cleveland.com)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Maine has no current plans to bring back its electric vehicle rebate program after it exhausted its $13.5 million in funds, and instead expects to focus more limited funding on low-income households and other groups that are “slower to adopt” EVs. (Maine Morning Star)
ALSO:
STORAGE: In Maine, bipartisan support could help the state reach its ambitious energy storage goals, despite likely federal pressure when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. (Bangor Daily News, subscription)
EFFICIENCY: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration fails to set a new target for reducing energy use in state buildings, despite a 2022 order that set a goal of going 100% renewable by 2030. (E&E News, subscription)
GRID:
UTILITIES: Credit rating agency S&P Global says its downgrading of Eversource’s rating in Connecticut should not increase costs for customers in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, though the utility maintains there will be a “ripple effect.” (Boston Globe)
SOLAR: A pilot program in southwestern Pennsylvania rolls out solar panel and battery storage leasing options for households making less than $100,000 per year. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
TRANSIT: New York City plans to expand its bike-share program to more neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, but is still avoiding some car-centric areas that have been less open to bike infrastructure. (Streetsblog NYC)
COMMENTARY:
Emissions from buildings make up about two-thirds of the greenhouse gas footprint of Indianapolis. So when the city committed to slash emissions, in its 2019 climate action plan and then as part of the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge in 2020, leaders knew where they had to start.
A 2021 ordinance requires all buildings over 50,000 square feet and publicly-owned buildings over 25,000 square feet to do energy benchmarking and report results to the city, to be made publicly available by 2026.
The deadline to comply was July 1, 2024. But at year’s end, only about 20% of the 1,500 buildings covered had complied — even though the process can be done in a matter of hours using EPA’s ENERGYSTAR Portfolio manager software. The city also hosted workshops to help walk building managers through the process.
Now the city’s challenge is to boost benchmarking compliance. The penalties for failing to comply are low: fines of $100 the first year and $250 yearly after that. Chicago’s 2013 benchmarking ordinance, by comparison, includes fines of $100 for the first day of a violation and up to $25 each day thereafter, with a maximum fine of $9,200 per year — and the city has a much higher compliance rate.
Lindsay Trameri, community engagement manager for the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability, said the office is continuing outreach, including sending postcards to all relevant building managers and owners.
“We’re not assessing fines yet, but we’re making sure they’re aware this isn’t a city program that’s going away, it is indeed local law,” Trameri said. “And there are benefits to be gleaned from participating. It might cost hundreds of dollars not to participate, but you could save thousands if you participate and take it seriously.”
Trameri said 27 publicly-owned buildings in the consolidated city and county government must be benchmarked, and the city is planning to use about $800,000 worth of federal Department of Energy funding to hire an energy manager “who will be solely focused on looking at city-owned buildings and how to make them more energy efficient.”
In Indiana, reducing buildings’ electricity use is particularly urgent since the state got about 45% of its power from coal in 2023. The benchmarking mandate doesn’t require buildings to take any action based on their energy results, but benchmarking often motivates building owners and municipalities to invest in savings, experts say.
Cities participating in the Bloomberg program saw 3% to 8% energy reductions and millions in savings, with nearly 400 million square feet now covered by benchmarking policies and over 37,000 energy audits completed, according to Kelly Shultz, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies” sustainable cities initiative.
Though overall compliance is low, some major public and private entities have completed benchmarking in Indianapolis, including the airport, convention center, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Target and JC Penney.
Phil Day, facilities director for the museum, noted that it’s crucial for museums to keep consistent levels of humidity and temperature. That means high energy use, and also vulnerability to blackouts or energy price spikes. Benchmarking has helped him develop plans for reducing natural gas and electricity use with smaller boilers and heat pumps distributed throughout the facilities, a possible geothermal chilling system, and better insulation. These innovations should save money and make the museum more resilient to energy disruptions.
“Museums aren’t typically known as an energy efficient facility, but it is always high on my priority list in everything we program or replace,” Day said.
The firm Cenergistic has done benchmarking since 2017 for Indianapolis Public Schools, and identified more than $1 million in wasteful energy costs that could be cut across 71 schools. Under Cenergistic’s contract, it is paid half of the energy savings it secures. Seventeen school buildings have obtained EPA Energy Star status based on their energy efficiency improvements, Cenergistic CEO Dennis Harris said.
“Benchmarking provided a clear starting point by identifying high-energy-consuming facilities and systems,” Harris said. “Cenergistic energy specialists track energy consumption at all campuses with the company’s software platform, identifying waste and driving conservation. By consistently reviewing this data, Cenergistic continues to work with IPS to make data-driven decisions, set measurable goals, and continually refine its strategy for maximum impact.”
Trameri said the schools’ success is “a great message to point to. If they can do it, we can do it. Of course, we want those millions to go back into classrooms and teachers and students versus out the door for utility costs.”
Trameri said in developing its benchmarking program and ordinance, Indianapolis has relied on guidance and lessons from other cities including Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, both fellow participants in the Bloomberg challenge.
In Chicago, about 85% of the 3,700 buildings covered by the ordinance are in compliance, said Amy Jewel, vice president of programs at Elevate, the organization that oversees Chicago’s program. She said nine out of 10 buildings complied even right after the ordinance took effect, thanks to years of organizing by city leaders and NGOs like the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“A large number of building owners recognized this was coming. They engaged in the process, and saw their fingerprints within the ordinance,” said Lindy Wordlaw, director of climate and environmental justice initiatives for the city of Chicago.
Chicago passed an additional ordinance creating an energy rating program, where buildings receive a score of 0 to 4 based on their energy benchmarking results. An 11-by-17-inch placard with the score and explanation must be publicly posted, “similar to a food safety rating for a restaurant,” Wordlaw said.
In 2021, Chicago reported that median energy use per square foot had dropped by 7% over the past three years, and greenhouse gas emissions had dropped 37% since 2016 in buildings subject to the ordinance. City public housing and buildings owned by the Archdiocese were among those to do early benchmarking and investments.
Along with Philadelphia, New York and Washington D.C., Chicago was among the nation’s first major cities to institute benchmarking. Jewel said they hope to keep sharing lessons learned.
For example, “it’s actually pretty hard to come up with the covered buildings list,” Jewel noted, since there is no central list of all buildings in a city but rather various records “all used for slightly different purposes — the property tax database, different sources tracking violations. It took a bit of time to get that list together, and it takes time to maintain it as buildings are constructed or demolished.”
In Indianapolis, Trameri said they are hopeful more buildings will get with the program as awareness grows about the requirement.
“There has always been evidence that you can’t manage what you don’t measure,” said Trameri. “It’s a market-based strategy. Truly once a facilities owner or manager is able to look at their energy usage over a month, 12 months, or multiple years and make evidence-based decisions based on that data, it will affect your bottom line, and those savings you can reinvest into whatever your organization’s mission is.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed performance information about Bloomberg Philanthropies’ sustainable cities initiative.
CLIMATE: New Hampshire’s new climate plan is unlikely to include emissions reduction targets, and will instead focus on voluntary measures, use of federal funds, and market-based solutions. (NHPR)
ALSO:
SOLAR: Commissioners in one Maryland county vote to tighten the requirements for solar installations on agricultural land as they face a flurry of interest from developers. (Baltimore Sun, subscription)
GEOTHERMAL: Communities in Massachusetts and Vermont are among those awarded federal funding to support the construction of geothermal heating and cooling networks. (Smart Cities Dive)
FOSSIL FUELS: A Pennsylvania oil and gas company will pay $2 million and reduce emissions at 49 facilities as part of a settlement of alleged Clean Air Act violations. (Allegheny Front)
BIOFUELS: In New York, biofuels suppliers tout their product as a lower-emissions option, though some worry their use would only slow progress toward electrification. (Times Union)
UTILITIES:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A New Jersey legislative committee votes for a two-year delay on the implementation of a rule that would require increasing sales of battery-powered vehicles. (NJ Spotlight News)
EFFICIENCY: Connecticut launches a pilot providing funding, training, and expertise to small manufacturing companies looking to implement energy efficiency measures or use renewable energy. (Hartford Business Journal)
COMMENTARY: The renewable energy industry in Maine has a positive effect on the economy and creates stable, good-paying jobs, and should not be blamed for rising energy costs, says the cofounder of a solar company. (Bangor Daily News, subscription)
GRID: Oklahoma’s incoming state house speaker tells a crowd the U.S. Energy Department has agreed to cancel the designation of a corridor across the state for a planned 645-mile transmission line due to widespread opposition from the community and elected officials. (KOSU, KOTV)
WIND: Texas shrimpers say they’re frustrated after a community meeting about a planned offshore wind farm ended less than five minutes after it began when the company representative left the room without answering questions. (KBMT)
SOLAR: A study finds nearly 30,000 Floridians installed solar panels in 2024 despite utility and political pushback against net metering, and that Florida could be on track to become the top-ranked residential solar state by 2028. (WUSF)
NUCLEAR: The U.S. Energy Department sets a ceiling of $3.4 billion over the next decade to spend on six companies in Tennessee to develop low-enriched uranium for nuclear reactors. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
STORAGE: A Texas energy storage company partners with a national homebuilder to add batteries to houses in 15 communities in the state. (San Antonio Express-News)
OIL & GAS:
OVERSIGHT:
PIPELINES: A September vehicle crash that resulted in a natural gas pipeline explosion raises awareness about the danger of above-ground gas transmission pipelines and their vulnerability to collisions. (Houston Landing)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
POLITICS: Louisiana Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy cultivates support for a bill to impose a carbon tariff on imported aluminum, cement, glass, iron, fertilizer and steel — but not foreign fossil fuels. (E&E News)
CLIMATE:
COMMENTARY:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: California’s energy commission votes to invest $1.4 billion in an emissions-free transportation plan that includes installing nearly 17,000 electric vehicle charging stations and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. (Utility Dive)
ALSO:
COAL: Wyoming and Montana file a lawsuit seeking to overturn the federal Bureau of Land Management’s ban on new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, even though mining wouldn’t be affected until at least 2041 at the current rate of production. (WyoFile)
OIL & GAS:
CARBON CAPTURE: A firm proposes installing modular natural gas generating units with up to 1,000 MW of capacity in northern California using technology designed to capture all atmospheric emissions. (Power)
SOLAR: A developer begins construction on a 475 MW solar-plus-storage installation in northern Arizona near a coal plant slated to retire next year. (AZ Family)
TRANSITION: Colorado officials and advocates work to equitably transition an oil and gas-producing county to clean energy and other industries. (Aspen Journalism)
STORAGE: Data show California added 6,000 MWh of new grid-scale battery energy storage during the third quarter of 2024. (Solar Power World)
UTILITIES:
GRID:
WIND: Opponents of the recently greenlit Lava Ridge wind facility in southern Idaho consider waiting until President-elect Trump takes office to file a lawsuit seeking to reverse the federal approval. (Idaho Statesman)
COMMENTARY: Alaska is disproportionately struggling with the effects of climate change, an ocean advocate argues, and Trump’s efforts to open up the state’s oil and gas to extraction will only make matters worse. (Los Angeles Times)
WASHINGTON DC, December 3, 2024 – The American Clean Power Association (ACP) today released its latest Clean Power Quarterly Market Report, detailing a surge in clean energy deployment during Q3 2024, with 10.2 GW of clean energy capacity coming online. This record-setting quarter positions the industry to achieve a historic year in 2024, underscoring the strength of American clean power.
Year-to-date installations now total 29.6 GW, representing an impressive 86 percent increase over the same period in 2023. This growth highlights how clean energy resources have solidified themselves as an affordable and reliable source of power for communities across the country. The U.S. has now deployed 294 GW of clean power capacity—enough energy to power 72 million American homes.
“American-made clean power is meeting the moment, providing the resources necessary to continue delivering affordable and reliable power to communities across the country. The record pace of clean power installations is delivering not only for the power grid but for the U.S. economy,” said John Hensley, ACP’s SVP of Markets and Policy Analysis. “The impacts of the industry’s investments are vast, keeping America competitive on the global economic stage and enhancing our energy and national security.”
Additional Key Highlights:
A scaled-down version of the report is available to the public, with the full Clean Power Quarterly Market Report | Q3 2024 available only to ACP members.
The American Clean Power Association (ACP) is the leading voice of today’s multi-tech clean energy industry, representing over 800 energy storage, wind, utility-scale solar, clean hydrogen and transmission companies. ACP is committed to meeting America’s national security, economic and climate goals with fast-growing, low-cost, and reliable domestic power.
Follow ACP on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and learn more at cleanpower.org.
The following commentary was written by Carrie Zalewski, former Chair of the Illinois Commerce Commission and currently vice president of markets and transmission at the American Clean Power Association; and Brent Bailey, former Mississippi Public Service Commissioner and current vice president of operations at Efficient Power & Light LLC. See our commentary guidelines for more information.
Building the power grid of the future requires deploying every available tool in the present.
When it comes to electricity generation, energy wonks often reference an “all-the-above” strategy, which includes all available power sources — fossil fuels, renewable energy, and storage technologies. But generation is just one part of the reliability and affordability equation.
The Midwestern transmission grid must also evolve and adopt an “all-the-above” mentality to withstand increasingly frequent extreme weather events and support rapidly growing power demand while ensuring reliable and low-cost electricity for consumers. This is no small task. As such, policymakers and grid operators must carefully consider all near-term and long-term solutions.
New high-voltage transmission lines are essential to ensure the grid of the future is prepared for surging load growth. But new transmission line development and construction can take many years. To address immediate needs, there are other solutions that can improve capacity in the near term. Enter: advanced grid technologies.
Significant technological advancements are available now that can come online in one to three years compared to the decade or so it takes to build new transmission lines. Such advancements include: grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) — hardware and/or software that can increase the capacity and efficiency of existing transmission lines most hours of the year — as well as high-performance conductors (HPCs) — which offer greater capacity and efficiency benefits compared to traditional conductors.
While these advanced grid technologies cannot provide enough capacity to meet long-term system needs, they are relatively inexpensive and drive enormous cost savings until we can bring regional backbone lines into service. Deploying GETs and HPCs in the near term to help meet projected demand growth while simultaneously planning and constructing new regional and interregional transmission lines is key to ensuring the delivery of reliable, low-cost power across the Midwest.
MISO, the central U.S. grid operator, is considering a second portfolio of transmission projects aimed at creating a regional backbone of long-distance lines that will enable power to flow across the Upper and Central Midwest. These transmission lines will build upon investments made in the first tranche of projects, approved by the grid operator in 2022, which began to lay the groundwork for an evolution of the system.
The second batch of potential projects aims to “reliably and efficiently enable MISO member goals and load growth,” delivering benefits that significantly outweigh costs. Across much of the current system, MISO found that at least 10% of facilities are overloaded and annual curtailments exceed 15%, meaning available generators are forced offline because there is not enough grid capacity to carry their power.
MISO will also soon consider transmission projects for the Southern region of MISO as well as measures to increase the flow of electricity between the MISO regions. A regional problem requires regional solutions, including well-vetted, long-distance transmission lines.
Additionally, there is a significant need for greater interregional transmission capacity between MISO and its neighbors. The U.S. Department of Energy identified especially high congestion between the Midwest and Plains states. This means there are bottlenecks in the system that hinder the ability to deliver electricity between these areas. As a result, more interregional transmission ties from MISO to the Plains would offer considerable consumer benefits in the form of increased reliability and decreased costs when affordable clean energy can be accessed and transmitted back to MISO members.
Building the grid of the future will require every technology at our disposal. It’s critical that grid operators and state regulators consider and implement all transmission technology tools when planning and building a system that will enhance national security, facilitate regional economic development, and withstand new and growing reliability threats for generations to come.
.svg)
