Energy Policy Now

Georgia’s runoff election will determine the balance of power in the Senate, and the degree to which Joe Biden will count on Congress to back his ambitious clean energy agenda.---On January 5th a special runoff election in the state of Georgia will determine who will fill the state’s two seats in the United States Senate and which political party, Republican or Democrat, will control the upper chamber of Congress. The runoff election will be the final act in a tumultuous election season, in which the parties have offered starkly different visions for the role of government, the future direction of America’s energy system, and how that system will impact our environment.Crucially, the outcome of Georgia’s runoff election will determine the degree to which President-Elect Joe Biden may be able to count on the Senate’s support in enacting his energy platform, which aims for a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035. Bethany Davis Noll and Richard Revesz, regulatory experts whose work focuses on the legal tools available to presidents to pursue their agendas, take a look at the options available to Biden to pursue his energy agenda with, or without, help from the Senate.Bethany Davis Noll is litigation director at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law. Richard Revesz is Dean Emeritus at the NYU School of Law and Director of the Institute for Policy Integrity.Related Content Will Trump’s Regulatory Rollbacks Survive? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/will-trumps-regulatory-rollbacks-surviveHow to Combat the Corona-Recession and Climate Change https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/08/07/how-combat-corona-recession-and-climate-changeBalancing Renewable Energy Goals with Community Interests https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/balancing-renewable-energy-goals-community-interestsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Large scale offshore wind development will require a rethink of how America’s electric grid is designed, and paid for. ---Over the coming decade, a number of states along the East Coast of the U.S. will deploy massive offshore windfarms in the Atlantic Ocean as part of their efforts to meet clean energy goals and reduce global warming emissions. Planning for the wind farms is well underway, and the first projects sponsored by New York, New Jersey and other coastal states are expected to begin generating electricity by 2025.Yet reaching long term, aggressive offshore wind power targets presents numerous challenges. The most pressing may be the need to build out the electric grid to reliably and economically deliver vast quantities of offshore wind power to market. This is an issue that the states, offshore wind developers, and operators of the country’s electric grid are now grappling with.  Solutions may require a fundamental reworking of how the electric grid is planned and financed.Brandon Burke, Policy and Outreach Director with the Business Network for Offshore Wind, discusses the challenge of transforming the electric grid to enable offshore wind power.Brandon Burke is an attorney and Policy and Outreach Director with the Business Network for Offshore Wind. Brandon is a 2018 graduate of the Kleinman Center’s Certificate in Energy Management and Policy program.Related Content U.S. Electricity Regulator Takes a Hard Look at Carbon Pricing https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/us-electricity-regulator-takes-hard-look-carbon-pricingDeveloping Our Renewable Energy Futurehttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/04/21/developing-our-renewable-energy-future Developing the Electric Grid for Carbon Free Energy  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/developing-electric-grid-carbon-free-energySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Electricity market deregulation promised to bring more affordable and reliable electricity to consumers. A quarter of a century after deregulation began, has its promise delivered for all Americans?---The process of deregulating electricity markets began a quarter of a century ago, with the aim of leveraging competitive market forces to provide consumers with abundant and reliable electricity more economically than ever before. As experience has shown, however, deregulation has brought both benefits and challengesIn the early years of deregulation, an ill-conceived strategy to introduce competition to California’s electricity market led to market manipulation, high energy prices, and ultimately to utility bankruptcies. Yet over the last decade, deregulation has provided generally better outcomes. Competitive markets have been able to efficiently pass cost savings from the shale gas revolution to consumers, and competition has created a dynamic platform for the entry of new forms of clean and distributed energy.Yet the question remains. On the whole, has deregulation delivered on its promise to give consumers abundant and reliable electricity more economically than before?This special episode of Energy Policy Now was recorded live at Grid Forward 2020, an annual event that brings together leading insights from a range of stakeholders to address opportunities for electric grid modernization. Debaters Mark Kolesar and Bruce Edelston square off around the question of whether deregulation has ultimately led to better community outcomes which, in today’s context, means more than just cheap and reliable service, but also equitable access to clean energy options, and the environmental and public health benefits that a cleaner electricity system promises.Mark Kolesar is Managing Principal at Kolesar Buchanan and Associates, and former Chairman of the Alberta Utilities Commission.Bruce Edelston is President of the Energy Policy Group and former Vice President for Energy Policy at the Southern Company.Grid Forward is an industry association defining pathways for electric grid modernization via advanced technology, policy progress and business innovation.Related ContentBalancing Renewable Energy Goals With Community Interests  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/balancing-renewable-energy-goals-community-interestsEnergy Transitions Are Brown Before They Go Green. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/energy-transitions-are-brown-they-go-greenZoning Rules Stifle Clean Energy. Can The Rules Be Rewritten? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/zoning-rules-stifle-urban-clean-energy-can-rules-be-rewritten See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In September the U.S. electricity regulator, the FERC, held its first conference to explore carbon pricing in the nation’s electricity markets. Is a carbon price finally on the way?---In late September the regulator of America’s electricity markets, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, took the unusual step of convening a conference at which it, and members of the electricity industry, considered putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions. The meeting came as wholesale electricity markets, which supply power for two-thirds of Americans, have entered into a period of turmoil that, at the extreme, threatens to break those very markets apart, and which is based in the challenge of addressing climate change.Mike Borgatti, Vice President for RTO Services and Regulatory Affairs at energy consultancy Gabel Associates, explains the debate over carbon pricing in electricity markets, and the FERC’s recent, contentious efforts to balance conflicting state and national climate agendas.Mike Borgatti is Vice President for RTO Services and Regulatory Affairs at Gabel Associates, an energy and public utility consultancy. He advises energy industry clients that participate in the nation’s electricity markets, and has been at the forefront of efforts to explore carbon pricing in the world’s largest power market, PJM Interconnection.Mike Borgatti is Vice President for RTO Services and Regulatory Affairs at Gabel Associates, an energy and public utility consultancy. He advises energy industry clients that participate in the nation’s electricity markets, and has been at the forefront of efforts to explore carbon pricing in the world’s largest power market, PJM Interconnection.Related ContentWhat’s the FERC, and How Is It Shaping Our Energy Future? (Part 1). https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/whats-ferc-and-how-it-shaping-our-energy-future-part-1The Rise of Partisan Politics in Energy Regulation  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/rise-partisan-politics-energy-regulation FERC’s Order Redesigning PJM’s Capacity Market  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/07/12/fercs-order-redesigning-pjms-capacity-marketSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Outmoded and often discriminatory zoning laws block clean energy development in low-income urban neighborhoods. An effort is underway to update rules, and enable clean energy equity.---An energy transformation is underway in the United States, with clean energy and energy efficiency reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. Yet the advantages of clean energy aren’t enjoyed equally throughout the country. Clean energy development has lagged in older, densely built urban areas. Low-income neighborhoods, in particular, have seen relatively less investment in renewables, and can find it hard to take advantage of technologies like rooftop solar that can lower electricity bills.  And, while there are many efforts underway to address these equity challenges, for example through community energy programs, fundamental barriers to energy transformation remain.Sara Bronin, professor of law at the University of Connecticut and former chair of Hartford, Connecticut’s Planning and Zoning Commission, explores the impact that one such hurdle, outmoded and often discriminatory community zoning rules, can have on access to clean energy. Progressive rules can ease the adoption of clean infrastructure, yet many zoning regulations date back decades and fail to take modern energy into account.  Bronin discusses the interplay of zoning and energy, and efforts to reform zoning regulations for greater clean energy access.Sara Bronin is Faculty Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Law at the University of Connecticut. Related ContentBalancing Renewable Energy Goals with Community Interests https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/balancing-renewable-energy-goals-community-interestsThe Best Local Response to Climate Change is a Comprehensive Efficiency Plan https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/best-local-response-climate-change-comprehensive-efficiency-planElectric Vehicles in the City: The Relationship of EV Infrastructure and Spatial Development in Beijing https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/electric-vehicles-city See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An environmental lawyer examines the legal and social challenges that could complicate managed retreat from areas at risk to climate-related disaster.---When policymakers talk about adapting to climate change, they often focus on measures to reinforce towns and cities against natural disasters, such as the wildfires and flooding that have become more severe across the United States in recent years. Yet what is often more difficult to contemplate is the idea that some places may inevitably need to be abandoned. This idea of abandonment, or retreat from areas that are at great risk due to climate change, is understandably very difficult to think about. Retreat means leaving behind homes, and the possible disruption of communities and livelihoods.  Mark Nevitt, associate professor of law at Syracuse University and a former legal counsel with the Department of Defense Regional Environmental Counsel in Norfolk, Virginia, explores how managed retreat ahead of likely disaster is itself a key climate adaptation strategy, and one which may ease, though not eliminate, the burden on impacted communities. Mark discusses his recent Kleinman Center-funded research into legal issues associated with climate adaptation, and how existing laws may present barriers to efforts to manage retreat from high risk areas.Mark Nevitt is an associate professor of law at Syracuse University. Related Content Climate Adaptation Strategies: How Do We “Manage” Managed Retreat? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/climate-adaptation-strategiesIt’s Time to Rethink Flood Insurancehttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/06/29/its-time-rethink-flood-insurance Rising Seas and the Future of Coastal Cities https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/rising-seas-and-future-coastal-citiesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Much attention has been paid to the ways we humans are changing our climate. Yet, how has an ever-evolving climate changed us? ---Climate change is one of the monumental challenges of our day, but the reality of climate change is nothing new. In recent decades, scientific advances have expanded our understanding of prehistory, and brought into ever sharper focus the connection between historic variations in climate and the development of humanity and society.By taking a look at the history of climate change, we might see more clearly why today’s warming is so different from periods of change that came before, and how climate change can amplify economic and societal pressures that are already in place.University of Pennsylvania economist Jesus Fernandez Villaverde looks back through time to discuss how climate change may have forced our primate ancestors down the road of evolution, contributed to the fall of empires and, more recently, helped to spur great migrations of people, including those that led to the building of the United States.Related Content 200 Years of Energy History in 30 Minutes https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/200-years-energy-history-30-minutesEnergy Transitions Are Brown Before They Go Green. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/energy-transitions-are-brown-they-go-green The Essential Role of Negative Emissions in Getting to Carbon Neutral https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/essential-role-negative-emissions-getting-carbon-neutral See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most carbon tax proposals include a border adjustment to protect American industry from foreign competition. Yet research suggests that benefits won't extend to consumers.---Most economists agree that the best way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming is by implementing a carbon tax, and making it more expensive to buy products and services with a high carbon content. Yet by putting a price on carbon, countries may drive up costs for domestic businesses, putting them at a competitive disadvantage to foreign competitors from countries where no carbon price exists.Two experts in climate law and economics look at the most commonly proposed solution to protect American businesses from the competitive impacts of a carbon tax. The solution, known as a border adjustment, would ensure that American and imported goods are subject to the same carbon price.The tool seems simple enough, and in fact every carbon tax proposal in Congress this year features a border adjustment. Yet research suggests that the economic protections promised by border adjustments may not be as great as commonly assumed.David Weisbach is a professor of law at the University of Chicago. Sam Kortum is an economics professor at Yale University. Their work has focused on the role of taxation in addressing climate change, and potential competitive implications of a carbon tax.Related ContentThe Essential Role of Negative Emissions in Getting to Carbon Neutral  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/essential-role-negative-emissions-getting-carbon-neutralWill COVID-19 Permanently Change the Energy Sector  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/05/29/will-covid-19-permanently-change-energy-sectorRobust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices in Carbon Pricing  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-marketsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump has gone to great lengths to undo the regulatory accomplishments of his predecessor. But the President’s methods could come back to haunt him, dooming his deregulatory energy and environmental agendas.---The Trump Administration has taken aggressive steps to undo the regulatory accomplishments of former president Obama, with some of the highest profile rollbacks taking place in the energy and environmental arenas. In his three years in office, President Trump has repealed the Clean Power Plan, rolled back restrictions on methane leaks and, most recently, repealed limits on automotive tailpipe emissions. Yet, it’s possible that the same tools that Trump has used to undo the regulatory achievements of his predecessor could be turned against him. A pair of regulatory experts take a look at President Trump’s unprecedented use of three legal tools to pursue his deregulatory agenda, and at how a new administration could use these same tools to roll back Trump-era rules. They also discuss how the very nature of future presidencies may be altered as the deregulatory gloves have been taken off, limiting the ability of presidents to enact important rules on any front. Bethany Davis Noll is Litigation Director at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law. Richard Revesz is Dean Emeritus at NYU School of Law, and directs the Institute for Policy Integrity.  Related ContentBalancing Renewable Energy Goals with Community Interests https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/balancing-renewable-energy-goals-community-interests Whither the Regulatory War on Coal: Scapegoats, Saviors, and Stock Market Reactions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/working-paper-whither-regulatory-war-coal The Rise of Partisan Politics in Energy Regulation  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/rise-partisan-politics-energy-regulationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The social cost of carbon provides an estimate of the economic damage caused by carbon emissions. A climate economist tells how it's calculated.---One of the most hotly debated issues in climate policy is the value of the social cost of carbon, which is an estimate of the damage that will come from releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The social cost of carbon is a useful measure to help us understand the price that should be placed on carbon today to limit carbon dioxide emissions, and minimize the climate-related damages that future generations will face.Climate economist Gilbert Metcalf explains how the social cost of carbon is calculated, and looks at the factors that economists take into account in arriving at a value. He also discusses why the value of the social cost of carbon is so contentious, and why the cost estimates accepted by the Trump and Obama administrations diverge so widely.Gilbert Metcalf is a professor of economics at Tufts University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His work focuses on taxation, energy, and environmental economics.Related ContentThe Essential Role of Negative Emissions in Getting to Carbon Neutral https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/essential-role-negative-emissions-getting-carbon-neutralRobust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices in Carbon Pricing https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-marketsWhy Americans Want a Carbon Tax, But Won’t Support One at the Polls https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/why-americans-want-carbon-tax-wont-support-one-polls See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.