Not to be outdone, industry leaders such as Microsoft, Jacobs, and Amazon have pledged to be zero carbon or carbon negative in their supply chains and operations. In June 2020, for example, Massachusetts' top law enforcer, Attorney General Maura Healy, asked the state's utility regulators to re-examine the future of the Bay State's gas utilities as Massachusetts transitions away from fossil fuels in hopes of achieving its legally binding statewide limit of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. EIA, more than two-thirds of states, notably including economic heavyweights California and New York, either have enacted binding renewable energy portfolio standards or carbon-neutral goals or are considering them. 1).įanning the push toward renewables is growing regulatory or legislative pressure state by state to find a cleaner, greener way of doing business.Īccording to the U.S. Perhaps not coincidentally, electric industry players are taking note and taking action.Īccording to Black & Veatch's latest Strategic Directions: Electric Report, based on a survey of more than 600 industry stakeholders, more than three-quarters of respondents agree that they are devoting more of their capital spending to clean energy (Fig. Wind will account for an additional 12.2 GW domestically, down roughly 9 GW from 2020.īattery storage - increasingly used in tandem with renewables - will more than quadruple this year in the United States, with 4.3 GW of battery power capacity additions slated to come online this year, the EIA submits. The agency, in its latest short-term outlook released in January, projects that of 39.7 GW of new capacity anticipated to come online by 2022, a record 15.4 GW will come from solar, surpassing last year's 12-GW increase. On the heels of coal-fired power production's plunge in 2019 to its lowest level in more than four decades, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects electricity from solar and wind sources to continue their ascendancy, accounting for 70% of new energy production this year in the United States.
Given all of that, a reality has emerged: planning by utilities must begin now, knowing that complacency can be a curse as more and more consumers expect their power providers to be progressive and proactive.Īs Coal Falters, Industry Awakens to Need for Investment Possible volatility and uncertainty remain in what had been a relatively predictable industry - most certainly when it comes to forecasting power demand, compounding the challenges of regulatory changes, and activist investors enjoying a bigger shareholder voice and demanding swifter shifts to renewables. Pursuing robust decarbonization through renewables - including hydrogen, a potentially game-changing energy source that's still evolving - will be a complicated endeavor, requiring collaboration between consumers, investors, activists, and regulators. As the world turns more dynamic and fast-paced, utilities now must respond faster than ever imagined.Īlthough renewable energy has reached cost parity with traditional energy supply options in many markets, their natural intermittency may complicate efforts to maintain grid reliability when they account for a significant portion of the energy supply stack. Such tides of change are forcing power utilities - accustomed to thinking in terms of 30-year planning horizons - to reimagine their generation portfolios with a keener, more immediate focus on ridding their operations of planet-warming emissions.
It's a transformation stoked by consumers and other stakeholders demanding lower-carbon energy options, making the surging use of renewables and distributed energy resources (DER) opportunities to ensure reliable, clean, and affordable power. As decarbonization deepens around the globe, power providers are being pressed to invest in what's emerging as the evolving energy landscape's future - cost-effective, low-, or zero-emission energy that can be readily integrated into a more modernized, distributed grid.
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