Energy Exchange

New Mexico oil and gas rules put water resources, communities at risk. Here’s how they can be improved.

By EDF Blogs / Published: June 4, 2018

Water is New Mexico’s most precious and limited resource, but new rules proposed by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission (NMOCC) fall short in efforts to better protect it.

In the face of increasing temperatures and shrinking water supplies, the state needs to be doing more – not less – to safeguard its future health and prosperity. That means strengthening the rules that protect land and water resources from the negative impacts of oil and gas operations. Read More »

Posted in Natural Gas, produced water / Tagged New Mexico, produced water, Water | Comments are closed

East Coast meets West Coast style – how 2 states are advancing clean energy

By EDF Blogs / Published: June 1, 2018

By Rory Christian, Lauren Navarro

Cities and states are taking the initiative to address climate change independently from the federal administration. With unique political contexts and environmental needs, each local authorities’ policies address specific climate challenges.

California’s new landmark mandate, requiring solar panels on new home constructions, and New York’s ongoing Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative, illustrate just how different paths can lead to accomplish the same intent: to fight climate change. They are also indicative of how elected officials are prioritizing energy, infrastructure, and housing in their planning.

The longer states wait to take action to set or meet environmental goals, the more expensive their efforts will become. More importantly, the delay can affect the economic and health benefits from new jobs and lower emissions that improve residents’ quality of life.

New York and California are well positioned because they’ve capitalized on emerging trends by addressing legal and regulatory issues in ways other states have yet to do. Let’s take a look at their approaches and challenges. Read More »

Posted in California, Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Electricity Pricing, Energy Efficiency, Energy Innovation, New York, New York REV, Solar Energy / Comments are closed

The latest trends in renewable-energy tech, markets, and policy

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 14, 2018

By Energy Dialogues

Renewable energy, and its role in energy future, is an intense topic that spans across all corners of the energy spectrum. For example, our recent Mexican Energy Series featured a lively discussion of whether Mexico is on course for the 2024 target of 35% renewable energy, and what this pledge means for the country. Each year, as new corporations, municipalities, and countries make bold and vocal commitments to offsetting energy consumption, and to pursuing clean energy resources at a higher level, the conversation intensifies.

For an insider perspective about the current state of renewable energy, we called upon Lenae Shirley, Senior Director, Technology Innovation and Market Adoption for Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Lenae is working at the nexus of technology, markets and policy, leading efforts with EDF’s demonstration partners to prove the impact of clean technology innovations. As a result of these initiatives, Lenae identifies trends and market opportunities to accelerate the transformation of the electricity sector, with data-driven decisions that push forward market adoption for renewable methods. Here is our conversation. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Financing, Energy Innovation, Renewable Energy / Comments are closed

Recommendations for a resilient grid, no federal coal bailout required

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 9, 2018

By Michael Panfil, Rama Zakaria

In the past year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has used the issue of grid resilience as cover for an aggressive campaign to funnel a multi-billion-dollar yearly bailout to the owners of old, uneconomic coal and nuclear power plants. Although this DOE effort was rightly rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in January, the issue of resilience remains.

In denying DOE’s proposal, FERC (the agency responsible for overseeing our nation’s electric grid) asked regional grid operators to report practices they are currently implementing to ensure a reliable, resilient electric grid. In March, grid operators filed their reports, which generally concluded that the grid is resilient and we don’t need uneconomic coal and nuclear plants to keep the lights on.

Today, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) – alongside numerous other stakeholders from business, academia, industry, and public interest organizations – submitted to FERC individual and joint comments on these grid operator reports and the topic of grid resilience. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Electricity Pricing, Market resilience / Read 2 Responses

Permian a litmus test for oil and gas industry’s methane targets

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 4, 2018

This blog was co-authored by Jon Goldstein and Colin Leyden.

What may be becoming the world’s largest oil field may also be the world’s largest test for the oil and gas industry’s commitments to setting targets for driving down methane emissions.

Several major oil and gas producers, including BP and XTO, have announced strategies in recent months to limit methane emissions. And several more including Shell, Pemex and Statoil have committed to a near-zero methane future and announced plans to release reduction targets this fall.

Posted in Air Quality, Methane, Natural Gas, Texas / Tagged New Mexico | Comments are closed

New study answers the question, ‘What is grid resilience?’

By EDF Blogs / Published: May 2, 2018

By Rama Zakaria, Michael Panfil

Whether or not our electric grid is “resilient,” and what if anything should be done to make the grid more resilient, has been a topic of intense scrutiny in the past year.

The stakes in this debate reached new dimensions last fall with a highly controversial proposal by Sec. Rick Perry and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which claimed that the resilience of the electric grid is threatened by the premature retirement of uneconomic coal and nuclear plants. DOE’s flawed proposal – to bail out these plants through a profit-guarantee mechanism – was considered and unanimously rejected in January by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency charged with overseeing our nation’s electric grid. DOE’s proposal, in short, was an incredibly bad idea.

When FERC dismissed DOE’s proposal it opened a new proceeding, asking a series of questions around the topic of grid resilience.

A Customer-focused Framework for Electric System Resilience, a new report authored by Alison Silverstein and Grid Strategies, aims to answer these questions. The report, commissioned by Environmental Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council, recommends a customer-centric framework for evaluating electric system resilience and concludes that the most effective resilience solutions center upon the wires connecting the grid: distribution, and to a lesser extent transmission. By contrast, generation-related solutions – like keeping dirty coal and uneconomic nuclear plants online past their retirement dates – are the least effective for improving resilience. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Electricity Pricing, FirstEnergy, Grid Modernization, Market resilience, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed