Energy Exchange

Corporate Buyers Demonstrate Demand for Renewables. Now it’s Time for the Market to Catch Up.

By Victoria Mills / Published: August 14, 2014

Colin Krenitsky, 2014 EDF Climate Corps fellow for the Denver Housing Authority.

Last month, twelve major corporations announced a combined goal of buying 8.4 million megawatt hours of renewable energy each year, and called for market changes to make these large-scale purchases possible. Their commitment shows that demand for renewables has reached the big time.

We’re proud that eight of the twelve are EDF Climate Corps host organizations: Bloomberg, Facebook, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Proctor & Gamble, REI, Sprint and Walmart. The coalition, brought together by the World Wildlife Fund and World Resources Institute, is demanding enough renewable energy to power 800,000 homes a year. And while it’s great to see these big names in the headlines, they’re not alone in calling for clean energy: 60 percent of the largest U.S. businesses have set public goals to increase their use of renewables, cut carbon pollution or both. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Climate, EDF Climate Corps, Energy Financing, General, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed

EPA’s State-by-State Carbon Limits Indicate Smart Policy, Not Arbitrary Rulemaking

By Kate Zerrenner / Published: August 13, 2014

In June, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced – for the first time ever – standards to limit carbon emissions from U.S. power plants, known as the Clean Power Plan (CPP). Currently power plants emit 40 percent of U.S. carbon emissions, but under the proposed Clean Power Plan, the U.S. power sector will cut carbon pollution by 30 percent below 2005 levels.

Since this announcement, the usual suspects have attacked the CPP, calling its proposed state-by-state reduction standards arbitrary. Their claims couldn’t be further from reality. When EPA asked states for feedback on how to best craft this standard, states asked for two things: individual standards and flexibility. And that’s what they got. Anyone familiar with the proposed standards will know they are based on a consistent and objective methodology that takes into account each state’s unique energy portfolio and emissions, as well as built with maximum flexibility in mind.

At first glance, the climate-change-denying crowd dismissed the standards as arbitrary, because the limits vary from state to state. For example, Washington needs to reduce its emissions rate by 72 percent by 2030, while Kentucky only needs to cut its emissions rate by 18 percent over the same period. Texas lies somewhere in the middle with a 39 percent reduction required. So what gives? Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Climate, Demand Response, Energy Efficiency / Tagged Clean Power Plan | Comments are closed

5 Undeniable Truths about the Clean Power Plan

By Ben Schneider / Published: August 13, 2014

Do you get a sense of déjà vu when you hear the fossil fuel industry arguments against the Environmental Protection Agency’s new climate change plan? You’re not imagining things – we’ve heard these many, many times before.

The EPA recently held public hearings around the country to solicit comments on its new proposal to put reasonable, nationwide limits on climate pollution from power plants.

The plan is moderate, flexible, and paves the way for considerable economic gains, but the substance hardly mattered for some die-hard opponents. The fossil fuel industry allies trotted out the same talking points about the supposed costs of action and American indifference to clean air policies that they always do.

Tellingly, industry lobbyists and their friends in Congress couldn’t even be bothered to wait and see what the rule said before blasting it with wildly inaccurate claims about the cost of implementation. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Clean Power Plan / Tagged Clean Power Plan, EPA | Comments are closed

Blown Away by Wind Power in Denmark, a Model for Clean Energy

By EDF Blogs / Published: August 12, 2014

The view when you fly into Copenhagen, Denmark.

By: Sam Parry, director of online membership and activism

I look out the window of the crowded Scandinavian Airlines plane – bleary-eyed after a sleepless, 8-hour flight – as it makes its final approach to the Copenhagen airport one recent morning.

The first thing I see are the wind turbines that hug the coast, spinning steadily like white jewels against the blue water. For a moment I wonder if I’m hallucinating.

What are wind turbines doing so close to civilization and adjacent to Denmark’s main airport?

Back in the United States, I have to travel far beyond my Washington suburb to spot any signs of wind energy. In Denmark, it’s ever-present.

You can’t drive more than a few kilometers on the country’s flat roads without seeing a turbine. They are fully integrated into society and part of the landscape everywhere.

And that’s not by accident. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy / Read 1 Response

Moving On, but Continuing the Work

By Brad Copithorne / Published: August 7, 2014

Source: Chuck Abbe

Four years ago, I joined Environmental Defense Fund to work on climate policy as I believe that the issue is one of the most critical challenges of our era. I felt that my background working on Wall Street could be put to good use in crafting finance policies that help fight climate change. I chose EDF because they are the environmental organization that best understands how to use market mechanisms to deliver environmental solutions.

Tomorrow will be my last day at EDF, but I am not leaving because of any disappointment with the organization or any decline in my commitment on climate issues. At this point in time, new market mechanisms to finance clean energy are in place. The biggest contribution I can make is to switch to the private sector and demonstrate how well these mechanisms can deliver job-creating private investment.

Over the past several years, On-Bill Repayment (“OBR”) and Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) programs have been developed that are expected to allow for significantly increased investment in energy efficiency and solar generation projects. State of the art PACE programs are up and running in California for commercial and residential properties, and in Connecticut and Ohio for commercial properties. Texas and New Jersey are expected to also launch programs in coming months. Later this year, Hawaii is expected to start the country’s first open-source OBR program that EDF helped design. Read More »

Also posted in California, Clean Energy, Climate, Energy Financing, Investor Confidence Project, On-bill repayment, Utility Business Models / Tagged Hawaii, PACE | Read 1 Response

Can New York Beat California in the Clean Energy Race?

By Rory Christian / Published: August 7, 2014

Source: Martineric/Flickr

This post was adapted from an op-ed piece published in Morning Consult.

New York doesn’t have California’s sunshine or Texas’ wind. But it has a vision and willpower that is quickly turning the Empire State into a leader for clean energy solutions.

In the year and a half since the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy, New York Gov. Cuomo has appointed strong leadership and devoted large-scale investment to develop a resilient energy infrastructure that can withstand the extreme weather events brought on by climate change.

And the state is now digging into a major evaluation of how energy is produced, distributed, and priced – while ramping up funding for renewable energy. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Financing, New York / Read 1 Response