Clean Energy EXPO 2023: Toward the Energy System of the Future

The 26th Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum was held on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. The event was hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), with the Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REEE) Caucus serving as honorary co-host. It featured six panels, including Toward the Energy System of the Future.

Highlights

Mandy Mahoney, Director, Building Technologies Office, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

• Buildings are at the center of the technological revolution. We use more energy in buildings than anywhere else. It is therefore critical to invest in them and research new building efficiency technologies.
• Many inhabited buildings fail to meet safety standards. Solutions that address these concerns must work for all inhabitants.
• The Department of Energy (DOE) recently introduced the Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge to address extreme and erratic weather events in higher latitudes.
• DOE is investing $225 million in energy codes for buildings and the improvement of building habitability through more than 27 projects across the country.

Lisa Jacobson, President, Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE)

• Over the last decade, the energy grid has become cleaner, more diverse, and more energy-efficient. Despite this, energy security, climate change, and international competition remain challenges.
• According to the 2023 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, the United States has recently experienced record-breaking years in renewable energy adoption and development.
• The United States is not on track to meeting its Paris Agreement commitments, having reduced its emissions by only 15 percent from 2005 levels, even though it committed to a 50 to 52 percent reduction by 2030.
• The power industry is leading U.S. emission reductions, with a 35 percent reduction within the industry since 2005.

Malcolm Woolf, President and CEO, National Hydropower Association (NHA)

• Hydropower constitutes seven percent of all electrical production and provides electricity to 30 million Americans.
• Hydropower is a reliable and constantly available power source. It can also make use of existing infrastructure (only three percent of dams are powered).
• As gas and coal power plants are shut down, viable and reliable replacements are needed to provide essential grid services.
• Failure to leverage existing hydropower resources, including effectively relicensing dams, could mean a missed opportunity in addressing climate change. Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) have introduced a licensing bill to address these issues.

Ralph Cleveland, President and CEO, American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE)

• Discussions around energy systems generally focus on technology or infrastructure, but consideration also needs to be given to the workforce, supply chains, customers, and policies.
• Energy professionals work to produce and distribute safe, affordable, and essential energy products and services, improving overall quality of life.
• $31 trillion needs to be spent on the energy system to meet federal climate goals. When considering the workforce needed to make that change happen, an all-hands-on-deck approach is needed. This will require considering how to tap into the potential of historically underserved communities.
• The energy system of the future must be just, equitable, and affordable for underserved communities. Policies are needed to ensure that biases and preferences do not become requirements to participate in the system.

Bill Parsons, Vice President, Federal and State Affairs, American Clean Power (ACP)

• Today, wind, solar, energy storage, transmission, and green hydrogen comprise 15 percent of the energy used in the United States. Going forward, deployment of renewables can triple, without errors in implementation
• Intermittence is not unreliability. Some localities across the country are already running on over 50 percent renewable energy.
• While wind comprises the majority of green energy today, solar is expected to become the most popular source of renewable energy. And while emerging technologies such as green hydrogen, energy storage, and offshore wind do not have a serious presence in the energy system today, they have the potential to become major sources of energy.
• Policies that disincentivize fossil fuel use, such as carbon taxes, relied on making energy more expensive. With clean energy, affordability is an advantage.
• While green hydrogen has some ways to go before it is a fully viable energy option, it will be essential to the energy transition in sectors like cement and steel, which are major carbon emitters.

Misti Groves, Vice President, Market and Policy Innovation, Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA)

• U.S. companies have contracted over 68 gigawatts of publicly-sourced clean energy since 2014.
• Energy use typically constitutes either the largest or second-largest cost for most companies, driving them to seek out affordable clean energy sources.
• Businesses transitioning to clean energy use have also been incentivized by a desire for self-regulation, and to get ahead of federal regulations and guidance.
• Companies that are transitioning towards green energy have seen increasing investment in recent years.
• U.S. corporations are interested in electrification not only as a way of cleaning up existing energy systems, but also as a way of continuing growth in other sectors, such as transportation.
• Businesses are also looking for improved access to data to make more informed decisions about their energy use.

Compiled by Parthav Easwar and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.