Clean Energy EXPO 2024: Energy System Modernization

The 27th Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum was held on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. The event was hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), with the House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REEE) Caucuses serving as honorary co-hosts. It featured seven panels, including Energy System Modernization.

Highlights

Alejandro Moreno, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

• The energy sector is changing quickly: wind and solar are now closing in on 15% of overall power generation, electric vehicles are increasing in sales, and 80% of new power projects annually are solar.
• The future of the energy sector is based on electricity, as well as power generation and demand that both have the capacity to respond in more resilient and efficient ways.
• Innovation is needed to reduce the costs of renewable energy technology, to create new opportunities for generation (e.g., in geothermal and offshore wind), to increase the density and reduce the volume of vehicle batteries for better efficiency, and to develop more effective and cleaner fuels.

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

• The Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) is a broad-based, clean energy coalition that represents companies and trade associations across the energy efficiency, natural gas, renewable energy, sustainable transportation, and decarbonization technology sectors. This industry portfolio is key to modernizing the nation’s energy system, achieving environmental goals, and driving economic development in communities.
• BCSE is working to support federal policy development in the areas of permitting and siting reform, building upon some reforms enacted in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-5); investments in research, development, deployment, and demonstration; and tax policy.
• Strong partnerships between industry, policymakers, and communities are essential to the energy transition.

JC Sandberg, Chief Advocacy Officer, American Clean Power (ACP)

• American Clean Power is a trade association that represents organizations carrying out the utility-scale development of renewable energy.
• The energy transition and access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy needs to be depoliticized.
• Energy policy has largely been made through the tax code, and most recently through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (P.L. 117-169), which is driving modernization in the marketplace. It represents a reinvestment in American manufacturing and is unlocking new deployment.
• Government partnership is integral to energy modernization and innovation efforts.

Bryn Baker, Senior Director of Market and Policy Innovation, Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA)

• The Clean Energy Buyers Association represents energy customers. Its members have contracted for about 80 gigawatts of carbon-free capacity over the last decade, which is equivalent to about 40% of all the wind, solar, and battery capacity deployed in the United States in that same time.
• Manufacturing reshoring is a significant and long-term source of demand for the power grid. Building energy infrastructure to meet this demand is needed, but projects face planning and permitting challenges.
• Growing businesses need affordable, reliable, and clean electricity. Electricity access supports industry growth, which increases job opportunities and economic benefits.
• It is a national strategic and economic imperative to tackle permitting reform and expand energy transmission and generation infrastructure in order to modernize the power grid.

Cheryl Lombard, Senior Program Director – Power, Infrastructure, and Minerals, ClearPath

• North American energy demands have doubled between 2017 and 2023.
• Permitting is a major limiting factor to the rate at which energy infrastructure can be developed. It takes about 5 years to achieve a Record of Decision for a final Environmental Impact Statement, excluding any potential legal challenges.
• ClearPath endorsed the 2021 Building Cleaner, Faster report by the Aspen Institute, which lays out four priorities for more efficient permitting: immediate approvals, expedited approvals, state and local conformity, and expedited judicial review.
• ClearPath supports the recently-introduced Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 (4753), which focuses on accelerating permitting processes.

Compiled by Ainsley Ogletree and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.

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