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Competitive wholesale power markets are designed to sustain needed investment through market participants hedging risks in response to transparent pricing in the energy and ancillary services markets. But in practice, it’s been a challenge to realize market prices fully reflective… View Summary +

Since the rule’s proposal in June 2014, Clean Power Plan compliance discussions have been weighing the potential benefits of regional versus single-state approaches, and balancing possible lower program costs and administrative burdens against state concerns over compromising sovereignty. More recently,… View Summary +

The Chinese government has just finalized Deepening Reform of the Power Sector, a policy document co-signed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council. The Chinese media have anticipated this document for months,… View Summary +

The Government of India has significantly revised its ambitions for renewable electricity, now aiming for 100 GW of solar energy by 2022, and 40 GW of wind by 2019. This is a huge leap in ambition and puts this fast-growing… View Summary +

Every year states invest more than $6 billion in energy efficiency programs, which also improve air quality. Yet, states rarely receive any credit for the resulting emissions reductions! The benefits don’t stop with air quality. Energy efficiency not only reduces… View Summary +

States asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for flexibility in crafting plans to meet the requirements of the proposed Clean Power Plan (also known as 111(d), after the pertinent section of the Clean Air Act), and EPA listened. EPA’s… View Summary +

尽管就中国可再生能源存在海量的文献，但人们对中国电力行业基本机构的设置和运行，及其如何构成可再生能源扩展和并网的约束，缺乏足够的了解。本篇文章作为三个技术启蒙读本之一，旨在填补这一空白，文章主要针对电力系统的运作—在电力系统物理限制下匹配电力需求和供应展开论述。 中国电力系统在经济、社会、政治的综合作用下逐渐演变，最终形成了独特的运作机构和运行模式。设计这些机构和运行模式，用于支持主要由重工业需求主导和煤电作为基荷的电力系统。其中许多地方需要做出改变，来接纳充满活力的中国经济日益多元化的需求，并实现政府基于大量可变的风电和太阳能发电的低碳电力供应远景。 本文指出目前电力系统的运行没有达到系统在更高比例风电和太阳能下所需要的灵活性的需求。特别地，年度发电量计划、行政性的负荷控制、跨区和跨省电量交易安排、缺乏透明的调度系统阻碍了可再生能源的有效利用。因此，本文为朝向更具有灵活性的电力系统迈进，提出以下几点建议： 实现省级以及跨省平衡区内更经济的发电机组排序和调度； 建立更符合电力系统需要的辅助服务定义和规则；… View Summary +

June 18th— the date EPA published its proposed rule to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing power plants under section 111(d) of the federal Clean Air Act in the Federal Register—marked the beginning of a new… View Summary +

We have a simple theory: a conscious regulatory effort to enable new business models for non-utilities could be a powerful force for change, providing benefits to utilities and producing economic and environmental benefits for consumers. The point is best… View Summary +

States have a long history of collaborating to achieve energy and environmental goals at lower cost and with greater efficiency than they could achieve alone. Collaborating to implement EPA’s forthcoming 111(d) rule may once again offer across-the-board… View Summary +