Blog
Incisive commentary from RAP experts
RAP experts keep their finger on the pulse of the energy sector and provide timely analysis of topics impacting stakeholders TODAY.
Filter >>
Content Filter:
Pay As You Can: How Digital Payments Can Empower Low-Income Customers
Energy-insecure households must sometimes make difficult choices between maintaining safe indoor temperatures and electricity and providing essentials like food and medical care. At the same time, technology can offer an opportunity to help these households better manage their bills,… View Summary +
Building the Next Generation of Clean Energy Workers
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $24 million in funding to train workers without four-year degrees to enter the clean energy workforce. Governors from 22 states and two U.S. territories aim to train 1 million… View Summary +
Changing how coal power plants get paid: What’s next for policy in China
In late 2023, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), established a new capacity payment mechanism for coal power generators. A capacity payment is an annual payment per megawatt of available capacity that is paid regardless of how many… View Summary +
Can we make nodal pricing work? Another conversation with an inner teenage sceptic
On September 17, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen included a remarkable point in her mission letter for the incoming Energy Commissioner — advance the system integration of solar and wind by improving locational price signals. How could that… View Summary +
Keeping the Door Open to the Public Interest: What PUCs Can Do
“We should be creative, and we should accommodate the needs of every community to open up the process. We should make it easy and accessible for every citizen to participate.” As this quote from the late Rep. John Lewis emphasizes,… View Summary +
Electrification: A crucial step towards industrial decarbonisation
Europe is at a crossroads in its quest to meet ambitious climate goals. Industrial emissions, which contribute 20% of the continent’s greenhouse gases, must be drastically reduced — by 90% by 2040 — to align with the European Union’s net-zero… View Summary +
UK energy governance is changing fast, here’s what’s needed to get it right
In early October, the energy regulator Ofgem closed its Regional Energy Strategic Plan (RESP) policy framework consultation; there are some positive developments coming, but the need for further reform remains. Overall, it’s clear more regional planning is… View Summary +
Network charges: Paving the way for industrial electrification and competitiveness
The Commission and others have identified renewable electricity as the main lever to reduce gas imports and reduce industrial carbon emissions. Yet electricity prices are often significantly higher than fossil fuel prices, so the business case does not always stack… View Summary +
How to drive industrial electrification for climate and strategic independence
Electrification is the name of the game Heat is a crucial element in almost every manufacturing process, whether it is in the heavy stuff of melting glass and steel or firing ceramics at scorching temperatures (800°C-1,500°C), producing chemicals (100°C-500 °C),… View Summary +
Treat the cause, not the symptom: Preparing for megawatt truck charging uptake in Europe
Unbalanced charging could put unnecessary stress on distribution grids The European Union’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), which entered into force mid-April 2024, requires Member States to scale up the buildout of truck charging capacity and density starting in 2025. View Summary +
