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China Opens the Door for New Utility Business Model and More Energy Efficiency

By David Crossley, Wang Xuan, Helen He
On 4 November 2014, China’s powerful economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), released Notice for Transmission and Distribution Rate Reform Pilot in Shenzhen, a modestly named document with significant implications for the 15 million people of Shenzhen. They will be at the forefront of China’s first major step towards s... Read More

Securing the Social License to Transform Power Sector Regulation

By Richard Sedano
I recently participated in a conversation with North American regulation experts organized by University of Calgary professor and former California Energy Commissioner Michal Moore. The topic was the “social license” in energy regulation. What is the social license? It is not something an agency grants. Rather, an agency or utility earns its social license. ... Read More

RAP Responds to European Commission Consultations on Market and Policy Issues

RAP provides international power sector expertise to European decision makers and stakeholders on key market design and policy issues in the form of comments and replies to European Commission consultations. In particular, RAP responded to the 2013 Commission Consultation regarding the future of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Europe. Drawing on those resp... Read More

Lighting up China with Distributed Solar Resources

By Kevin Porter
China set ambitious targets for solar, with a goal of 35 GW by 2015 and 100 GW by 2020. Currently, China has 12 GW of solar, with 3 GW of that being distributed solar. For 2014, China set a goal of installing 14 GW of new solar! More than half (8 GW) is slated to come from distributed solar, which is about 10 times the amount of distributed solar installed last... Read More

用分布式太阳能照亮中国

By Kevin Porter
中国制定了宏伟的太阳能目标，计划到2015年达到35GW，到2020年力争达到100 GW。目前，中国的太阳能容量为12 GW，其中3 GW为分布式太阳能。2014年，中国的目标是安装14 GW的太阳能，其中8GW确定由分布式太阳能发电——这一数字相当于去年安装的分布式太阳能的10倍左右。然而�... Read More

Distributed Energy Resources in Europe: Opportunities and Challenges for Generation, Storage, and Demand-Response

Distributed energy resources (DER) — on-site, customer generation (e.g. solar photovoltaic systems), storage, and demand-response resources — can help Europe meet its power needs reliably and affordably. Tapping the full potential of DER in Europe raises many crosscutting regulatory and policy issues that RAP has experience addressing worldwide. RAP advises o... Read More

Tackling 111(d): The Proposed Rule is Out, Now What?

By Ken Colburn
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 era for state energy and environmental regulators. That’s because EPA’s proposal reflects an unprecedented, comprehensive, and flexi... Read More

An Electrifying New Business Model

By David Moskovitz
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 illustrated through a story about Charlie, a 30-something living in Indiana, and his experience buying his... Read More

Cutting Through the Fog to Build Energy Efficiency Power Plants

More than 147 million Americans in 43 states breathe unhealthy air. Coal- and gas-fired power plants are significant contributors to this problem. The Clean Air Act has historically addressed power plants through regulation of smokestack emissions, employing “stovepiped,” pollutant-by-pollutant control strategies. Air quality has improved materially, but ofte... Read More

Tackling 111(d): Could Regional Approaches Rule?

By Ken Colburn
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 benefits to the power sector, EPA, and the states themselves. Better for the Electric Power Sector Reli... Read More

The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)® is an independent, non-partisan, non-governmental organization dedicated to accelerating the transition to a clean, reliable, and efficient energy future.