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Some describe natural gas generation as the “Swiss army knife” of generation technologies, and gas’s current abundance and low price have driven calls for large-scale investments in gas infrastructure. Yet a Swiss army knife, versatile as it is, would not be our first choice if we had a more well-equipped toolbox. As the electric system moves toward a decar...
The low price and relative abundance of natural gas bring good news for both consumers and society. Consumers benefit from cheap gas and society benefits from the availability of gas to help reach emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2050. However, if we lean too much on gas in the near term, that low cost and abundant supply could encourage ill-advised inves...
Time and again statements asserting that high penetrations of clean energy resources like energy efficiency and renewable energy could endanger electric system reliability have proven false. We refer to these assertions collectively as “playing the reliability card” against clean energy. In a RAP webinar held on February 12, 2015, Carl Linvill offered insight...
The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) recently called for a fresh look at standby rates for combined heat and power (CHP) systems, and demonstrated how poorly-designed standby rates can impede the adoption of CHP resources, while well-designed rates can encourage these efficient, clean resources. During a webinar on June 27, 2014 Christine Brinker, Director ...
This short policy brief dispels the myth that electricity portfolios with high penetrations of variable renewable resources threaten reliability. The authors review eight recent studies commissioned by utilities, governments, and non-governmental organizations to address this issue, and find that none suggest insurmountable reliability problems. The studies revie...
As installed solar photovoltaic grows at unprecedented rates, the role of the electricity consumer is fundamentally changing. Customers are transitioning from being passive recipients of utility services to being active participants in both providing and receiving grid services. Distributed generation (DG) tariffs must evolve to reflect this changing environment....
