Knowledge Center
We believe that sharing our expertise and collaborations in clean energy policy is how real, effective change happens.
From reports and policy briefs, to webinars and podcasts—RAP advisors have built an extensive collection of resources providing in-depth analysis and practical solutions to today’s energy challenges.
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Energy planners and regulators have traditionally valued the health benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy at zero — because these benefits do not flow to energy users in proportion to usage and because decision-makers had no simple and feasible… View Summary +
In a webinar presentation, Emma Zinsmeister of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explained more about the EPA’s innovative new “benefits per kilowatt-hour” tool for quantifying the health benefits of energy efficiency and renewables, and RAP’s Jim Lazar and Nancy Seidman… View Summary +
States can meet their obligations to the new Clean Power Plan (CPP) with a variety of tools, from shifting generation to developing lower-carbon resources to making energy efficiency investments. One often-overlooked way to comply with the CPP, however, is electricity… View Summary +
As utilities and regulators consider their strategies for complying with greenhouse gas emissions limits under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) forthcoming Clean Power Plan (CPP), natural gas has an important role to play. But a “dash to gas” approach… View Summary +
Under the proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP), traditional air regulation based on solutions at individual generation plants will shift to a more flexible approach based on four building blocks, one of which is energy efficiency. Given most states’ experience with… View Summary +
Ensuring that an acceptable level of electric system reliability is maintained as the Clean Power Plan is implemented is in everyone’s interest. This short paper suggests ways states can think about their reliability targets and associated tolerance bands in assessing… View Summary +
This policy brief provides a side-by-side comparison of Sections 110 and 111(d) of the Clean Air Act and highlights the significant differences in requirements for state compliance plans under each section. The authors distinguish between U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)… View Summary +
Energy efficiency is a cost-effective, multi-pollutant strategy for addressing air quality, but is rarely utilized to meet air quality standards in the United States. This policy brief provides state air quality regulators and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with… View Summary +
Half of Americans live in areas violating national health-based air quality standards. Coal- and gas-fired power plants are important contributors to the problem. The Clean Air Act has historically addressed power plants through regulation of smokestack emissions, employing “stovepiped,” pollutant-by-pollutant… View Summary +
In June 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued proposed greenhouse gas regulations called the Clean Power Plan. Because of opposition in the U.S. Congress to enacting legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions, EPA used its existing regulatory… View Summary +
Thanks in large part to some recent guidance and proposed federal regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state and local air pollution regulators have a growing interest in using energy efficiency (EE) as a strategy to improve air… View Summary +
Renewable energy is one of the four building blocks outlined in the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, and states are likely to rely upon the production of renewable energy as a part of their efforts to control carbon in the electric… View Summary +
The publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 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 on June 18, 2014, marks the… View Summary +
With the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Section 111(d) New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for new plants published in January 2014—and a proposed rule for existing fossil generators expected in June 2014—many states are exploring the development of… View Summary +
With over a half-dozen environmental regulations expected in the next several years, many state energy regulators find themselves having to reach beyond their traditional regulatory boundaries to understand the effects of public health and environmental regulations on the energy sector. View Summary +