Implemented properly, the electrification of end uses currently powered by fossil fuels can provide significant benefits—lowering consumer energy bills, helping utilities better manage the grid, and reducing emissions. Implemented in a policy vacuum, however, electrification could simply increase energy usage, potentially increasing costs and worsening environmental impacts.

RAP’s paper on beneficial electrification principles offers guidance for regulators on how to navigate electrification opportunities. In a webinar held on June 19, 2018, David Farnsworth, Jim Lazar, and Jessica Shipley explored the policy and regulatory decisions that need to be made to optimize electrification.

The webinar outlined conditions under which electrification can be expected to produce benefits for consumers, utilities, and society, as well as policy considerations to help regulators evaluate and strengthen proposals to increase electrification in their states. The presenters share lessons from electrification efforts, including controlled electric vehicle charging, space heating, and water heating.