Policy update

AEE to U.S. Congress, White House: Advanced Energy Now Suffering Impacts, But Should Be Key Contributor to Economic Rebound

National business group Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) has sent an open letter to U.S. congressional leadership and the White House reporting on COVID-19 disruptions to industry, describing companies' response to help address the immediate health care crisis, and proposing actions to ensure the advanced energy industry's ability to contribute to economic recovery. Findings came from a survey of AEE member companies, which are engaged in a wide range of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, grid services, and electric vehicle businesses, as well as purchasing advanced energy goods and services. “We are hearing clearly from our members that supply and labor disruptions are happening now and expected to worsen,” said Nat Kreamer, CEO of Advanced Energy Economy. “Nearly 54% of our industry members are concerned by supply-chain disruptions, 43% have halted hiring, and 29% are already reducing their workforce. Yet we are also seeing valiant efforts by our industry to redirect manufacturing and supplies to help address the immediate needs of the healthcare community and its response.” Click here to continue reading the press release>

Aee in the news

One Easy Fix to COVID-19 Disruption of Advanced Energy Development

Utility Dive published this commentary by CEO Nat Kreamer: "As the nation confronts the coronavirus crisis, protecting human health and safety, mitigating the financial impact on people facing job loss or disruption, and addressing the disruption of those industries that are most affected by this health crisis must be the priority. Many of the 3.5 million workers in the advanced energy industry have jobs on the line right now... Some impacts are unavoidable, and some may be best addressed in future measures to get America fully back to work. But there is one simple, no-cost fix that Congress could enact now to keep a large part of the advanced energy industry on track: direct payment of federal incentives for advanced energy development." Click here to continue reading on Utility Dive>

Understanding the MOPR: What an Obscure FERC Rule Could Mean for Renewable Energy Buyers

Smart Energy Decisions featured a guest column from AEE's Caitlin Marquis explaining the impact of FERC's Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) on corporate renewable energy buyers: "As the nation confronts the coronavirus crisis, protecting human health and safety, mitigating the financial impact on people facing job loss or disruption, and addressing the disruption of those industries that are most affected by this health crisis must be the priority. Many of the 3.5 million workers in the advanced energy industry have jobs on the line right now. COVID-19 has disrupted the global supply chain of the advanced energy industry, which impacts the industry's workforce, suppliers and customers." Click here to continue reading on Smart Energy Decisions>

on the blog

Advanced Energy Battles Coal to a Draw in Hoosier State Rematch

The 2020 session of the Indiana General Assembly was expected to be quiet. After all, we had just wrapped up the first year of the 21st Century Energy Task Force – a two-year study to create a comprehensive statewide energy plan for Indiana. Add to that, advanced energy advocates had been victorious the year before by defeating a proposal that would have placed a 20-month moratorium on Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) action on any matter involving more than 250 MW of generating capacity – a requirement that would have locked in Indiana’s coal-fired generation for nearly two years and prevented Indiana’s utilities from pursuing their plans for advanced energy investment. With coal’s bid for a bailout knocked down last year, no one – advocates, special interests, or legislators – expected a big energy fight this session. Little did we know, but the bell was about to ring for another round in the legislative ring. Click here to continue reading the blog post>

aee webinars

Discover Business Opportunities within Energy Policy Issues

Recorded live on Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 1pm ET | 10am PT

Are your best business development opportunities hiding in the weeds of energy policy? 

• Are you overwhelmed with information and don't know where to begin to look?
• Taken off guard by market-impacting policy changes you didn't see coming?
• Competitors beating you to the punch on opportunities that arise as new policies go into effect?

Join our webinar to learn best practices for staying on top of policy issues and see practical examples of how PowerSuite can help you discover and evaluate the policy issues that make a difference for your business.

Panelist:

• Eric Fitz, General Manager, PowerSuite