<[link removed]> August 2, 2021 <[link removed]> It’s Infrastructure Week The time has come. For real. It is infrastructure week. With the Senate set to vote this week on both an infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, determining if Democrats will include a Clean Energy Standard (CES) is all the buzz. Legislation of this nature would incentivize electric utilities to transition toward cleaner power sources, rewarding those who meet or exceed the thresholds and penalizing those who fall short. But as with all legislation, the devil is in the details. A CES that doesn’t recognize the value of distributed energy resources (DERs) could very easily turn into just another handout to big utilities. We take a closer look at a CES in this month’s newsletter and we’ll be watching to see what Congress ends up doing to prioritize clean renewable energy. Infrastructure isn’t the only thing keeping us busy. This month, we joined <[link removed]> several peer organizations urging Congress to create a dedicated program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity (DOE-OE) to provide technical and financial assistance to states interested in expanding competition in organized wholesale electricity markets. Additionally, along with the Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON), Public Citizen and other consumer advocates and pro-market groups, we called <[link removed]> on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce to direct the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the cost and reliability of electricity in the United States and the impacts on consumers of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs). Read more about what we’ve been up to this month below — and don’t forget to stay up-to-date with ECC on Twitter <[link removed]> and our website <[link removed]> . Best wishes to you. Robert Dillon, Executive Director <[link removed]> Fri, Jul 30 A Federal Clean Energy Standard is Part of the Answer <[link removed]> The proposed Clean Energy Standard is getting a lot of attention right now with conflicting reports about whether or not Democrats will attempt to include it in the budget reconciliation side of their infrastructure push. The proposal’s specifics have not been revealed, but it would incentivize electric utilities to transition toward cleaner power sources, primarily wind and solar, rewarding those who meet or exceed the thresholds and penalizing those who fall short. Reportedly, utilities’ current power mix would be accounted for so that states like West Virginia and Wyoming that still generate a substantial portion of their power from coal wouldn’t be penalized compared to utilities that have already retired coal generation, like California. Furthermore, a CES would discourage additional investment in gas generation and other associated infrastructure because of the increasing likelihood that they would just become stranded assets once demand for gas starts to decline. As it is, the growth of gas generation is slowing down while the growth of wind and solar continues to increase. Renewable wind and solar are expected to make up the vast majority of new capacity this year and for the foreseeable future. That is because the cost of wind and solar continues to decline while gas prices remain volatile. Wind and solar facilities also have minimal operational and maintenance costs. Read More <[link removed]> More Stories <[link removed]> <[link removed]> Wed, Jul 21 Energy Choice Coalition Joins Call For Dedicated Program at DOE to Support State Efforts to Expand Competitive Markets <[link removed]> The Energy Choice Coalition joined several peer organizations in urging Congress to create a dedicated program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity (DOE-OE) to provide technical and financial assistance to states interested in expanding organized wholesale electricity markets. “The Biden administration’s ambitious goal of running America’s economy on 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035 is accelerating the debate among policymakers on how best to encourage the clean energy transition without having costs fall entirely on consumers,” said Robert Dillon, Executive Director of the Energy Choice Coalition. “While generation resources have garnered the lion’s share of the attention, the Energy Choice Coalition believes more attention needs to be paid to the importance of transmission infrastructure improvements and the role of competition in designing markets capable of achieving our national energy and climate goals. A dedicated program at the Department of Energy will provide states with the tools needed to expand competition in electricity markets and hasten the transition to cleaner energy and deliver the greatest possible benefits to consumers.” Read More <[link removed]> <[link removed]> Fri, Jul 30 Energy News Network: In Wisconsin, conservatives make the case for third-party community solar <[link removed]> Kari Lydersen reports in the Midwest Energy News <[link removed]> that a conservative-led alliance of farming, construction, and clean energy groups is pushing new legislation in Wisconsin meant to create competition and accelerate the development of subscriber-backed community solar projects. Backers of the bill (LRB 1902 <[link removed]> ) say it would facilitate a significant increase in the state’s renewable generation, help customers access clean energy and save money on bills, create solar construction jobs, and provide a revenue stream for struggling farmers. Read More <[link removed]> <[link removed]> Wed, Jul 28 Delivery Fees Drive up Cost For Utility-Run Large Solar Farms <[link removed]> It’s a Saturday night and rather than walking to your local pizzeria, you decide to order food through UberEats. Well, you’ve suddenly accepted a more expensive bill with the addition of the delivery fees. With food delivery, at first it seems like the same cost as picking up the food or dining in – but then the delivery fees dramatically drive up the total cost for consumers. The same scenario plays out with utilities charging delivery fees to access their large-scale solar farms. Read More <[link removed]> <[link removed]> Thu, Jul 08 Coalition Letter Urges Congress, GAO to Study Benefits of Increasing Competition in Electricity Markets <[link removed]> The Energy Choice Coalition joined the Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON), Public Citizen and other consumer advocates and pro-market groups in calling on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce to direct the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the cost and reliability of electricity in the United States and the impacts on consumers of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs). Federally regulated RTOs are non-profits created in the 1990s to increase competition in electricity markets dominated by vertically integrated utilities by ensuring non-discriminatory access to the transmission grid by customers and suppliers. Today, there are increasing calls to expand RTOs, which currently cover about half the states and about two-thirds of total U.S. power demand, but federal regulators have not conducted a comprehensive review of the data on how RTOs are performing for more than 12 years. Read More <[link removed]> <[link removed]> Thu, Jul 22 Georgia Power's Vogtle Project Demonstrates Need for Market Competition <[link removed]> Georgia Power’s Vogtle project has demonstrated the need for market competition so the tired script of utilities placing burdensome costs on consumers can once and for all be retired. For the Augusta Chronicle <[link removed]> , Jordan McGillis astutely points out how flawed the utility monopoly managed the now $25 billion project. Unfortunately, it’s yet another story of how the utility company leaves the customer with no choice and pricy bills. Read More <[link removed]> <[link removed]> Wed, Jul 21 If It SEEMS Like A Competitive Market, Think Again <[link removed]> A report by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), titled “Energy Market Design and the Southeast United States,” proves that renewable energy advocates are unified on the benefits of competitive markets with real-time pricing signals. The benefits – consumer savings, effective integration of renewable energy and environmental well-being – trump the antiquated SEEM proposal which upholds the vertically integrated monopoly utility model. With the SEEM proposal, utilities have devised a plan to shore up control and block competition from the region. The proposal’s faults are numerous, including (a) providing voting power to utilities and control of the program to the largest utilities, (b) giving utilities the ability to hire and fire their own “market auditor,” and (c) projecting less than $50 million in savings, as opposed to the billions projected under an RTO/ISO proposal. Read More <[link removed]> Follow us on Twitter and on the Web at EnergyChoiceCoalition.org <[link removed]> Energy Choice Coalition 25 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 820 Washington, DC 20001 United States Unsubscribe <[link removed]>