By Ron Lehr and Misti Groves

The federal Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in August, makes historic investments to accelerate the energy transition, reduce carbon emissions, and spur clean energy development. However, if we are serious about addressing climate change, advancing clean energy is only part of the equation.

To maximize the Inflation Reduction Act’s investments, the West must also explore opportunities to develop organized electricity markets — markets that enable cost-effective, clean energy deployment while maintaining reliability to the benefit of all customers.

Institute for Energy Research

According to the July report of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), batteries are not going to provide the backup needed for intermittent renewables. Director of Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis John Moura said, “Batteries aren’t going to do it, and we’re going to need a backup fuel for wind and solar. So this is important to invest in.” Moura also indicated more investment in gas infrastructure is needed as natural gas is a bridge fuel needed to backup wind and solar because of their inherent intermittency. According to NERC’s 2022 State of Reliability report, key metrics tracking blackout duration and amounts of unserved energy demand spiked dramatically in 2021. The duration of operator-initiated load shedding events spiked and unserved energy demand reached its highest levels ever. No longer is peak demand the only clear risk to reliability—risks can emerge when weather-dependent generation is impacted by abnormal atmospheric conditions or when extreme conditions disrupt fuel supplies.

Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)

CARMEL, Ind. — Today, the MISO Board of Directors unanimously approved a significant portfolio of long-range transmission projects. The $10.3 billion investment includes 18 transmission projects in MISO’s Midwest Subregion. This Tranche 1 portfolio is the first of four planned tranches in MISO’s Long-Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) process. These critical projects are needed to begin to integrate new generation resources outlined in MISO member and states plans and increase resiliency in the face of severe weather events.

“We appreciate the spirit of collaboration and the hard work that MISO members and stakeholders have invested in these projects and look forward to continued discussion around future tranches,” said MISO’s Chief Executive Officer John Bear. “We also recognize the effort and strong support for LRTP from various regulators and policymakers in the states – including state utility commissions and governors.”

By David Bobzien and Will Toor

As the Intermountain West experienced record fires and floods in Glenwood Canyon, closing a main interstate highway to traffic for two weeks, and multiple wildfires raged across the Sierra Nevada mountains, forcing entire communities to evacuate, it is impossible to ignore the real and lasting effects of the ongoing climate crisis.

To address this crisis, our states — Colorado and Nevada — are leading the way, adopting ambitious clean energy goals. Specifically, Colorado enacted legislation ensuring at least an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas pollution from electric utilities by 2030 and Nevada adopted an ambitious renewable portfolio standard, requiring 50 percent renewables by 2030. The low cost of wind and solar energy allows our states’ utilities to rapidly decarbonize while maintaining affordable and reliable electricity.

By Miranda A. Ballentine and Todd A. Snitchler

American innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses are constantly evolving, competing against each other to develop groundbreaking technologies and solving our country’s most challenging problems. Similarly, it is time to unleash the power of innovation through competition once again to solve this century’s challenges of modernizing and preparing our vital electricity grid for climate change.

The interstate electricity system is stymied under the same traditional utility design that was established nearly 100 years ago. This outdated structure inhibits competition in the West and southeastern United States and limits clean energy ambitions and options for the businesses and energy consumers we represent. Under the Biden administration, the federal government is serious about tackling the climate crisis and should follow the lead of American businesses and support expanding our nation’s organized wholesale electricity markets.

By Rob Gramlich and Michael Hogan

Competitive wholesale electricity markets are at a turning point, caught between a rapidly decarbonizing resource mix spurred by falling clean energy prices, and market structures designed around fossil fuels. Markets are becoming increasingly ill equipped to handle large amounts of cheap renewable energy and flexible distributed energy resources.

A new research paper series led by Energy Innovation seeks to answer the critical question facing grid managers and regulators: What wholesale market design provides the best framework for reliably integrating clean resources and decarbonizing the power system at least cost?

This two-part opinion series outlines underlying questions about wholesale market reform, and introduces two separate pathways for markets to evolve.