5. RENEWABLE ENERGY

As such, utilities in many states have pushed back against net metering with retail pricing policies, which they contend erode revenues that are essential to maintaining the distribution grid infrastructure. Net metering programmes have also been the subject of opposition on the grounds that they unfairly subsidise households with rooftop solar installations and redirect the cost burden of that subsidy to customers without solar panels.

In response, some states are adjusting their net metering rules to better align rooftop solar payments with grid requirements, including by introducing time-of-use rates and location-specific rates (Utility Dive, 2018c). Other states, such as Indiana, however, are phasing out net metering payments entirely, which would set back new investments into rooftop solar in those locations.

Grid upgrades

Transmission upgrades and grid expansions have been important components in supporting state RPS policies, avoiding curtailment and ensuring reliability, especially as renewable resources are often situated in less populated parts of the country. Therefore, carrying power from remote generation sites to load centres near cities is essential to maximising the benefits of renewable power.

To this end, following the passage of legislation in 2005, the Public Utilities Commission of Texas completed the buildout of Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) in 2014, which entailed a 3 588-mile, 18 500 MW buildout of transmission infrastructure to connect the state’s wind resources in the northern and western regions to large cities (ERCOT, 2017). The project was a major driver for the significant wind generation expansion that Texas has experienced in the past decade (Greentech Media, 2010). In a similar vein, MISO in 2011 approved a portfolio of 17 projects that provided cost allocation to support a buildout of transmission infrastructure to carry power generated from more remote wind resources to load centres (RTO Insider, 2018). Elsewhere, CAISO has run the Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) since 2014 as a real-time balancing market between California and surrounding states, which manages congestion on transmission lines and provides more optionality in accommodating growing levels of renewable power sources, thereby reducing curtailment (Power Mag, 2018). More recently, the SPP in June 2019 announced that it would develop a Western Energy Imbalance Service market to balance real-time regional generation and demand.

Department of Energy initiatives

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) R&D efforts in the space of renewable energy (which comprises solar, wind, water and geothermal energy) are focused on technologies that will make renewable electricity cost-competitive with other sources of power generation. Examples of this include (but are not limited to):

Solar PV

The DOE in March 2019 announced USD 130 million for early-stage solar research as well as USD 36 million in research, development and demonstration funding projects that will boost the role of solar in strengthening the US electricity grid. The DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy also runs the American-Made Solar Prize, a USD 3 million competition aimed at reviving US solar manufacturing capabilities. The DOE previously in 2011 launched the SunShot programme to fund research that helps

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