Energy Efficiency

60 posts

New CCCL Working Paper: FERC Order 1000 as a New Tool for Promoting Energy Efficiency and Demand Response

By Shelley Welton, CCCL Deputy Director and Fellow This summer is an important time for clean energy enthusiasts to pay closer attention to the complex, technical world of electric transmission planning and siting.  In July 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order No. 1000, the latest in a […]

New CCCL Paper On Bundling Solutions for Energy Efficiency Retrofit Projects

By Michael Kerstetter The Center for Climate Change Law has published a working paper on bundling solutions for energy efficiency (EE) retrofit projects in residential and commercial buildings. The paper provides a brief discussion on the EE retrofit market generally, touching on the current efficiency gap and barriers to EE […]

Massachusetts Leads the Way in Ensuring Biomass Facilities Reduce GHG Emissions

By Julia Ciardullo Fellow On April 27, 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) published a proposed final regulation regarding the use of forest biomass for generating energy in Massachusetts.  If adopted, the regulation would be the first to set greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for determining the eligibility […]

PJM Announces Plans to Keep Outdated Coal Plants Open for Reliability Reasons

by Shelley Welton Deputy Director & Earth Institute Climate Law Fellow Earlier this month, citing reliability concerns, PJM, the mid-Atlantic’s regional transmission operator, asked FirstEnergy Corp. of Ohio to keep three coal-fired power plants in operation for the next three years that the company had previously scheduled to be shut […]

MIT Study Demonstrates Demand Response’s Role in Balancing Renewables

by Shelley Welton, Deputy Director & Fellow MIT released an interdisciplinary study on December 5, 2011, that examines “The Future of the Electric Grid.” Among many interesting findings, it nicely details the challenges we will face in adapting the electric grid to accommodate all the anticipated renewable resources coming on-line […]

Study on the TVA Highlights the Importance of Including Energy Efficiency in Long-term Utility Planning

by Shelley Welton, Deputy Director In October, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an interesting though little-noted report on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) energy efficiency and capital expenditures planning.  The report does an excellent job of illustrating how even commendable efforts at energy efficiency can fall short if a […]

The Air Quality vs. Electricity Grid Reliability Debate

By Shelley Welton, Deputy Director An ongoing battle over the potential tensions between air quality regulations and electric grid reliability has picked up steam recently, as two EPA air pollution regulations near the implementation phase: the cross-state air-pollution rule and the mercury and air toxics standard. Congressional Republicans and many […]