policy updates

VA Gov. Northam Hears from AEE, Business Leaders About How to Reach His 100% Clean Energy Goal

Advanced energy momentum is building in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Last week, Gov. Ralph Northam met with 10 AEE member companies – executives from Apex Clean Energy, CLEAResult, EnelX, EVgo, Greenlots, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, Sun Tribe Solar, Veolia, and Volkswagen of North America. The Governor opened the meeting by asking the companies to share what Virginia can do to help them create more jobs in the Commonwealth. He had recently issued an Executive Order calling for 100% carbon-free energy by 2050, with 30% of Virginia’s electric power coming from renewable energy sources by 2030. Shortly thereafter, Virginia AEE released a study that showed the economic benefits – in bill savings, jobs, and economic growth – of meeting the 100% clean energy goal by 2050, if not before. There’s much work to be done, but the path to an advanced energy future for Virginia is clear. Click here to continue reading the blog post.>

More Workers in Florida Advanced Energy Than in Real Estate, Triple Those in Ag, With 5% Growth Expected

AEE released a fact sheet showing that Florida has 174,100 people working in advanced energy across the state. This represents more workers than those in Real Estate Sales, Leasing & Management (143,068), and more than triple those working in Agriculture (56,711) across the state. Florida advanced energy jobs grew 5% last year (over 2017), more than double the state’s overall jobs growth rate (2%). The fastest growing segments were Advanced Vehicles (18%) and Advanced Grid and Energy Storage (17%). “With more than 174,000 workers and a 5% increase expected this year, advanced energy holds significant opportunities for economic growth in Florida,” said Gloria Li, Policy Associate with Advanced Energy Economy. “As the advanced energy industry continues to grow, policymakers can take action now to help expand the economic impact of the industry.” Click here to continue reading the press release or download the fact sheet below.>

NAtional Energy efficiency day

Energy Efficiency Day is a Social Media Hit – October 2

With AEE participating, yesterday’s fourth annual Energy Efficiency Day highlighted all the benefits of energy efficiency, shed light on enabling technologies, shared valuable, cost-saving tips – and made it fun. The mainly social media event involved 550 supporting organizations, including many AEE members, utilities, government agencies, companies, environmental groups, and regional energy efficiency organizations. On Twitter alone we reach 31.5 million impressions, promoting efficiency technologies, policies, and consumer tips, while gaining traditional media coverage on local radio, TV, and print around the nation. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution designating Oct. 2 as Energy Efficiency Day “in celebration of the economic and environmental benefits that have been driven by private sector innovation and federal energy efficiency policies,” and 34 cities, states, and universities issued proclamations or resolutions. #EEDay2019 was trending on Twitter nationally and in Boston and Washington, D.C., thanks in part to this year’s #eeTV hashtag game with energy efficiency memes playing off TV shows. For details, see our pre-Energy Efficiency Day blog post, then follow @AEEnet on Twitter to see our #eeTV memes and check out all the #EEDay2019 tweets by clicking here.>

Aee webinars

Webinar - Distributed Energy Resources in Wholesale Markets: What They Are Doing Now; What They Could Do, Given More Opportunity to Compete

Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) – such as battery storage, electric vehicles, microgrids, and both standalone solar and solar-plus-storage – are known for adding value onsite or to the local distribution grid. Increasingly, however, these resources, when aggregated together, are not only technically capable of providing energy, capacity, and ancillary services to wholesale electricity markets but can do so cost-competitively. A recent AEE report, Putting Distributed Energy Resources to Work in Wholesale Electricity Markets, provided five case studies of aggregated DER participation in wholesale markets, showing what they can do now, and suggesting what they could do with market rules that allowed them to compete fully with traditional resources. This webinar will bring these case studies to life, with DER companies and other experts discussing current opportunities and roadblocks across RTO/ISO regions. Click here or below to register for the webinar.>   

A live webinar on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 2pm ET/11am PT

Panelists:

• Katie Guerry, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs North America, Enel X

• Ted Ko, Director of Policy, Stem

• Ric O'Connell, Executive Director, GridLab

• Jeff Dennis, General Counsel and Managing Director, AEE

• Caitlin Marquis, Director, AEE (moderator)