(Credit: Pixabay)States can implement a variety of tools, technologies, and policies to help reduce electricity consumption and emissions while encouraging the implementation of higher efficiency platforms like distributed energy resources, making energy transitions more successful, according to a guide by the EPA.
Resource planning, financial resources, regulatory frameworks, smart metering, and efficiency programs have all had positive impacts on improving energy use in states. They have led to more use of localized distributed energy resources (DER), seen as a key piece of energy transitions, and programs such as Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS) have shown results in energy savings.
Several chapters of the EPA’s Energy and Environment Guide to Action have been recently been updated for the first time since 2015. It was first published in 2006 and is a tool for states to come up with a framework for successful energy transitions.
A focus of most of the resource is a greater implementation of DERs, which the EPA says can help grid operators balance supply and demand as well as improve energy resiliency. DERs are usually smaller generation platforms on the user’s side, including rooftop solar, combined heat and power, and battery storage units.
In 2021 small-scale solar energy systems accounted for 30.4 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and 5% of the country’s renewable energy generation, according to the EPA.
Energy transitions have led to more options on a smaller scale. The microgrid market is expected to significantly grow through 2026, and transactions like CPower Energy Management acquiring the US demand response division of Centrica Business Solutions are helping expand DER offerings to thousands of commercial and industrial customers across the country.
Community projects, such as one in Richmond, California, which is establishing DER sites across industrial, commercial, and residential areas, also are becoming more common. That program is helping with energy storage, efficient HVAC systems, and smart meters.
Net metering and interconnection policies especially have an impact on DER adoption, according to the EPA guide. With grid planning and integration, DERs can help reduce the demand for fossil fuels.
Net metering is a process where energy users, including commercial customers, generate their own electricity from solar power and sell or give the energy back to the grid. Net metering can also help manage demand and keep the grid resilient.
Policies such as having users have access to rates and energy use data have helped increase the implementation of more efficient energy tools. That includes time-of-use plans, which focus on lowering use during high demand, and were said to lower carbon emissions by 15,800 metric tons from a Colorado utility, and 12,800 metric tons from another in California.
Using EERS has also shown to have significant energy savings. An analysis shows of 25 states that had EERS in 2017 20 had met or exceeded their energy savings targets, the EPA says, and all but one achieved at least 80% of their goals.
In 2021 27 states had EERS, which typically apply to statewide or investor-owned utilities. Additionally, 18 states that use EERS also have efficiency programs for other energy producers, such as natural gas.
(Credit: Pixabay)
