Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 30, 2023

On January 26, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed House File 7 —the 100% Clean Energy Bill. Now it’s on to the state Senate, where the question is: Will this be the year Minnesota sets a path toward 100-percent carbon-free electricity?

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 22, 2022

Minnesotans are facing concurrent crises of climate change, high energy prices and inflation, and the inequitable public health impacts of fossil fuel air pollution. Renewable energy will help with all of that—but we need a grid that is designed for wind and solar instead of having to rely on expensive coal and gas plants.

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Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Solar Power Electricity 350

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Electricity is necessary for reading this blog, phoning your family, and buying milk at the store. Most every modern public health, safety and security system we rely on also depends on the electric grid. To expand and modernize the nation’s electric infrastructure, the federal government recently announced new funding.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

Energy storage, or the storing of electricity for later use on the power grid, plays an important role in the clean energy transition. Illinois is currently considering policy proposals to establish a statewide energy storage target. Curtailment means we are wasting otherwise clean, perfectly usable electricity.

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Fossil Fuels 2030 Electricity Clean Energy 163

Circle of Blue

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

In the United States, a battle over renewable energy in New England has taken another turn. The Associated Press reports that the environment commissioner in Maine suspended a permit for a high-voltage electricity transmission line intended to cross the state. This is Eileen Wray-McCann – thanks for being here for us.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

Extreme weather, which is increasing due to climate change , can degrade the electricity system and cause these failures. Power outages are costly, can have extreme impacts on both the health and safety of a population, and can happen at any point in the process of electricity generation, distribution, and usage.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 24, 2023

There’s good news in the recently released official data on electricity generation in the United States in 2022: renewable energy has continued to grow, coal power has continued to drop, and renewables are now firmly ahead of coal for the first time ever. percent of the country’s electricity supply (up 1.1

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 28, 2022

Although the nuclear bailout was repealed and refunded in 2021, some of the law’s other egregious provisions requiring ratepayers across the state to subsidize money-losing coal plants and gutting renewable energy and energy efficiency standards are still in place today. The Union of Concerned Scientists opposed H.B.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 22, 2024

The next day, Wednesday, August 14, Puerto Rico woke up with 728,000 clients (almost half) without electricity, thousands without drinking water (because many communities rely on electricity to pump water), and flood warnings throughout the island. What awaits Puerto Rico with Genera in charge of electricity generation?

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Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Electricity 2019 299

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 3, 2023

Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) sets a bold goal for the state—no carbon pollution from electricity generation by 2045, which means zero global warming emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. Illinois legislators and clean energy advocates celebrate CEJA’s signing in September 2021.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 25, 2022

This week, the Midwest’s regional electric grid operators approved nearly $10.5 These investments will bring more clean energy online, improve grid resiliency, and deliver significant consumer benefits and jobs. This development will create almost 32,000 jobs while providing enough energy to power more than 1.8 million homes.

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Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Clean Energy Electricity 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 21, 2023

Last spring, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) , which operates the electricity grid serving 45 million people across the central United States, found o ut it was at a higher risk of power outages than it believed. The result, as I explain below, was skyrocketing electricity bills for thousands of people.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 16, 2022

The Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) is one of the go-to sources for reliable information about the US power sector. They just released their 2022 “Annual Energy Outlook” (AEO), which is a big deal: it tells us where electricity is headed over the next 30 years. Carbon emissions remain high.

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Natural Gas Renewable Energy Climate Change Electricity 291

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 5, 2022

Today’s high energy prices are the result of recent events and long-term strategies. Reliance on fossil natural gas and the slow adoption of renewable energy contributed to electricity bills in New England in the first nine months of 2022 that are $5 billion higher than the prior year. Those predictions have come true.

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Natural Gas Renewable Energy Electricity 2022 227

Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 4, 2024

A new North American Electricity Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) review of power outages and gas industry failures reveals the potential for prolonged and deadly power outages. What Happened in Texas?

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Electricity 2021 Renewable Energy Natural Gas 274

Union of Concerned Scientists

JUNE 15, 2022

The ones that’ll soon be gracing areas over the horizon are powerful enough, each one, to generate the equivalent of an average home’s daily electricity use in just a few seconds. Even more important, though, wind is an impressive piece of our electricity supply. Wind is now the largest source of renewable energy in the country.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 31, 2022

On the last day of the 2022 Minnesota legislative session, state legislators had a real case of the Mondays: They failed to deliver on climate and energy policies that would have accelerated renewable energy enough to forge a clear path to carbon-free electricity and set the state on track to meet science-based emission reduction targets.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 19, 2022

The US solar industry was valued at $33 billion in 2021, employed more than 230,000 people, and continued to grow in power capacity at an average rate of 33 percent per year. Solar panels generated almost 4 percent of electricity in the US in 2021, up from less than 1 percent in 2015. Meet your solar panel. Chemistry break!

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Carbon Monoxide Electricity Carbon Dioxide Renewable Energy 308

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 19, 2022

A recent Union of Concerned Scientists analysis found that Minnesota could meet its electricity demands with 100-percent renewable energy by 2035, which would provide significant economic and health benefits. With such a wide gulf to cross, Minnesota could miss another opportunity to advance many key clean energy programs.

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Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Electricity 240

Law Columbia

JUNE 11, 2024

Local opposition has proven to be a significant barrier to the rapid expansion of renewable energy facilities across the United States. The report also identifies 395 local restrictions across 41 states, along with 19 state-level restrictions, that are so severe that they could have the effect of blocking a renewable energy project.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 27, 2022

As electric vehicle (EV) sales continue to increase, questions about how these cars and their batteries will be disposed of have been top of mind for current owners, future buyers, policymakers, and many experts in the automotive industry. Current lithium-ion battery collection, repurposing, and recycling network in North America.

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Recycling Electricity Renewable Energy Technology 361

Legal Planet

APRIL 29, 2024

Climate policy has been boosted by dramatic changes in the economics of clean energy. Perhaps the most important development of the past decade has been the dramatic decline in the cost of renewables. Wind power costs fell by half from 2008 to 2021. Rooftop solar costs in 2020 were a third of what they had been in 2010.

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Circle of Blue

AUGUST 3, 2021

energy policy has done little to incentivize the growth of these technologies, relying on a patchwork of energy credit programs, tax breaks, and development spending to promote renewable energy production. But as the market grows, some urge caution before using wastewater to create renewable natural gas.

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Carbon Emissions Waste Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 317

Legal Planet

JULY 29, 2021

Here are a few details about the four bills: House Bill 2021 creates the emission reduction mandate. The law also contains provisions addressing wages and benefits for workers on renewable energy projects. House Bill 2165 addresses electrical charging for vehicles. The cuts are measured from a 2010-2012 baseline.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 18, 2022

Right now, states and the federal government have a choice that will define our country’s options for clean energy and planning the power grid for the challenges ahead. This choice reveals how the electric grid, and the work to cut global warming emissions, are shaped by our political structures. Shared Duties, with Leadership.

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Electricity Renewable Energy Clean Energy Government 264

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 12, 2024

Fossil gas power plants currently provide the largest source of electricity generation and capacity in the United States. To meet our climate goals and reach net zero emissions by 2050, most studies show that we need to dramatically reduce gas use for generating electricity, heating homes and businesses, and running industrial processes.

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Fossil Fuels Electricity 2030 Clean Energy 274

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 27, 2023

But for states like California, with large populations, an ambitious and necessary clean energy timeline , and ongoing natural resource issues , where to actually build these projects will require thoughtful planning. Source: 2021 SB 100 Joint Agency Report, California Energy Commission.

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Solar Power Clean Energy Renewable Energy Electricity 274

Environmental Progress

JANUARY 4, 2022

Germany is expected to increase its fossil fuel consumption for electricity generation in 2022, if its weather conditions and electricity demand are similar to 2021, a new analysis from Environmental Progress finds. Emissions from Germany’s power sector could thus rise from 244 million tons in 2021 to 264 million tons in 2022.

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Electricity 2022 Fossil Fuels 2021 128

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 31, 2022

At any point in the summer, extreme heat could trigger electricity supply shortages and rotating power outages. It issued five Flex Alerts in 2020, eight in 2021, but there’s only been one so far this year. And to clean up buildings and industry, many residences and businesses will switch to electricity-powered heating systems (e.g.,

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Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 22, 2022

The renewable energy transition involves harnessing epic forces of nature. Sleek solar panels forged from silver and silica from the depths of the Earth translate the sun’s blindingly fiery light energy into electricity. Batteries help store surplus energy. Source: UniEnergy Technologies / Wikimedia Commons.

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Wind Power Renewable Energy Electricity Clean Energy 217

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

More transportation options = less buildout of the electric grid UCS’s project examined several ways that the US can lower global warming emissions consistent with limiting overall warming to 1.5 But it requires ambitious policies, including nearly tripling renewable energy’s share of US electricity generation by 2030 (see graph below).

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Clean Energy Biofuels Electricity Renewable Energy 345

Real Climate

AUGUST 17, 2022

This is an historic effort though it falls short of the broader ‘ Green New Deal ‘ goals that were proposed in 2019, and doesn’t include all of the elements that were in the proposed 2021 reconcilliation package (the American Jobs Plan in “ Build Back Better “) that ultimately floundered.

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Paris Agreement Air Pollution Renewable Energy 2030 349

Circle of Blue

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue – September 23, 2021. Coal power, from mining to generation, is among the thirstiest and most polluting ways to produce electricity. Eliminating coal from the world’s energy mix is a no-brainer for climate policy and a win for water, as well as for human lungs. It is already 1.1 degrees C higher.

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Biofuels Carbon Emissions Cooling Fossil Fuels 363

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) contains a tax credit that can be used for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. You might have missed it because its name is a bit wordy and doesn’t contain the words “electric” or “charging.” The most recent extension expired at the end of 2021. Why now and why in 2032?

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Electricity Air Pollution Renewable Energy Technology 243

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

The legislation committed nearly $400 billion to support, among other things, wind and solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles, and other clean energy technologies that will make a significant dent in US heat-trapping emissions. And third, increasing energy efficiency and lowering overall energy demand in those sectors.

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Carbon Emissions Fossil Fuels Clean Energy 2030 322

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 20, 2022

US ratepayers very likely will pay even more for electricity and heating this winter compared to the already-expensive winter of 2021-2022. The US Energy Information Administration is forecasting the wholesale price of gas to reach its highest level since the winter of 2009-2010 in inflation-adjusted terms.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 30, 2022

Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy from wind and solar will depend on upgrading the electric power grid, which is currently plagued by planning delays and gridlock. PJM Takes a Look at Renewable Planning. Midwest (Sort of) Continues a Proud Tradition. What New England Sees.

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