On cclusa.org, BEE is defined as “switching from using fossil fuels in our home appliances to using clean energy.” That means
1) switching solely to electricity to power buildings AND
2) switching to generating electricity from 100% clean/renewable sources.
There's lots of material on CCL Community about electrifying buildings. Does CCL national anticipate providing more guidance/support on “clean electricity generation”?
Hi @Michelle Hamilton. We put together a training resource about How to Create a Clean and Stable Electric Grid. Is that sort of what you had in mind?
Yes @Dana Nuccitelli! That page provides some good background information. But it doesn't talk about the policy positions CCL might take beyond this sentence, “This is why CCL focuses on technology-neutral policies, like carbon fee and dividend or clean energy permitting reform…”
Do you anticipate policy discussions at the national level (i.e. distributed solar, tariffs on PC panels, etc.)? Would CCL weigh in on a policy discussion that was NOT technology-neutral? Or is the push to clean up electricity generation likely to play out at the state level (beyond permitting reform and The Big Wires Act)?
Hi @Michelle Hamilton. I can only say that we intentionally focus our efforts on our policy areas in order to maximize our advocacy effectiveness, and those specific examples are outside of CCL's policy areas.
@Dana Nuccitelli, I have a follow-up question. Most public utilities have very little incentive to focus on energy efficiency, which is a major strategy for reducing energy use. One way to incentivize public utilities is through their revenue model. Performance Based Regulations (PBR) are one way to do that. Does that fall within CCL's BEE policy area?
Hi @Michelle Hamilton. I'm not an expert in this area but performance-based ratemaking is usually established by individual states, so it's something that local CCL chapters could potentially work on if they so choose. On a federal level I think FERC might play a role, but we don't have any influence over FERC's actions.
I think Performance-Based Regulation or Performance Incentive Mechanisms that support building decarbonization are definitely within CCL's building electrifiation and efficiency agenda. That said, but all PBRs or PIMs are related to building electrification and efficiency so the details would matter.
RMI has a good report on Regulatory Solutions for Building Decarbonization that is worth checking out.
Thank you @Tony Sirna and @Dana Nuccitelli! There's a lot of interest in PBR amongst CCL volunteers across Nevada. If we wanted to engage in PBR advocacy at the state-wide level, it sounds like we could step up as CCL chapters, not simply as individuals. Is that right?
@Michelle Hamilton - Yes, PBR advocacy would be great as long as you follow our guidelines on state and local policy engagement.
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