Electric Power Supply Association Shares “America’s Competitive Electric Future” Vision With Biden Administration, Congress
For Immediate Release: February 3, 2020
Contact: Christina Nyquist | cnyquist@epsa.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Power generators in competitive markets can help the Biden Administration and Congress chart an affordable, reliable, and cleaner bipartisan path forward on energy and environmental policy, said the heads of the national trade association representing competitive electricity suppliers Wednesday. Curt Morgan, chair of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA)’s Board of Directors and CEO of Vistra Corp., joined EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler to outline policy recommendations that will advance clean energy, reduce emissions and incentivize innovation at the least cost to consumers while maintaining reliable electric service.
“As competitive power suppliers, we believe in innovation and finding better ways to do business,” said Morgan. “We’re making investments in cleaner technologies and reducing emissions. Importantly, we’re also committed to reliably keeping the lights on and making sure all customers can afford the essential product our members produce – electricity. President Biden and Congress will have to work together to make sure we strike the right balance as we transition our electric supply and these competitive market pillars will get us there.”
An approach that points market competition toward reducing emissions will help lawmakers from both sides of the aisle find common ground that will ensure Americans continued access to reliable, affordable electricity.
“Regional competitive electricity markets have delivered record low power prices along with significant carbon reductions and hundreds of millions in new investment,” said Snitchler. “The tools to meet the Biden Administration’s goal of building cleaner energy sources and further reducing emissions are right in front of us. The President and Congress should build on the benefits of competition to achieve the most affordable and reliable solutions. We want to be active partners in that effort.”
With nearly 150,000 MW of generation capacity across the country, competitive power suppliers are already investing in leading renewable and battery storage technology while providing least-cost, efficient firm electric generation through natural gas, competitive nuclear and other resources. In its recommendations for policymakers, EPSA points to three pillars that can further leverage competition in wholesale power markets to meet America’s future energy needs.
- Future-Focused Market Design for Reliable, Affordable, Innovative Power: To meet America’s future energy needs, competitive market design should continue to encourage innovation and allow all resources to compete to provide cleaner, affordable and reliable electricity solutions. Providing certainty will unlock investment at the least cost to consumers. Other approaches, such as providing targeted bailouts or subsidies to legacy power generation assets including struggling nuclear plants, undermine market efficiency – impeding innovation and increasing customer costs.
- Competitive, Affordable Decarbonization: Reduce power generation emissions efficiently, sustainably, and at the least cost to consumers through regional, market-based tools like carbon pricing, a well-designed Clean Energy Standard (CES), or other mechanisms that allow all resources to compete to reduce emissions. A technology-neutral carbon price or well-designed CES could reduce emissions in the PJM Interconnection footprint by an additional 28% by 2030, at an annual cost savings of $2.8 billion, as reported by Energy + Environmental Economics.
- Sustainable Economy-Wide Electrification: Support increased economy-wide electrification to encourage low-cost emissions reductions from all sectors including buildings and transportation, while accounting for additional system demand and reliability needs. Firm generation capacity will be needed to meet decarbonization goals, with natural gas currently serving as the most cost-effective resource to support reliability in a lower-carbon future.
America’s largest power market, operated by PJM Interconnection, has helped save $3.2 – 4 billion in electricity costs annually while also enabling carbon reductions of 34% since 2005. Other regional markets show similar success, with the New York Independent System Operator reporting emissions reductions of 55% since 2000.
EPSA’s core Competitive Power Principles further detail how regional competitive power markets – and power generators – can best incentivize affordable, reliable and cleaner electricity to support America’s economy as the grid transitions.
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The Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) is the national trade association representing America’s competitive power suppliers. EPSA members provide nearly 150,000 MW of reliable and competitively priced electricity from environmentally responsible facilities using a diverse mix of fuels and technologies including natural gas, wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, storage, biomass, and coal. EPSA seeks to bring the benefits of competition to all power customers. Learn more at www.epsa.org and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter @EPSAnews.
