At base, intermittent and dispatchable resources are complementary technologies that will accelerate decarbonization of the power sector.
The importance of an orderly energy expansion to the future resource mix cannot be overstated. The principles set forth below reflect the belief of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) and its members of what is necessary to achieve a reliable energy expansion.
The 10 Energy Expansion Principles:
- Competitive wholesale power markets are the most effective tool to achieve policy objectives by encouraging private capital deployment and innovation at the lowest cost while appropriately shifting investment risk to resource developers and operators, not consumers.
- System planning around the power grid should assure an orderly transition factoring in changing conditions to ensure reliable grid operations, including adjustments to market design and planning
parameters, and accrue to the benefit of consumers. - Existing dispatchable resources that provide reliability services to the system are and will be needed to keep the power grid reliable, even as the operational requirements of those resources are likely to change.
- As the electricity system fundamentally changes, maintaining and improving reliability of the electricity grid is the undisputed top priority given the critical nature and growing
importance of electricity. - Consumer adoption of new, electrified devices, heating and cooling systems, vehicles, and industrial processes will drive further demand for electricity, and accurate wholesale pricing is needed that sends demand signals to customers to respond flexibly, economically, and reliably.
- As new, innovative technologies continue to reshape the energy landscape and impact the resource mix, the power grid will need to integrate them as system resources as they become commercially viable, improve efficiency, and are cost effective.
- Emission reduction goals can be achieved through market-based mechanisms while maintaining reliability and retaining needed dispatchable resources, but timelines and milestones cannot be arbitrary as they must align with the commercially achievable and cost-effective evolution of power grid operations.
- Wholesale market improvements and enhanced coordination between the electric and natural gas industries are vital to ensuring a reliable and cost-effective clean energy expansion and must be prioritized policy aims.
- The clean energy expansion must include investment in the entire spectrum of low carbon generation assets and will require greater certainty and efficiency in the federal permitting process rather than focusing merely on favored resources based on industrial planning criteria or picking
winners and losers. - Project development requires developers who stand behind their commitments and deliver the resources in a timely and cost-effective manner.
