More than $200 billion will be invested in the electricity systems of Western states over the next two decades as aging infrastructure is replaced and new infrastructure is built to meet growing energy needs.
With intentional policy and investment decisions, Western US states can successfully transition to a clean energy economy that will deliver jobs and environmental and public health benefits for decades to come, according to a new report.
"Western Grid 2050: Contrasting Futures, Contrasting Fortunes," examines two very different energy investment pathways facing the 11 western states: business-as-usual or a new clean energy trajectory.
The report details the energy resource mixes and grid operations of contrasting cases in 2030 and 2050.
The Business-As-Usual (BAU) case assumes continued dependence on legacy resources, infrastructure and grid operations to meet Western electricity needs. Renewable technologies are only deployed to meet current mandates; efficiency measures are modest; and the remainder of energy needs are met with traditional resources: coal, nuclear, and large hydro.
The Clean Energy Vision (CEV) case assumes that efficiency, demand response, and distributed (or small-scale) renewable generation are pursued aggressively; that states transition away from coal; and that large-scale renewable energy plants fill the gap.
The clean energy vision also assumes increased electrification of the transportation system, operational changes and advanced technology grid upgrades to facilitate regional coordination and improved resource allocation.
With careful planning, the report finds the Clean Energy Vision will deliver a better return on the West’s energy investment.
Here’s how:
- It Creates More Local Jobs: there would be significantly more direct investment in high job-creating infrastructure development and operation than Business-as-Usual, which requires high expenditures on fuel supply.
- It Increases Energy Reliability and Security: it delivers the energy security and price benefits of reduced dependence on volatile fuel supplies, centralized power generation and imported fossil fuels (via electrification of our vehicles).
- It Significantly Reduces the Direct Environmental Impact of our Power Supply because it’s much less polluting and emits significantly less carbon. It also reduces electricity-related water consumption by more than half by 2050, saving 289-343 billion of gallons of this severely limited resource.
- It’s Achievable with Manageable Impact on Western Lands: The highest large-scale renewable build-out case under the Clean Energy Vision represents ½ of 1% of the land in the West.
- It Improves Public Health, preventing hundreds of thousands of premature deaths, heart attacks, asthma from particulate matter and neurological and development disorders from mercury exposure.
- It Will Likely Save People Money: by taking full advantage of energy saving opportunities, the Clean Energy Vision can be achieved at lower cost than Business-as-Usual, which has higher fuel and carbon costs.
Western Grid Group produced the report with support from Western Clean Energy Advocates – a broad alliance of over 25 renewable energy industry, environmental, tribal, and public health organizations and regulatory experts.
Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter joined the advocacy groups in calling for western state leadership and regional collaboration to achieve the report’s Clean Energy Vision.
"In my time as Governor, Colorado saw tremendous benefit from our commitment to clean energy," says Ritter. "I call on Western state policymakers to similarly prioritize clean energy and to reach across state lines to help build a stronger energy future for the West. We can’t afford to wait for Washington, nor should we. Let’s break with business-as-usual and build a more prosperous, safe, and sustainable energy future."
The Western Grid 2050 report is the first in a suite of materials from those groups proposing a sustained, orderly transition to clean energy across the western U.S.
In September, they will release the second phase of this report, Clean Energy Vision Policies. The next phase will identify the many policies that are already in use and can be expanded as well as new ones available to states that can and will guide a transition to a prosperous clean energy future.
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