To help walk through the midterm election results, I contacted energy analyst Whitney Stanco. We hash through the Congressional results and then dive into the states, paying special attention to the four states where Democrats have new trifectas and the power see their policy preferences made into law.
Almost all of the Grid (non - DER) existing Solar, like solar farms, are owned by the Utilities. The utilities should build battery storage (Lithium - Ion) to supplement this centralized solar for peak kWh demand times. This could be in addition to installing more and more centralized solar as, as well as more DER solar. All of the 50 states should be focusing on this.
One thing that didn't get covered here, but seems important: neither the IRA nor other climate provisions from this past congress played a major role in R campaigns -- climate action & spending wasn't on the list of things that R candidates ran against. That's obviously not the same as good as supporting action, but it's still a massive change compared to how the Green New Deal was handled two years ago. That should herald smoother implementation, and it should shift the Overton Window for state-level legislatures. It should also encourage activists re: potential for more federal action, even if it takes 2 more years.
Hey Dave - I'm fairly certain that Oregon has not enacted an economy cap and trade system. Oregon passed a ballot measure this year that penalized legislators for repeated absences to prevent the walk out by Republican Senators that prevented passage of the bill previously. So the table is being is set for some type of an economywide limit. Also, I think the reelection of Kansas's Democrat Governor is worth a nod, compared to what the opposite result would have been!
Almost all of the Grid (non - DER) existing Solar, like solar farms, are owned by the Utilities. The utilities should build battery storage (Lithium - Ion) to supplement this centralized solar for peak kWh demand times. This could be in addition to installing more and more centralized solar as, as well as more DER solar. All of the 50 states should be focusing on this.
One thing that didn't get covered here, but seems important: neither the IRA nor other climate provisions from this past congress played a major role in R campaigns -- climate action & spending wasn't on the list of things that R candidates ran against. That's obviously not the same as good as supporting action, but it's still a massive change compared to how the Green New Deal was handled two years ago. That should herald smoother implementation, and it should shift the Overton Window for state-level legislatures. It should also encourage activists re: potential for more federal action, even if it takes 2 more years.
Hey Dave - I'm fairly certain that Oregon has not enacted an economy cap and trade system. Oregon passed a ballot measure this year that penalized legislators for repeated absences to prevent the walk out by Republican Senators that prevented passage of the bill previously. So the table is being is set for some type of an economywide limit. Also, I think the reelection of Kansas's Democrat Governor is worth a nod, compared to what the opposite result would have been!