As the Indiana General Assembly passed the halfway mark of its session last week, the question of whether to offer a lifeline to costly coal plants came to the forefront for the second year in a row. Last year, the advanced energy industry claimed victory as the House rejected a proposal that would have placed a 20-month moratorium on Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) action on any matter involving more than 250 MW of generating capacity. This proposal would have locked in Indiana’s coal-fired generation for nearly two years and prevented Indiana’s utilities from pursuing their plans for advanced energy investment. Unsurprisingly, coal interests came back to the legislature this year looking for protection again. Despite rejecting the moratorium last year, a new proposal to require IURC approval before a utility can retire a coal plant was approved by the Indiana House. Now moving to the Senate, this bill is threatening to slow Indiana’s transition to investment in advanced energy. Here are the top five reasons the legislature should act to defeat this proposal:

Caption (clockwise, from top left): Ford's Bob Holycross shows off the Mustang Mach-E; Fleet Electrification Panel with AEE's Matt Stanberry, Jim Bruce of UPS, Lyft's Corey Ershow, and Colin Murchie of EVgo; GM-Chevy's Kyle Suba touts 259-mile range of 2020 Bolt; VW's Mark Gillies describes mass-market EV plans.

In late January, AEE hosted its second annual EV press tour at the 2020 Washington Auto Show in Washington, D.C. We didn’t realize it would be a Super Bowl preview of sorts, given big ad buys touting hot new EV models from Audi, General Motors, and Porsche. But the Auto Show presented the perfect opportunity to update the media on U.S. and global trends driving market growth, identify associated policy issues, speak directly with auto manufacturers about their plans and strategies, and see the latest EV models firsthand. Joining us were reporters from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, Politico, Houston Chronicle, Electrek, Cheddar, E&E News, S&P Global, and Smart Cities Dive.

As momentum builds for clean energy, the Western states are leading by example. From California to Colorado, Washington to New Mexico, states have set ambitious goals, and are now starting to figure out how to meet them. Suddenly, the notion of a regional power grid, instead of the electric power system managed state by state, has growing appeal in the independent-minded West. Could regionalizing the grid help these states reach their goals? And if so, what would a regional power market look like? AEE has put forward some principles to contribute to the conversation. 

After a landmark first year in office that included passing legislation on pension reform and recreational cannabis as well as putting a new state income tax proposal on the ballot this November, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker seemingly tackled every major item from his 2018 campaign agenda, with the exception of passing comprehensive energy legislation. But maybe not for long. In his State of the State address on Wed., Gov. Pritzker said, “Our spring agenda must address the pressing issue of adopting new clean energy legislation that reduces carbon pollution, promotes renewable energy, and accelerates electrification of our transportation sector.” In adding that he would not “sign an energy bill written by the utility companies,” he was also giving a sign of the potential for broad stakeholder input – and AEE is already ahead of the game.

If you’re looking for big trends to watch in electricity markets, there’s no shortage these days. Some are broad policy issues, like the growing number of states targeting 100% clean grids (definitions vary but they are all directionally similar). Others are being driven by technology innovation, such as the continuing price declines for renewable energy and batteries. Some have a strong consumer focus, like smart thermostats and electric vehicles. Others are downright wonky, like the ongoing challenges related to the participation of distributed energy resources (DERs) in organized wholesale markets, or how states are trying to modernize the utility business model for the 21st century. One that we’ll look at today is how state policies to achieve 100% clean grids affect resource adequacy – that is, ensuring there is sufficient generating capacity to meet demand at all times.