State Clean Electricity Standards

The document outlines the framework for state Clean Electricity Standards (CES), emphasizing that effective policies must be mandatory, technology-inclusive, and ambitious. It contrasts CES with Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) by highlighting the inclusion of clean firm resources like nuclear and carbon capture. The brief details various design options—such as retail sales vs. emission-based standards—and explains how federal incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) reduce implementation costs. It also discusses advanced features like clean capacity standards and hourly matching to accelerate the deployment of long-duration storage and firm clean power.

• An effective Clean Electricity Standard (CES) is characterized by three essential features: it must be an enforceable requirement rather than a goal, it must include a broad range of clean technologies beyond just renewables, and it must set ambitious targets for either clean electricity or carbon reductions.
• A CES differs from a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) primarily in its scope of eligible technologies; while an RPS typically focuses on renewables like wind and solar, a CES incorporates a wider suite of zero or near-zero emission resources, including nuclear power and fossil generation equipped with carbon capture.
• Implementing a CES can provide significant economic and public health benefits, including insulating consumers from fossil fuel price volatility, creating clean energy jobs, and reducing premature deaths and asthma attacks by decreasing air pollution.
• Advanced CES design features, such as clean capacity standards and hourly retail sales requirements (including 24/7 matching), are intended to incentivize the deployment of clean firm power and long-duration storage more quickly than annual sales-based standards.
• Federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) significantly lowers the cost of CES implementation through grants, loans, and tax credits, including "direct pay" provisions that allow non-profit utilities and local governments to access incentives.

APA

Tarr, J., Cobb, P. L., & Goho, S. (2024). State Clean Electricity Standards. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/resource/state-clean-electricity-standards/

Chicago

Tarr, Jeremy, Paula Leverett Cobb, and Shaun Goho. State Clean Electricity Standards. Clean Air Task Force, 2024. https://www.catf.us/resource/state-clean-electricity-standards/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tarr |first1=Jeremy |last2=Cobb |first2=Paula Leverett |last3=Goho |first3=Shaun |title=State Clean Electricity Standards |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=27 December 2024 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/state-clean-electricity-standards/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tarr2024state, author = {Tarr, Jeremy and Cobb, Paula Leverett and Goho, Shaun}, title = {{State Clean Electricity Standards}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = dec, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/state-clean-electricity-standards/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }