HOW FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, AND NATIONAL LABS CAN ENSURE PLUMMETING SOLAR, WIND, AND BATTERY COSTS ACCELERATE OUR CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE

This policy brief outlines a pathway for the United States to achieve 90 percent zero carbon electricity by 2035, leveraging falling costs of solar, wind, and battery technologies. It details the economic and health benefits of this transition and provides specific policy recommendations for federal departments, agencies, and national laboratories to accelerate decarbonization.

• The United States can achieve 90 percent zero carbon electricity by 2035 without increasing current customer electricity bills, based on the findings of The 2035 Report. This transition would require no new fossil fuel power plants and the retirement of all existing coal plants by 2035, potentially preventing up to 85,000 premature deaths from fossil fuel emissions by 2050.
• Transitioning to 90 percent zero carbon electricity over 15 years could drive $1.7 trillion in investment, create a net increase of 530,000 energy sector jobs annually, and lower economy-wide emissions by 27 percent.
• Without policy interventions, zero carbon electricity sources are projected to make up only 53 percent of the nation's electricity by 2035.
• The brief recommends several actions for federal agencies: the EPA should use Clean Air Act authority to require state decarbonization plans and limit carbon from new gas plants; the DOE and DOI should develop national energy corridors and a land conflict database; the DOE should expand low-cost capital for U.S. manufacturing of wind, solar, and grid-scale storage; and the DOL should establish a Just Transitions Office and labor standards to support coal communities.
• The brief suggests that the DOE and national laboratories should focus on improving electricity sector resource planning, developing open-source tools for utilities and ISOs/RTOs, and researching grid-forming inverters to maintain system stability.

APA

AGGARWAL, S., & O’BOYLE, M. (2020). HOW FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, AND NATIONAL LABS CAN ENSURE PLUMMETING SOLAR, WIND, AND BATTERY COSTS ACCELERATE OUR CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/90-Clean-By-2035-Policy-For-Federal-Depts-National-Labs_June-2020.pdf

Chicago

AGGARWAL, SONIA, and MIKE O’BOYLE. HOW FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, AND NATIONAL LABS CAN ENSURE PLUMMETING SOLAR, WIND, AND BATTERY COSTS ACCELERATE OUR CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE. Energy Innovation, 2020. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/90-Clean-By-2035-Policy-For-Federal-Depts-National-Labs_June-2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=AGGARWAL |first1=SONIA |last2=O’BOYLE |first2=MIKE |title=HOW FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, AND NATIONAL LABS CAN ENSURE PLUMMETING SOLAR, WIND, AND BATTERY COSTS ACCELERATE OUR CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=June 2020 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/90-Clean-By-2035-Policy-For-Federal-Depts-National-Labs_June-2020.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{aggarwal2020how, author = {AGGARWAL, SONIA and O’BOYLE, MIKE}, title = {{HOW FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, AND NATIONAL LABS CAN ENSURE PLUMMETING SOLAR, WIND, AND BATTERY COSTS ACCELERATE OUR CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/90-Clean-By-2035-Policy-For-Federal-Depts-National-Labs_June-2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }