HOW GOVERNORS, STATE LEGISLATURES, AND PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSIONS 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 to avoid increasing customer bills while stimulating economic recovery and job growth.

• The U.S. can achieve 90 percent zero carbon electricity by 2035 without increasing current customer electricity bills. This transition would involve retiring all existing coal plants by 2035, requiring no new fossil fuel power plants, and could prevent up to 85,000 premature deaths caused by fossil fuel emissions by 2050.
• Transitioning to 90 percent zero carbon electricity over 15 years could result in $1.7 trillion in grid investment, a net annual increase of 530,000 energy sector jobs, and a 27 percent reduction in economy-wide emissions.
• The document recommends several policy actions for governors, state legislatures, and Public Utility Commissions (PUCs), including adopting a Clean Energy Standard (90% by 2035, 100% by 2045), prohibiting new natural gas utility investments unless no clean alternative exists, and using ratepayer-backed bonds to securitize uneconomic coal and gas units. It also suggests expanding performance-based regulation—citing Hawaii's stakeholder process as a model—and providing economic support and job training for coal-dependent communities.

APA

AGGARWAL, S., & O’BOYLE, M. (2020). HOW GOVERNORS, STATE LEGISLATURES, AND PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSIONS 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-State-Policymakers_June-2020.pdf

Chicago

AGGARWAL, SONIA, and MIKE O’BOYLE. HOW GOVERNORS, STATE LEGISLATURES, AND PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSIONS 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-State-Policymakers_June-2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=AGGARWAL |first1=SONIA |last2=O’BOYLE |first2=MIKE |title=HOW GOVERNORS, STATE LEGISLATURES, AND PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSIONS 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-State-Policymakers_June-2020.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{aggarwal2020how, author = {AGGARWAL, SONIA and O’BOYLE, MIKE}, title = {{HOW GOVERNORS, STATE LEGISLATURES, AND PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSIONS 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-State-Policymakers_June-2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }