Accelerating U.S. Clean Energy Deployment Through Investment-Grade Policy

This report by Energy Innovation argues that while the economics of clean energy are now competitive with fossil fuels, non-financial risks—specifically project development and market uncertainty—are hindering deployment in the United States. The authors propose 'investment-grade policies' to reduce these risks, focusing on transmission access, streamlined siting and permitting, and long-term cost-recovery schedules to lower the cost of capital for developers.

• Economic costs are no longer the primary obstacle to clean energy expansion, as solar, onshore and offshore wind, and battery power now cost the same as or less than fossil fuels. However, non-financial barriers and uncertainties regarding technology performance, project development, and market risk continue to constrain deployment.
• Grid interconnection is the most significant barrier to clean energy projects in the U.S., with over 2,000 GW of generation and storage projects currently waiting in queues. Average wait times for these interconnections now exceed five years.
• The report recommends that Congress and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) simplify interconnection rules and prioritize the construction of new transmission lines. Specifically, it suggests expanding interregional transmission to allow diverse renewable resources to reach new markets and mitigate price risks.
• Siting and permitting processes are identified as major sources of uncertainty that can stall projects for years. The authors propose a 'green vs. red' pre-zoning system for public lands, managed by agencies like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to clearly designate suitable areas for development and avoid ambiguous 'yellow' zones.
• To reduce market uncertainty and lower the cost of capital, the report urges public utilities commissions (PUCs) to implement clean energy policies that allow for longer-term cost-recovery schedules, specifically suggesting durations of at least 10-15 years.
• The report highlights a significant disparity in rooftop solar permitting costs and effort between the U.S. and other countries. In 2010, U.S. permitting took nearly 23 hours of work and cost $0.24 per watt, compared to Germany, which took about 5 hours and cost $0.03 per watt.

APA

HARVEY, H., O’BOYLE, M., GOPAL, A., & NEWMAN, E. (2023). Accelerating U.S. Clean Energy Deployment Through Investment-Grade Policy. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Investment-Grade-Policy.pdf

Chicago

HARVEY, HAL, MIKE O’BOYLE, ANAND GOPAL, and ELLI NEWMAN. Accelerating U.S. Clean Energy Deployment Through Investment-Grade Policy. Energy Innovation, 2023. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Investment-Grade-Policy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=HARVEY |first1=HAL |last2=O’BOYLE |first2=MIKE |last3=GOPAL |first3=ANAND |last4=NEWMAN |first4=ELLI |title=Accelerating U.S. Clean Energy Deployment Through Investment-Grade Policy |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=September 2023 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Investment-Grade-Policy.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{harvey2023accelerating, author = {HARVEY, HAL and O’BOYLE, MIKE and GOPAL, ANAND and NEWMAN, ELLI}, title = {{Accelerating U.S. Clean Energy Deployment Through Investment-Grade Policy}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Investment-Grade-Policy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }