How to Build Clean Energy Portfolios

The document argues that the US power sector faces a critical investment window between 2020 and 2030, with an estimated 420 GW of resource procurement needed. It advocates for a shift toward 'all-source', 'objective-aligned', and 'least-regrets' procurement practices to move away from legacy processes that reflect past conditions rather than emerging trends. The guide provides specific actionable recommendations for legislators, state commissions, and utilities to increase transparency, engage stakeholders, and better integrate distributed energy resources (DERs) into the planning and procurement cycle.

• Vertically integrated utilities in the US have a significant investment opportunity between 2020 and 2030, with an estimated need for at least 420 GW of resource procurement. The total capital required for this deployment is estimated to range from $420 billion for low-capital cost technologies to over $750 billion for clean energy portfolios.
• The guide proposes three core principles for next-generation procurement: 'All-Source' to capture the value of interacting utility-scale and distributed resources; 'Objective-aligned' to address jurisdiction-specific values like decarbonization and resilience; and 'Least-regrets' to minimize cost risks through competition and technology cost declines.
• To unlock competitive procurement, legislators should implement participative planning processes, incentivize the use of distributed energy resources (DERs) including energy efficiency, and establish statutes that require utilities to conduct all-source solicitations.
• State commissions are encouraged to ensure that the need for new resources is transparent and linked to vetted planning, allow all resource providers to bid all their capabilities, and employ third-party independent evaluators to supervise the bid selection process.
• Utilities should move away from internal cost estimates and instead use actual cost and operational data from competitive bids to inform their planning and procurement activities.
• The document identifies specific regional drivers for procurement in the US, noting that the Southeast, Midwest, and West have the highest potential due to load growth, asset retirement, and renewable energy potential. For example, Virginia's procurement is driven by a goal to be 90% clean by 2035, while Colorado and Texas are primarily driven by the retirement of uneconomic fossil fuel plants.

APA

RMI (2021). How to Build Clean Energy Portfolios. https://rmi.org/resources/how-to-build-ceps/

Chicago

RMI. How to Build Clean Energy Portfolios. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/how-to-build-ceps/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=How to Build Clean Energy Portfolios |date=10 March 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/how-to-build-ceps/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2021how, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{How to Build Clean Energy Portfolios}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/how-to-build-ceps/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }