Headwinds for US Gas Power: 2021 Update on the Growing Market for Clean Energy Portfolios

This RMI briefing argues that new gas-fired power plants in the United States are becoming increasingly uneconomic compared to Clean Energy Portfolios (CEPs). The document highlights a trend of gas plant cancellations and warns of significant stranded cost risks due to falling renewable energy prices and evolving policy priorities regarding health, jobs, and community impacts.

• Clean Energy Portfolios (CEPs)—which combine wind, solar, energy efficiency, demand response, and battery energy storage—are increasingly competitive and are being used to avoid new gas investments. In 2020, components of CEPs accounted for over 90% of new capacity in interconnection queues.
• As of late 2021, there were over 88 GW of proposed gas capacity in the US. CEPs are a cheaper option in more than 80% of the sites where gas plants are proposed for service by 2030, and at least 70 GW of proposed gas could be economically avoided using CEPs, potentially saving $22 billion and 873 MMT of CO2 over project lifetimes.
• New gas plants face severe economic and policy risks. Specifically, 95% of proposed plants would be uneconomic if they had to bear the cost of securing reliable fuel supply to prevent outages like those seen in Texas in February 2021. Additionally, 100% of proposed plants are threatened if policymakers prioritize job creation, as CEPs generate higher net job creation.
• There is a high risk of stranded costs for new gas plants. In a central analysis case, 40% of proposed combined cycle gas plants would cost more to operate than a new CEP costs to build within 10 years. This risk could increase to 80%–90% under scenarios of high gas prices or lower renewables costs.
• Market dynamics have shifted against gas investment; since 2018, the total capacity of new gas deployed has declined, and over 50% of proposed new gas plants have been canceled prior to construction in the last two years.

APA

Dyson, M., Engel, A., Odom, C., & Shwisberg, L. (2021). Headwinds for US Gas Power: 2021 Update on the Growing Market for Clean Energy Portfolios. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2021/12/clean_enery_portfolios_brief_2021.pdf

Chicago

Dyson, Mark, Alex Engel, Caitlin Odom, and Lauren Shwisberg. Headwinds for US Gas Power: 2021 Update on the Growing Market for Clean Energy Portfolios. RMI, 2021. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2021/12/clean_enery_portfolios_brief_2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dyson |first1=Mark |last2=Engel |first2=Alex |last3=Odom |first3=Caitlin |last4=Shwisberg |first4=Lauren |title=Headwinds for US Gas Power: 2021 Update on the Growing Market for Clean Energy Portfolios |publisher=RMI |date=December 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2021/12/clean_enery_portfolios_brief_2021.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dyson2021headwinds, author = {Dyson, Mark and Engel, Alex and Odom, Caitlin and Shwisberg, Lauren}, title = {{Headwinds for US Gas Power: 2021 Update on the Growing Market for Clean Energy Portfolios}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2021/12/clean_enery_portfolios_brief_2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }