Reinventing Fire Electricity Sector Methodology

This document details the electricity sector methodology used in the 'Reinventing Fire' analysis, focusing on the application of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) and RMI's internal electricity dispatch model to evaluate four future scenarios for the U.S. electricity system from 2010 to 2050.

• RMI analyzed four distinct scenarios for the U.S. electricity sector from 2010 to 2050: 'Maintain' (business-as-usual), 'Migrate' (shift to nuclear and coal with carbon capture), 'Renew' (at least 80% centralized renewables by 2050), and 'Transform' (heavy reliance on distributed sources).
• The primary analytic tool, NREL's ReEDS, is a linear programming model that minimizes the net present value of constructing and operating generation capacity while meeting over 70 types of constraints, including regional supply limits and transmission capacity.
• ReEDS employs a highly discretized spatial resolution, utilizing five segmentation methods: three major Grid Interconnects, 13 NERC Subregions, 21 Reserve-sharing groups, 134 Balancing Authorities, and 356 Wind/CSP Resource Regions.
• Temporal resolution in ReEDS is managed through 17 'timeslices' that represent the variation of energy demand across seasons (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring) and times of day, including a specific slice for the top 40 hours of summer superpeak demand.
• To model the 'Transform' case, RMI used a hybrid approach combining ReEDS with an internal hourly, least-cost dispatch model to account for distributed resources that ReEDS is not designed to handle, such as distributed PV, distributed wind, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric vehicles.
• The methodology applies learning curve theory to project cost reductions for technologies based on cumulative experience and deployment scale, creating a 'virtuous cycle' where lower prices drive higher demand and further cost reductions.
• Financial assumptions for all cases assume utility financing with a nominal WACC discount rate of 8.9% and a real WACC discount rate of 5.7%. A risk adjustment factor is specifically applied to coal-fired technologies to account for potential carbon regulation.
• The RMI Dispatch Model follows a four-step process to determine the least-cost generation mix: applying energy efficiency measures, dispatching minimum generation and variable resources, using hydropower and demand-shifting to flatten peaks, and finally dispatching remaining resources by marginal cost.
• Transmission in the ReEDS model is simplified, constrained only by line size rather than power flow characteristics, and assumes a transmission power loss factor of 1% per 100 miles.
• The 'Transform' case includes specific exogenous inputs for distributed resources by 2050: distributed wind meeting 10% of total load (412 TWh), distributed solar meeting 26% of total load, and industrial CHP providing 415 TWh annually.

APA

RMI (n.d.). Reinventing Fire Electricity Sector Methodology. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Reinventing-Fire-Electricity-Sector-Methodology.pdf

Chicago

RMI. Reinventing Fire Electricity Sector Methodology. n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Reinventing-Fire-Electricity-Sector-Methodology.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Reinventing Fire Electricity Sector Methodology |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Reinventing-Fire-Electricity-Sector-Methodology.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmindreinventing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Reinventing Fire Electricity Sector Methodology}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Reinventing-Fire-Electricity-Sector-Methodology.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }