Advancing the Just Energy Transition through Clean Energy Procurement

The report advocates for 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) as a mechanism to ensure a just energy transition. By requiring corporations to match their electricity consumption with carbon-free generation on an hourly and local basis, 24/7 CFE incentivizes a diverse portfolio of energy resources beyond just wind and solar, including next-generation 'clean firm' technologies. This approach is presented as a way to create high-quality, permanent jobs for dislocated fossil fuel workers, reduce local air pollution, and enhance grid resilience. The document aligns 24/7 CFE with the G20's Just and Inclusive Energy Transition (JIET) Compact and provides best practices for corporate buyers to maximize social and economic benefits through community engagement and equitable hiring.

• 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) is defined by five core principles: time-matched procurement (hourly matching), local procurement (within the same grid/balancing authority), technology inclusiveness, enabling new generation (additionality), and maximizing system impact by targeting the most fossil-fuel intensive hours.
• 24/7 CFE encourages a more diverse energy portfolio, including 'clean firm' and next-generation technologies like enhanced geothermal, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and long-duration energy storage (LDES), which are necessary because solar and wind alone cannot achieve 100% decarbonization.
• Corporate procurement of 24/7 CFE can lower overall system costs and improve grid reliability by reducing the need for costly new unabated fossil fuel assets and providing critical balancing services.
• Next-generation technologies incentivized by 24/7 CFE often provide higher-paying, more permanent jobs that align better with the skill sets and locations of dislocated fossil fuel workers than intermittent renewables.
• Local procurement under 24/7 CFE can improve public health in vulnerable communities by reducing the deployment of fossil fuel 'peaker plants' and their associated pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
• Corporations can act as 'anchor offtakers' for advanced clean technologies, which reduces financing costs and accelerates the learning curve to make these technologies more affordable for the general public.
• The report highlights the risk of 'decoupling' in large balancing authorities, such as in South Africa, where renewable projects may be located hundreds of miles from the coal-dependent communities they are intended to support.
• Best practices for corporations to maximize just transition impacts include using 'listen-first' community engagement, implementing community benefit agreements, and partnering with developers who prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in hiring.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2025). Advancing the Just Energy Transition through Clean Energy Procurement. https://247-carbon-free-movement.cdn.prismic.io/247-carbon-free-movement/aNW-I55xUNkB1HpU_SEForAll_24-7-CFE-Report-AdvancingaJustEnergyTransitionpdf.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Advancing the Just Energy Transition through Clean Energy Procurement. 2025. https://247-carbon-free-movement.cdn.prismic.io/247-carbon-free-movement/aNW-I55xUNkB1HpU_SEForAll_24-7-CFE-Report-AdvancingaJustEnergyTransitionpdf.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Advancing the Just Energy Transition through Clean Energy Procurement |date=September 2025 |url=https://247-carbon-free-movement.cdn.prismic.io/247-carbon-free-movement/aNW-I55xUNkB1HpU_SEForAll_24-7-CFE-Report-AdvancingaJustEnergyTransitionpdf.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2025advancing, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Advancing the Just Energy Transition through Clean Energy Procurement}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://247-carbon-free-movement.cdn.prismic.io/247-carbon-free-movement/aNW-I55xUNkB1HpU_SEForAll_24-7-CFE-Report-AdvancingaJustEnergyTransitionpdf.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }