Meeting—and Exceeding—the Clean Power Plan in Virginia

The document details the use of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) to model energy pathways for Virginia. It outlines specific adjustments made to capital costs, performance projections, and policy assumptions for various electricity generating technologies compared to EIA benchmarks. The analysis compares a 'Reference Case' of existing policies against a 'Clean Path Case' involving Clean Power Plan compliance, mandatory energy efficiency standards, and a Renewable Portfolio Standard for Virginia.

• The analysis utilizes the 2015.2 version of the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS), a capacity planning model for electric power generation in the contiguous United States through 2050, with specific adjustments to NREL's assumptions based on project-specific data.
• UCS diverged from EIA's learning assumptions by assuming costs for mature technologies remain fixed over time, while costs for emerging technologies decline based on trajectories independent of technology penetration in a specific scenario.
• For the 'Clean Path Case' scenario in Virginia, the model assumes the implementation of a mandatory Energy Efficiency Resource standard (EERS) with savings equivalent to 9 percent of statewide electricity sales in 2022, maintained through 2030.
• The 'Clean Path Case' for Virginia includes a mandatory Renewable Portfolio standard (RPS) starting in 2018, requiring renewable generation to meet 8 percent of sales in 2025 and 16 percent of sales in 2030.
• To calculate the monetary value of carbon dioxide reduction benefits, the analysis uses the U.S. Government's social costs of carbon (SCC) from the EPA's Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Final CPP rule, applying a 3-percent discount rate.
• The model's cost assumptions for various technologies differ from EIA AEO 2015 benchmarks; for example, utility-scale solar PV capital costs are projected to drop from $4,464/kW in 2010 to $1,098/kW by 2030, whereas EIA projected $2,826/kW for 2030.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2016). Meeting—and Exceeding—the Clean Power Plan in Virginia. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/01/virginia-clean-power-plan-analysis-technical-appendix.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Meeting—and Exceeding—the Clean Power Plan in Virginia. 2016. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/01/virginia-clean-power-plan-analysis-technical-appendix.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Meeting—and Exceeding—the Clean Power Plan in Virginia |date=January 2016 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/01/virginia-clean-power-plan-analysis-technical-appendix.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2016meetingand, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Meeting—and Exceeding—the Clean Power Plan in Virginia}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2016}, month = jan, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/01/virginia-clean-power-plan-analysis-technical-appendix.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }