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How the New Climate Bill Promises to Cut Inflation, Upgrade the Economy, and Slash Emissions
The Inflation Reduction Act commits $369 billion to energy and climate initiatives to decarbonize the US economy and secure clean energy supply chains. Key measures include tax credits for electric vehicles, residential energy efficiency, and green hydrogen, alongside funding for urban forestry and carbon capture. The legislation targets a reduction in energy costs for households, the revitalization of former fossil fuel communities, and the acceleration of low-carbon industrial production in sectors like steel and cement.
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Document type: Briefing
Response from the Life After Coal campaign to the President’s energy crisis plan
The Life After Coal campaign expresses support for rolling out renewable energy and battery storage from the 2019 IRP but strongly opposes the use of the energy crisis to introduce gas into the electricity mix. The campaign argues that gas is not a transitional fuel and poses risks of stranded assets and higher costs for consumers. It further criticises the potential for privatising new generation and the lack of specific support for rooftop solar for poor South Africans whose housing may not support such installations. The document also warns that Eskom's repurposing plans favour expensive gas turbines over low-cost solar power.
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Document type: Statement
New Generation
The report demonstrates that Europe can achieve a 94-96% clean power system by 2035 at no extra cost compared to stated policies, provided wind and solar deployment quadruples. This transition would enable wider electrification, potentially halving fossil fuel consumption by 2030 and saving between €530 billion and €1 trillion by 2035. Key requirements include expanding interconnection, deploying electrolysers for green hydrogen, and phasing out coal by 2030 and unabated baseload gas after 2025.
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Document type: Report
ACHIEVING AN EQUITABLE AND RELIABLE 85 PERCENT CLEAN ELECTRICITY SYSTEM BY 2030 IN CALIFORNIA
The report argues that California can reliably reach an 85 percent clean electricity target by 2030 through a diverse portfolio of resources, including offshore wind and geothermal, while retiring significant natural gas capacity. It emphasizes the need to prioritize the retirement of gas plants in disadvantaged communities (DACs) to improve environmental justice. The authors recommend leveraging demand-side resources as a risk mitigation strategy and expanding regional coordination through a West-wide Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) to enhance grid resilience and reduce costs. The report serves as a policy companion to a technical analysis that stress-tested these portfolios against extreme weather events.
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Document type: Report
Volte-face
The executive summary outlines a strategy for Canada to reach carbon neutrality by shifting from fossil fuels to clean electricity. It emphasizes the need for a massive expansion of electricity production capacity, the acceleration of wind and solar deployment, and the implementation of 'electro-federalism'—a coordinated policy approach across all levels of government to manage the transition and ensure equity.
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Document type: Executive summary
RELIABLY REACHING CALIFORNIA’S CLEAN ELECTRICITY TARGETS
The study finds that California can reliably meet an 85% clean electricity target by 2030 using portfolios primarily composed of wind, solar, and battery storage. Through 264 PLEXOS simulations, the authors tested three portfolios—Base Case, Diverse Clean Resources, and High Electrification—against stressors including gas and coal retirements, low hydro availability, and extreme weather. Results indicate the system remains robust even under simultaneous stressors, though it remains dependent on a strategic amount of in-state natural gas and economic imports. The report emphasizes that diversifying resources with offshore wind and geothermal reduces the need for solar and storage and improves grid stability by lowering instantaneous inverter-based generation. While demand flexibility can offset some storage needs, the study concludes that further nodal transmission and grid stability analyses are required for a complete reliability assessment.
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Document type: Report
Need for Advanced Chemistry Cell Energy Storage in India
The report examines current and future battery chemistries, including those using indigenous materials like sodium and aluminium, to support India's decarbonization of electricity and transportation. It highlights that domestic manufacturing of common NMC and LFP cells could allow India to capture 40% to 90% of total cell value, benefiting the e-mobility and grid-scale energy storage sectors.
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Document type: Report
Turning on Batteries for Resilient Homes and a Cleaner Grid
Holy Cross Energy's Power+ program provides residential customers in Colorado with distributed battery storage through a tariff-based on-bill financing model. By leveraging USDA loan capital, the program eliminates upfront costs for participants and allows the utility to manage peak demand and integrate more renewable energy. The program aims to support the utility's goals of 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2035, while providing homeowners with backup power during climate-driven outages.
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Document type: Case study
On the Road to 100% Renewables
The document outlines the technical framework for analyzing a transition to 100% renewable energy in U.S. Climate Alliance states. It describes the use of the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) and Distributed Generation Market Demand (dGen) models to simulate various policy scenarios, including a '100% RES scenario' and a 'Clean Electricity Standard scenario'. The methodology includes specific retirement schedules for coal plants in Michigan and Minnesota, as well as a collaboration with Greenlink Analytics to model socioeconomic impacts, including public health benefits, macroeconomic shifts in employment and GDP, and changes to household energy burdens.
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Document type: Report
On the Road to 100 Percent Renewables for Massachusetts
The document argues that Massachusetts can meet 100 percent of its electricity needs with renewable energy by 2035 through an aggressive build-out of wind, solar, and battery storage. This transition is projected to generate $1.7 billion in public health savings and $6.8 billion in net labor income by 2040. The analysis emphasizes the need for a just transition that prioritizes overburdened communities, provides support for fossil fuel workers, and ensures equitable access to clean energy technologies.
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Document type: Fact sheet
On the Road to 100 Percent Renewables for Michigan
The document argues that Michigan can meet all electricity needs with wind, solar, and batteries by 2035, leading to significant public health savings, job growth, and emissions reductions, provided the transition is managed equitably.
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Document type: Fact sheet
On the Road to 100 Percent Renewables for Minnesota
The document argues that Minnesota can meet its electricity needs with 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, leading to significant public health savings, job growth, and emissions reductions, provided the transition is managed equitably.
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Document type: Fact sheet
On the Road to 100 Percent Renewables
The report finds that USCA states can meet 100% of their electricity consumption with renewables by 2035, even with increased demand from electrification. This transition would significantly reduce air pollution, prevent 6,000 to 13,000 premature deaths, and lower average household energy burdens from 3.7% to 3.0% by 2040. While the transition creates substantial net jobs in renewable installation, the authors argue that proactive equity policies are necessary to ensure benefits reach marginalized communities and fossil fuel workers.
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Document type: Report
Is Georgia Power’s New Plan Enough to Reach Net Zero by 2050?
RMI analysis indicates that while Georgia Power's plan significantly reduces coal reliance, it remains heavily dependent on gas and fails to align with a 1.5°C pathway. The utility's demand forecasts appear to underestimate the electricity needs required for the electrification of transportation and industry in Georgia.
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Document type: Briefing
PARIS ALIGNMENT OF POWER SECTOR FINANCE FLOWS IN INDIA
The document analyzes India's power sector financing between 2013 and 2019, noting that while utility-scale renewables dominate tracked commitments, continued investment in coal-fired power remains a significant barrier to Paris Agreement alignment. It highlights the risk of stranded assets in the thermal sector and recommends a shift toward green bonds, improved transmission infrastructure, and the accelerated decommissioning of old coal plants to meet 2030 climate targets.
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Document type: Policy brief
South African Renewable Energy Masterplan
The South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) outlines a framework to localise the wind, solar PV, and battery energy storage value chains. It argues that localising 70% of components and 90% of Balance of Plant (BoP) and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) could create 36,500 direct jobs and contribute R420 billion to GDP by 2030. The plan emphasizes the need for market certainty through consistent public procurement and the transition to a points-based local content scoring system to incentivize high-value manufacturing over simple CAPEX spend. It specifically targets 'Just Transition hotspots' like Mpumalanga to pivot coal-sector workers into the green economy.
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Document type: Report
Gas Pressure: Exploring the case for gas-fired power in South Africa
The report argues that South Africa does not need new gas-fired power generation until at least 2035, if ever, due to the falling costs of renewables and battery storage. It warns that current government momentum toward gas-to-power, including the RMI4P program and proposed LNG terminals, risks creating stranded assets and increasing electricity costs for consumers. The authors recommend a moratorium on gas-to-power development, focusing instead on rapid renewable deployment and energy efficiency.
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Document type: Report
PARIS ALIGNMENT OF POWER SECTOR FINANCE FLOWS IN INDIA
The document examines India's power sector financing between 2013 and 2019, noting that while utility-scale renewables dominate tracked commitments, continued investment in coal-fired power creates significant misalignment with Paris Agreement temperature goals. It highlights the risk of stranded assets in the thermal sector and proposes innovative financial mechanisms, such as green bonds and foreign exchange hedges, to accelerate the energy transition.
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Document type: Briefing
CASE STUDY Designing a Neighborhood Microgrid
The Union of Concerned Scientists used the HOMER Grid model to analyze microgrid configurations for Parker Village, a planned eight-acre development in Highland Park, Michigan. The analysis focused on a grid-separated (islanded) system powered by solar photovoltaic panels and battery storage to maximize community independence. Findings indicate that while a grid-separated microgrid is feasible, it requires significant solar and battery capacity and necessitates fossil fuel backup (natural gas or diesel) to meet winter peak demand. Alternatively, a grid-connected backup option reduces initial investment costs and battery requirements but maintains a dependency on the utility for approximately 2% of annual power demand. The study emphasizes that increasing building energy efficiency could reduce the necessary scale of energy resources and minimize reliance on fossil fuel backups.
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Document type: Case study
Designing a Neighborhood Microgrid
The document describes the use of HOMER Grid software to analyze solar and battery storage configurations for the Parker Village neighborhood in Highland Park, Michigan. It outlines financial assumptions, building stock electricity demand based on full electrification and heat pump use, and technology costs for solar PV, Tesla Powerpack storage, and backup generators. The analysis results in several recommended system configurations combining 1.1 MW of solar PV with varying levels of storage and backup options (diesel, natural gas, or grid connection) to ensure resilience and reliability.
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Document type: Report