Democrats want to drive carbon emissions out of the US power grid. But groups representing thousands of smaller electric utilities are wary of being conscripted in the campaign. The Democratic-led US Congress last week approved a $3-5tn budget framework set to include a “clean electricity payment program”, which would reward utilities that sell more zero-carbon power and penalize those that sell less. The goal is to nudge utilities into selling 80 percent of their electricity from clean sources by 2030, from about 40 per cent now.
Two trade associations together representing a majority of the nation’s utilities have raised concerns about the costs of such a program, however, complicating its passage.
Greening the grid is crucial to reducing US greenhouse gas emissions. Climate experts say that deploying solar, wind, battery and nuclear technologies, along with possibly capturing emissions from fossil fuel generators, would clean up a sector that accounts for a quarter of US greenhouse gas emissions.
But pursuing this goal through a clean electricity payment programme, or CEPP, is “probably too ambitious”, Desmarie Waterhouse, vice-president of government relations at the American Public Power Association, told the Financial Times. About 1,400 municipal-owned utilities are members of her association.
“There’s a level of nervousness [among members] about whether we can still keep electricity affordable and reliable and having to do such a very huge transition in a very, very short timeframe,” Waterhouse said. “Even with all this money that’s going to be thrown at utilities to help them get there. ”
Doubts are also brewing at the National Rural Electric Co-operative