“Go west, young man!”– advice popularized during the 19th century by American newspaper editor Horace Greeley – could still hold true today, but only if the right policies and investments are put in place immediately, according to the findings of a report released on August 24.
The white paper, Western Grid 2050: Contrasting Futures, Contrasting Fortunes, examines two very different energy investment scenarios facing America’s 11 western states: either business-as-usual or a new clean-energy trajectory. The denouement will depend on whether the public and private sectors take the necessary steps now to:
- Help meet the nation’s growing energy needs,
- Encourage innovation, and
- Support the replacement of aging infrastructure.
Only with foresight and planning, the report stresses, can the West successfully transition to a clean-energy economy that will deliver jobs, and environmental and public health benefits for decades to come.
The report was released by the Western Grid Group (WGG), with support from the Western Clean Energy Advocates (WCEA) – a broad alliance of more than 25 renewable energy industry, environmental, tribal, public health, and regulatory experts. Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter joined the advocacy groups in calling for western state leadership and regional collaboration to achieve the report’s “Clean Energy (News - Alert) Vision.”
More than $200 billion will be invested in the western electricity system over the next two decades, as aging infrastructure is replaced and new infrastructure is built to meet growing energy needs. “It is time to rethink our grid,” said report author Carl Linvill, director of Integrated Energy Analysis & Planning at the Aspen Environmental Group.
Specifically, the report outlines the energy resource mixes and grid operations entailed in doing business-as-usual (BAU) versus realizing a clean energy vision (CEV). With careful planning, the report argues, the latter will deliver a better return on the West’s energy investment, because CEV:
- Creates more local jobs, driving significantly more direct investment in high job-creating infrastructure development and operation than BAU, which requires high expenditures on fuel.
- Increases energy reliability and security, as well as the price benefits of reduced dependence on volatile fuel supplies, centralized power generation, and imported fossil fuels (via electrification of vehicles).
- Significantly diminishes the direct environmental impact of the power supply, emitting significantly less carbon dioxide. CEV also would reduce electricity related water consumption by more than half by 2050, saving as much as 343 billion of gallons of this severely limited resource.
- Minimizes impact on western lands, with the largest-scale renewable build-out case representing about .05 percent of the western land.
- Improves public health by preventing hundreds of thousands of premature deaths caused by particulate matter (e.g., heart attacks, asthma , and neurological and development disorders).
- Reduces costs for consumers who take full advantage of energy saving opportunities. Because BAU cases have higher fuel and carbon costs, CEV will only cost consumers more in the unlikely case that natural gas prices and carbon prices stay low for the next 20 years.
“Our diverse coalition of industry associations, conservation groups, and regional clean energy advocates have come together to ensure that decision-makers and the public understand the opportunities we have to create a more secure and sustainable energy future – and understand the costs and risks of continuing to rely on coal and gas,” said Dave Olsen, managing director of the Western Grid Group.
The Western Grid 2050 report is the first in a suite of materials from WGG and the WCEA proposing sustained, orderly transition to clean energy across the western United States. In September, the WGG and WCEA will release the second phase of this report, Clean Energy Vision Policies. The next phase will identify the many policies that are already in use and can be expanded as well as new ones available to states that can and will guide a transition to a prosperous clean energy future.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
