Policy theme
|
High need driven by
economic growth.
|
Deep, binding GHG reduction targets in response to international treaty.
|
Slow growth leads to hard choices about policy goals.
|
“Low-hanging fruit” investment in clean,
domestic resources.
|
Greenhouse gas policies
|
0
No new GHG policies, but continued use of GHG adders
in resource planning
|
++
Strong new GHG policies with aggressive reduction targets
|
–
No new GHG policies and reduced concern about GHGs in resource planning relative to today
|
+
GHG reduction targets, but less aggressive and with more “outs” than in Scenario 2
|
Economic policies
|
+
“Pro-growth” policies may lead to higher economic growth and electric loads
|
+
“Pro-growth” policies may lead to higher economic growth and electric loads
|
0
Neutral policies with respect
to growth
|
0
Neutral policies with respect
to growth
|
Capital investment support
|
+
“Pro-investment” policies may lead to reduced cost and risk in capital-intensive investments
|
+
“Pro-investment” policies may lead to reduced cost and risk in capital-intensive investments
|
0
Neutral policies with respect to investment support
|
0
Neutral policies with respect to investment support
|
Renewable energy policies
|
0
No new RPS mandates or incentives, but no retrenchment from existing policies
|
+
Strong policies to support renewables as carbon-free resources
|
–
Existing incentives allowed to expire and current RPS targets are relaxed or delayed due to concerns about cost
|
+
Strong policies to support renewables as clean, secure, domestic resources
|
Transmission and standards
|
0
No major initiatives to increase transmission investment or coordinated operations
|
+
New initiatives to increase transmission investment and enhance coordinated operations and planning as part of GHG reduction plan
|
0
No major initiatives to increase transmission investment or coordinated operations
|
+
New initiatives to increase transmission investment and enhance coordinated operations and planning to increase use
of domestic resources
|
Federal R&D/ technology support
|
0
No major federal
R&D initiatives
|
+
Major new federal initiatives to jump-start technologies needed to transition away from fossil energy
|
–
Reduced budgets for R&D due to lower tax revenues and federal spending cuts
|
+
Major new federal initiatives to increase our ability to cost-effectively utilize clean,
domestic resources
|
Transportation policies
|
0
No major initiatives to increase
use of alternative fuels
|
++
Strong policies to increase use of electric vehicles as GHG
reduction strategy
|
–
Reduction of existing efforts to increase use of alternative fuels
|
+
Moderate new policies to increase use of electric and
natural gas vehicles
|
Demand-side policies
|
0
No major initiatives to increase energy efficiency and demand response
|
++
Strong policies to increase use of energy efficiency as GHG reduction strategy
|
0
No major initiatives to increase energy efficiency and demand response
|
++
Strong policies to increase use of energy efficiency as cost-effective, secure domestic resource
|
Energy Security/ Independence policies
|
0
No major initiatives to increase use of domestic energy resources
|
0
No major initiatives to increase use of domestic energy resources
|
0
No major initiatives to increase use of domestic energy resources
|
++
Major new initiatives to increase use of domestic energy resources to reduce dependence on imported oil
|
Environmental/ Cultural policies
|
0
No major initiatives to increase or decrease land/cultural protections, criteria pollutant emissions or water consumption
|
0
All-out effort to reduce GHG emissions may require some compromise with respect to land use and water consumption policies
|
–
Existing emissions reduction and land & cultural- protection initiatives are delayed or weakened due to concerns about cost
|
+
Increased focus on land-use, cultural protections & water use and emissions reductions as self-interested investments in clean, domestic resources
|
Consumer issues
|
0
No major initiatives to increase consumer protections in
electric utility sector
|
–
Focus on GHG reductions may require increased incentives such as equity adders or early recovery to encourage capital-intensive investments
|
+
Rollback of existing incentives for transmission investments and increased scrutiny of new investments by state commissions in order to keep rates low
|
0
No major initiatives to increase consumer protections in
electric utility sector
|
Fuel
|
0
No major initiatives to increase or decrease ability to extract fuels from domestic lands or waters
|
– –
Significant efforts to reduce drilling in order to reduce GHG emissions
|
+
New initiatives to increase drilling in an effort to keep
fuel prices down
|
++
Major new initiatives to increase drilling, particularly for gas, in order to reduce dependence on imported oil
|