Escalating energy needs thwarting advancements in climate action for American utility companies
The Sierra Club's latest "Dirty Truth" report paints a grim picture for the future of the U.S. electricity sector. The report, which focuses on 75 utilities that own more than half the country's coal and fossil gas generation capacity, reveals that most large U.S. utilities are off track to meet their climate goals and are in a worse position than they were last year.
The report's co-author, Cara Folger, the Sierra Club's deputy director of research, strategy, and analysis, states that prioritizing fossil fuels is evidence that too many utilities have failed to proactively embrace cleaner, cheaper alternatives. According to Folger, all modeling and projections have shown that if the U.S. is to be successful in meeting its climate obligations, more electrification is needed.
One of the key issues highlighted in the report is the backlogged interconnection queues for hundreds of gigawatts of wind and solar projects. This delay in the deployment of renewable energy sources is a major obstacle in the transition to a cleaner electricity sector.
The report also reveals that several utilities with 2050 net-zero commitments earned poor marks, including Southern Company, FirstEnergy, Duke Energy, and Dominion Energy. These utilities are not adding clean energy at a rate that is sufficient to meet the climate goals. In fact, more than double the amount of new fossil-gas-fired power plants the Sierra Club tracked in its first "Dirty Truth" report in 2021 is planned by these utilities.
To make matters worse, many utilities have asked state regulators for permission to build new gas plants and keep coal plants open longer to serve the rising loads. This continues the reliance on fossil fuels and undermines the efforts to transition to a cleaner electricity sector.
The Biden administration has set a goal for the U.S. electricity sector to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2030 from a 2005 baseline. However, the country's transmission grid must more than double its current rate of expansion to absorb the scale of renewable power needed to hit its Paris Agreement targets. As of now, those utilities plan to add enough clean energy to replace only 52 percent of their fossil-fueled power plants by 2035.
Duke Energy and Dominion Energy are seeking regulator permission to add up to 9 gigawatts of new gas-fired power plants each in their respective states. Utilities are reportedly saying they don't have enough time or it's too expensive to pursue these cleaner alternatives, according to Folger.
The increase in U.S. electricity demand, driven by new data centers, factories, and electric vehicles, is a major factor in the backslide of many utilities. However, alternative options such as wind and solar power paired with lithium-ion batteries, expanding power grids, and enabling energy-hungry new customers to shift when they use power can help reduce electricity demand peaks.
Despite these challenges, there are no specific publicly available detailed lists or reports identifying U.S. utilities that planned by 2035 to replace at least 50% of their fossil fuel power plants with new clean energy sources but have not met the Biden administration's target of a 100% carbon-free power sector.
The Biden administration's target for a 100 percent carbon-free electricity sector by 2035 is far from being met by these utilities. It remains to be seen whether these utilities will accelerate their transition to cleaner energy sources to meet the climate goals.
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