U.S. Clean Energy Jobs Increased in 2021

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By Christian Roselund

The United States gained jobs in solar, wind, battery storage, electric vehicles, and transmission and distribution grids in 2021, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Energy and Employment Report shows that while wind, battery, and electric vehicle jobs grew in both 2020 and 2021, the growth in solar and transmission and distribution jobs in 2021 was a recovery after a fall from 2019 to 2020. Wind, batteries, and electric vehicles are outliers against the larger trend of almost all energy sub-sectors and the larger economy losing jobs in 2020 and recovering in 2021.

Off all the clean energy sectors solar has the most jobs, with an estimated 334,000 in 2021. It is also the largest employer in electric power generation, at 39% of jobs in this sector. The U.S. solar industry added 24,000 workers in 2021, a 5.4% increase and the largest percentage of any form of electricity generation. However, the industry has still not returned to the levels of employment seen in 2019.

By contrast wind jobs enjoyed their second straight year of growth, reaching 120,000 jobs in 2021. The combined 454,000 jobs in solar and wind is much larger than the 123,000 jobs in coal mining, transport, and electricity generation, but still smaller than the 747,000 workers in the nation’s oil and gas industry, including in electricity generation from these sources. In both solar and wind construction jobs are by the largest sector, followed by professional services and then manufacturing.

Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids together represented 168,000 jobs in 2021. This is a much smaller number than the U.S. jobs in gasoline and diesel motor vehicles, which was 1,983,000 in 2021. However, while gasoline and diesel motor vehicle jobs haves still not recovered to 2019 levels, EV and plug-in hybrid jobs grew in both 2019 and 2020.

Battery storage also saw its second year of job growth, to reach 70,000 workers.

As is the case with the larger energy industry, in the solar, wind, battery and grid, and motor vehicle industries both women and Black Americans are under-represented compared to the U.S. workforce as a whole. In response to the gender dynamics, several U.S. women’s clean tech organizations have emerged to provide networking and mentorship for women in these industries and address the gender imbalance.

Gender equity has become an area of active attention in the solar industry, particularly at trade shows. This including shaming of companies who hire models as “booth babes” and use sexist displays and advertising, as well as efforts to ensure that panels of speakers are not all-male “manels.” And while women make up only 30% of the U.S. solar workforce, this is still higher than the energy sector as a whole, where only 25% of workers are women.

Source: United States Energy & Employment Report 2022 (U.S. Department of Energy)

California Passes Emergency Law to Maintain Grid Reliability

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By Christian Roselund

On 31 July 2022 California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will create a strategic electric reliability reserve fund, establish a new streamlined processes for approving large clean energy plants, and provide incentives for long-duration energy storage. The legislation would give the power to buy electricity for emergency use to the state’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) and follows on Newsom’s earlier dedication of $5.2 billion for the Strategic Reliability Reserve in the state budget. Environmentalists condemned provisions in the law that could keep fossil fuel-fired plants
online longer.

California suffered rolling blackouts due to insufficient electricity supply in August 2020, and this bill comes in the wake of increasing concerns that California may not be able to maintain reliable electric delivery during summer heat waves. In May 2022, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation published a summer risk assessment that put California, along with the rest of the Western United States at an elevated risk of power outages this summer (for full coverage of this report, see the 31 May U.S. Energy Transition Report). This was followed by a warning by state regulators and California’s grid operator that the state does not have sufficient supply to meet demand during for extreme heat waves.

Governor Newsom has been outspoken about the need to get more generation online to keep the lights on. This includes petitioning the Department of Commerce to issue a negative finding in the pending anti-circumvention case against solar imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam on the basis that it was holding up deployment of solar and storage projects needed to maintain reliability.

The cornerstone of the new law is the creation of the Strategic Electric Reliability Fund, which will allow the DWR to purchase, construct, acquire, or contract with zero-emissions generation sources of any size and energy storage facilities 20 megawatts and larger. It also allows the state to extend the life of existing power plants that are scheduled for retirement between 2023 and 2029. Finally, there is a provision to procure emergency and temporary power generation 5 megawatts and larger, but any diesel generators acquired through this provision cannot be used after July 31, 2023.

In another section, the law requires the California Energy Commission to create an incentive program for energy storage projects at least 1 megawatt in capacity that are capable of continuous discharge for eight hours. It also sets up a mechanism for CEC to fast-track emergency generation projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a state law that is considered more strict than federal law.

As California will head into the hottest part of the year in late July, the state has limited time to get any new capacity online to prepare for any heatwaves this summer. However, these moves could allow for significant incremental new electric capacity by the summer of 2023.

Read More:

News analysis: Calif. gives ‘new life’ to gas plants in emergency overhaul (E&E News)

News analysis: California passes legislation to avoid blackouts, create ‘insurance policy’ for the grid (Utility Dive)

U.S. Battery Installations Increased 3x in 2021

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By Cormac O’Laoire

On 2 June 2022 the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its survey of new electric generation early. It was hard not to notice the more than 300% growth in battery energy storage (BESS) capacity. Total installations grew from 1,438 megawatts in 2020 to 4,631 megawatts in 2021. Installations in areas with organized wholesale electricity markets run by regional transmission organizations comprised 78% of the 106 utility scale projects (3,202 megawatts). Areas with vertically integrated utilities represented only 22% of installations.

Massive projects such as Moss Landing and McCoy Solar, both in California, drove the growth of new BESS markets with applications focused on arbitrage, load management and load response in the case of excess solar and wind. Arbitrage accounted for over 50% of all 2021 battery installations.

Flexible projects supporting both new applications and traditional ancillary applications grew significantly, reflecting the direction of the industry. Solar co-location emerged as another trend in battery installations, accounting for over 93% of installed battery capacity in 2021.

Read more:
News coverage: Battery storage capacity more than tripled in 2021 (pv magazine)

Signs of Life for Federal Clean Energy Legislation

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By Christian Roselund

After months of inaction, signs are emerging that federal legislation that could contain clean energy provisions is being crafted in the U.S. Senate. In December 2021 Senator Joe Manchin killed the Democratic Party’s Build Back Better by withdrawing his support and joining united Republican opposition. Recent developments suggest that he is actively working to create a new omnibus bill. However, time is running out to pass legislation before the U.S. Congress takes its August recess.

As the first piece of evidence, E&E News reports that Senators have sent an agreement on prescription drug pricing to the Senate Parliamentarian for review. This is a necessary step to ensure that it will fit in the narrow rules for legislation to pass with a simple majority of only 51 votes. Drug pricing was part of the original Build Back Better Bill, along with extensions and other changes to solar and wind tax credits, expanded incentives for EVs, new tax credits for solar manufacturing, and other provisions.

As the second, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned that he will kill the America COMPETES Act, a wide-ranging bill that includes support for the domestic semiconductor industry, if Democrats put forward a bill using the reconciliation process. The reconciliation process allows votes to avoid the filibuster and pass with a simple majority. This would allow Democrats to pass a bill with no Republican support in the 50 – 50 senate, by using the Vice President’s vote in the event of a tie. Given his position as minority leader Senator McConnell would be unlikely to mention the reconciliation bill or issue a threat in response to it unless such a bill were viable, and therefore this is a sign that the bill may be moving forward.

Senator Manchin has been controlling the process of crafting a successor bill to Build Back Better. Manchin initially attempted to work with Republicans to write a bipartisan bill. However, he abandoned that effort after it was clear that the Republican Party saw no common ground with Democrats on a range of issues. In early June 2022 it emerged that he was again working with only Democrats on a reconciliation bill, but news on developments has been scarce.

Manchin has been openly critical of several provisions in Build Back Better, including additional incentives for electric vehicles made with union labor. It is not clear whether the extensions of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar and Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind, including a direct pay option, will be in the new legislation. It is also not known whether the dedicated incentives for solar manufacturing, originally contained in Senator Ossoff’s Solar Energy Manufacturing for America (SEMA) Act will be in the successor bill. In June, lobbyist Rhone Resch put the odds of SEMA being in the new bill at 50 – 75%.

Any legislation that comes out of these efforts must pass the House of Representatives by July 29, when it goes to recess, and must pass the Senate by August 5. Otherwise, it must be re-introduced when Congress re-convenes for a new session in September.

Read more:

News/analysis: Democrats inch forward on reconciliation package (E&E News)

News/analysis: McConnell: No innovation bill if Dems pursue reconciliation (E&E News)

Solar Module Detentions Begin under UFLPA

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By Christian Roselund

CEA has verified that Customs and Border Protection has detained shipments by two large Chinese PV makers under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). UFLPA went into effect on 21 June 2022, and creates a rebuttable presumption that goods mined, produced, or manufactured in Xinjiang are associated with forced labor and cannot be imported into the United States.

Customs had already detained at least 140 megawatts of module shipments from the largest suppliers of solar to the U.S. market under a withhold release order (WRO, import ban) against Chinese metallurgical grade silicon (MGS) maker Hoshine Silicon in the summer and fall of 2021. The companies whose products were detained include LONGi, JinkoSolar, Trina Solar, and Canadian Solar. These shipments took three to eight months to release, and our sources report that some were never released.

While the Hoshine WRO was limited to MGS, under UFLPA Customs has stated that it will require documentation back to the source of the quartz used to make MGS. Both companies whose product has been detained under UFLPA previously had modules detained under the WRO, which suggests that Customs is casting a wider net and/or is requiring additional documentation.

In addition to the detentions under UFLPA, a shipment by JA Solar was detained in the final days of the Hoshine WRO, which was folded into UFLPA on 21 June 2022. JA Solar states that it only uses polysilicon from U.S. polysilicon maker Hemlock Semiconductor for its products for the U.S. market, and Hemlock cannot import MGS from Hoshine due to the WRO. CEA is seeking more information about this detention.

Under UFLPA, importers must challenge detentions within 30 days or forfeit shipments. Two routes exist to challenge detentions: either showing that product imported contains no inputs from Xinjiang or from a list of prohibited companies or showing that no material in the product is associated with forced labor. While the first route requires extensive documentation, the second route is likely impossible. The specific documentation and declarations sought by Customs to prove the absence of forced labor are not available in China and anyone attempting to supply them could be prosecuted under the China Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law.

The detention of shipments under the Hoshine WRO led to reduced solar imports to the United States in the second half of 2021, as many suppliers dramatically reduced exports to the U.S. market. In some cases, these manufacturers even reduced output and/or closed factories that served the U.S. market. So far, the suppliers CEA has spoken to have said that they will continue shipping to the U.S. market despite the recent UFLPA detentions.

Source: CEA

Rhode Island Makes Big Moves on Renewables, Offshore Wind

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By Christian Roselund

On 29 June 2022 Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee signed legislation requiring the state’s utilities to purchase credits from renewable energy sources to account for 100% of their sales in 2033. While roughly 30 states have some form of renewable energy mandate, this is the most aggressive timeline of any state and is exceeded only by Washington D.C.’s requirement of 100% by 2032. Additionally, Governor McKee signed legislation requiring the state’s utilities to procure 600 – 1000 megawatts of offshore wind.

While Rhode Island’s 1.1 million residents represent only 0.3% of the population of the United States, its renewable energy mandate has the potential to inspire action in other, larger states. Aside from Rhode Island, only two other states have passed policies that require at least 70% renewable energy in the electricity sector by 2030: New York (70% by 2030) and Vermont (71% by 2030/75% by 2032).

However, Oregon has mandated that electric utilities reduce their emissions 80% by 2030, North Carolina has ordered 70% by 2030, and Washington requires utilities to reach carbon-neutrality in their electricity supply by that date. Taken together, these six states make up 13% of the
U.S. population.

Unlike most other renewable energy mandates that require a certain portion of in-state generation, distributed generation, or specific resources, Rhode Island’s law only requires that resources providing renewable energy credits be located within New England Power Pool. This means that the state’s gas plants can continue to operate. Any issues with integrating very high levels of renewable energy must be handled by the regional grid operator, not the state.

In 2021, Rhode Island passed its “Act on Climate” law, which sets legally enforceable targets for the state to reduce carbon emissions 45% economy-wide by 2030, on the way to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Environmentalists presented the 100% renewable electricity bill as a necessary step to meet Act on Climate targets.

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee signing the offshore wind procurement bill.
Photo: Office of Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee.

600 – 1000 Megawatts of Offshore Wind

On 6 July 2022 Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee also signed legislation to require the state’s utility to hold solicitations for 600 – 1000 megawatts of offshore wind and to begin the procurement no later than 15 October 2022. Rhode Island already hosts the nation’s first offshore wind farm, the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm. The state’s utility has also signed a contract to procure 400 megawatts from the Revolution Wind project, which expects to begin construction in 2023.

Assuming a 45% capacity factor, the combined 1030 – 1430 megawatts of existing, contracted, and planned offshore wind would meet 55 – 77% of the state’s 2021 electricity sales. Additionally, in 2021 Rhode Island generated electricity from solar equivalent to around 10% of its electricity sales – as the first state east of the Rocky Mountains to reach this milestone. However, Rhode Island will need to continue to build and/or procure more renewable generation over the next few decades to meet its targets. A study by Stockholm Environmental Institute and Brown University estimates that when Rhode Island fully electrifies its heating and transportation sectors, in-state electricity demand will roughly double to around 17 terawatt-hours per year.

StateOperationalContractedMandated but not contracted (min.)Total
Rhode Island304006001030
Massachusetts0160040005600
Connecticut011088922000
Total30310854928630

These plans for an additional 600 – 1000 megawatts of offshore wind add to Massachusetts’ mandate for the state’s utilities to procure 5600 megawatts of offshore wind and plans by Connecticut to procure 2000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030. This totals a minimum of 8600 megawatts of offshore wind that utilities in Southern New England either have under contract or will be required to procure. As the first projects in New England are more advanced than offshore wind projects in other parts of the Americas, this volume could make New England the center of the offshore wind industry in the Western Hemisphere.

Read more:

Source: Governor McKee Signs Legislation Requiring Offshore Wind Procurement for 600 to 1,000 Megawatts (State of Rhode Island, Governor Dan McKee)

Source: Governor McKee Signs Historic Legislation Requiring 100% of Rhode Island’s Electricity to be Offset by Renewable Energy by 2033 (State of Rhode Island, Governor Dan McKee)

Source: H 7277 SUBSTITUTE A (Rhode Island Legislature)

Source: H 7971 SUBSTITUTE A (Rhode Island Legislature)

Supreme Court Ruling on EPA Regs: No near-Term Clean Energy Effects

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By Christian Roselund

On 30 June, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a ruling limiting the ability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases under a plan proposed during the administration of former President Obama. Legal experts say that the ruling in West Virginia v. EPA has implications for the regulatory authority of the federal government. However, CEA expects it to have no near-term effect on changes in the U.S. electricity fleet including the ongoing shift away from coal and towards solar, wind, and battery storage.

The court’s majority opinion found the EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases in power plants via the Clean Power Plan in 2014 to be outside the scope of its authority under the Clean Air Act. This opinion found that Congress, not the EPA, has the authority to proscribe changes such as those found in the Plan. However, under the Trump Administration the Clean Power Plan was scuttled. And even if the plan had been implemented, timelines for deployment lagged real-world changes in the nation’s electricity mix.

The final version of the Clean Power Plan published in 2015 aimed to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants by 32% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. However, in 2021 U.S. power sector emissions had already fallen to 1,551 million metric tons, a 35% reduction versus 2005 levels. This has been accomplished by a slight reduction in demand, a switch from coal to gas, and the replacement of fossil fuels with
renewable sources.

Other EPA regulations have contributed to changes in the U.S. power mix. Experts cite the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which went into effect in 2012, as helping to accelerate the decline of the U.S. coal fleet. However, even the removal of MATS would be unlikely to have much of an effect, as individual coal plants have either installed equipment to comply with MATS or shut down.

The primary federal policies that have affected clean energy deployment over the last ten years have been tax policies: the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind. Research by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has shown that state-level renewable energy mandates have also been a main driver of wind and solar deployment.

W. Virginia v. EPA effectively pre-empts and restricts future EPA action affecting the electricity sector, were the agency to attempt to propose such regulation. CEA estimates that the earliest any such regulation could potentially have effects is in the 2025 – 2030 timeframe, as it takes multiple years for EPA to finalize controversial, sweeping regulations like the Clean Power Plan. However, the Biden Administration had not made substantial moves to revive the Clean Power Plan or issue anything like it and is even less likely to do so now.

Read more:

Source: West Virginia et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency et al. (U.S. Supreme Court)

News coverage: Supreme Court’s EPA ruling upends Biden’s environmental agenda (Washington Post)

News coverage: The Supreme Court’s big EPA decision is a massive power grab by the justices (Vox)

News Roundup

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Federal Regulators End Minimum Price Rule in New England

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved a measure by New England’s grid operator to end a controversial program set minimum prices for generators by 2025. New England states and clean energy advocates had criticized the New England Independent System Operator (ISO-NE) for its Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR), which disadvantaged state-subsidized clean energy in regional capacity auctions.

ISO-NE has stated that its MOPR was necessary to shield fossil fuel and nuclear-fired power plants, which it says are needed to maintain grid reliability. However, under intense pressure it has agreed to end the MOPR in 2025. FERC Chair Richard Glick said that if he had the option, he would end the MOPR now, but accepted that New England states have agreed to the 2025 sunset date.

News coverage: FERC shakes up Northeast renewables with grid rule phaseout (E&E News)

Massachusetts Utilities File Plans to Procure Offshore Wind

Massachusetts utilities have filed long-term plans that include procurement of power from two large offshore wind projects totaling 1.6 gigawatts. National Grid, Until, and Eversource Energy intend to contract with the Commonwealth Wind and Mayflower Wind projects, both of which are planned for Long Island Sound off Massachusetts’ South Coast. Including these projects, Massachusetts utilities have signed contracts with 3.2 gigawatts of offshore wind.

When complete, both projects are planned to be much larger than the capacities that the utilities have contracted for; Commonwealth Wind is 1.232 gigawatts, and Mayflower Wind is 2.400 gigawatts. Avangrid is developing Commonwealth Wind, and Shell, EDP Renewables and Engie own Mayflower Wind. The prices are also lower than previous U.S. offshore wind contracts, with the Mayflower Wind project coming in at $77 per megawatt-hour (MWh) and the Commonwealth Wind at $72/MWh.

News coverage: Mass. advances two major offshore wind projects (E&E NEws)

Transportation Dept. Sets Standards for National EV Charging

On 9 June, the U.S. Department of Transportation rolled out standards for a national EV charging network that include standardized plugs, U.S.-made chargers, minimum uptimes and minimum power ratings. These guidelines will determine how states spend the $5 billion that was made available in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for EV charging.

Among the requirements is that federally funded EV charging stations maintain hardware and software to be operational at least 97% of the time. This responds to the complaints by many EV drivers of off-line or malfunctioning stations. It is not clear how this requirement will be enforced. The requirement of standardized plugs also addresses the custom plug/charger combination that Tesla uses for its vehicles and its Supercharger network. The Supercharger network is currently by far the largest electric vehicle charging network in the nation.   Press Release: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Key Step Forward in Building a National Network of User-Friendly, Reliable, and Accessible Electric Vehicle Chargers (U.S. Dept. of Transportation)

Press Release: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Key Step Forward in Building a National Network of User-Friendly, Reliable, and Accessible Electric Vehicle Chargers (U.S. Dept. of Transportation)

Interior Dept. Sets 25 GW Renewable Goal, Moves to Speed Deployment

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By Christian Roselund

On 1 June, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced a goal to deploy 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2025 alongside measures to ease deployment on these lands. The latter includes an average 50% reduction of rents and fees for wind and solar development as well as the establishment of renewable energy coordination offices.

Through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Department of the Interior controls 2.8 million square kilometers of land, almost exclusively west of the Great Plains. This land largely comprises deserts, mountains, rangeland, and other areas that are not suitable for farming or commercial forestry. And while much of this land has excellent wind and solar resources, it is often far from population centers and transmission lines.

As part of the changes, BLM will implement a standardized megawatt fee that it says will incentivize more efficient wind and solar and hybrid projects. It will also establish state renewable coordination offices in Arizona, California, and Nevada, as well as a regional office in Utah and a national office. BLM says these offices will help reach the goal of processing an increasing number of applications for wind and solar projects, while enabling robust environmental compliance.

In 2021, BLM permitted 2.89 gigawatts of wind and solar projects on public lands. The agency has identified 4.59 gigawatts of wind and solar as priority projects in 2022, 6.63 gigawatts in 2023, and 13.52 gigawatts in 2024.

Read more:

Source: Department of the Interior Announces Steps to Increase Clean Energy Development on Public Lands (U.S. Department of the Interior)

Gasoline Passes $5 per Gallon, Politicians Respond

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By Christian Roselund

Over the weekend of 11-12 June, the average cost of gasoline in the United States exceeded $5 per gallon (EUR 1.26 per liter), 63% higher than a year ago and a record high for the nation. E&E News has described this $5/gallon price point as a “psychological barrier,” and this has major ramifications in the auto-dependent nation. Politicians from across the political spectrum have been responding to rising gas prices with various approaches.

While the number of Americans who cycle to work, school, or university has been rising sharply in recent years, more than ¾ of Americans commute by driving their own car. In 2020 only 8.5% of households did not have a single vehicle, and more than half had two or more.

For many Americans driving is not a choice: public transit in America is consistently low-quality, and outside mid-to-large cities buses and trains are too infrequent and unreliable to meet the needs of many residents. And many Americans take car dependence for granted, and as such rising gasoline prices are a threat to their budgets – which in many cases are already stretched by the high cost of housing and the cost of owning and maintaining an automobile.

The reaction by politicians has been very different depending on their political party. Democrats have blamed oil companies for profiteering on high oil prices and have introduced legislation to stop price gouging. This legislation has stalled in the U.S. Senate, which is unsurprising given that the Republicans hold 50 of 100 seats and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin typically sides with Republicans on energy issues. Democrats have also introduced a bill to allow up to 15% ethanol in gasoline blends and take measures which they say will reduce food costs.

Republicans have used the occasion of higher oil prices to blame Biden and the Democrats, claiming that they are limiting U.S. energy production. This is in sharp contrast to the Biden Administration’s calls for oil and gas companies to increase domestic production, including plans to fine companies that hold leases for not drilling.

Both economists and energy experts are clear that the current high oil and gas prices are driven by the slow resumption of oil supply following the reopening of travel restrictions, compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And while President Biden has been clear about the latter factor as well, this has not shielded him from blame.

Read more:

News coverage: $5 at the pump: U.S. gasoline crosses historic mark (E&E News)

Analysis: Record gasoline prices drive energy, climate agenda (E&E News)