Emerging Issues
The green power market is dynamic and ever changing. As such, there are a variety of issue and topic areas where EPA’s Green Power Partnership program can offer some insight and analysis to help understand some of the policy and implementation issues associated with these new trends.
Below are some pages of current and on-going green power market issues that we hope you will find of interest. EPA intends for these pages to be reflective of the market shifts and as will update these pages and include new pages as new trends are identified.
- The Inflation Reduction Act and Green Power
- The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) is the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history. IRA’s provisions will finance green power, lower costs through tax credits, and reduce emissions. This page provides resources on renewable energy opportunities available to Green Power Partners through IRA.
- 24/7 Hourly Matching of Electricity
- 24/7 hourly matching has been heralded as an important next step toward a cleaner energy future, providing electricity consumers the means to increase procurement impact while decarbonizing their electricity consumption. This page provides an overview of the concept and answers some common questions about this new approach.
- Leadership and Access
- EPA conducted a nationwide analysis of consumer access to green power supply options to evaluate relative access to green power in both residential and non-residential consumer segments. This 2018 analysis showed that green power supply options are not uniformly or equally accessible either geographically or across residential, commercial, and industrial consumer segments. This page highlights the study’s findings.
- Leadership Principles in Renewable Electricity Use
- Since 2020, there has been a marked increase in the price of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). This page highlights how organizations can maintain leadership despite these new and perhaps unexpected costs. Additionally, there are suggestions on how organizations can work to lower their costs around green power procurement while maintaining impact in green power markets.
- Leadership and Impact
- Choosing to use renewable electricity is a simple, yet meaningful action that can make a difference but is still relatively uncommon in the U.S. Making this simple, proactive choice for how one’s power is generated is a form of leadership that can inform and influence others. This page provides some guidance around how to make a difference through renewable electricity use.
- Renewable Energy in Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
- Electricity use is the largest source of emissions for many organizations. So, an organization that measures their emissions footprint through a corporate emissions inventory, may choose to address the emissions associated with their electricity use as a key priority. This page provides some resources to help organizations expand their GHG accounting practices.