A clean energy standard (CES) is a flexible approach to encouraging a cleaner technology mix for electricity production. The most recent federal CES proposal from former Senator Bingaman would transform the way electricity is produced and result in substantial reductions in CO2 emissions with...

A Clean Energy Standard (CES) is a flexible, market-based policy instrument that could be adopted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. electricity system over time. This paper uses several well-known energy system and electricity models to analyze a CES that reflects broad principles...

The electricity sector is responsible for roughly 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and a reduction in CO2 emissions from electricity generation is an important component of the U.S. strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Toward that goal, several proposals for a clean energy...

The confluence of several pending environmental rulemakings will require billions of dollars of investment across the industry and changes in the operation of facilities. These changes may lead to retirement of some facilities, and there has been much debate about their potential effects on...

Three types of policies that are prominent in the federal debate over addressing greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are a cap-and-trade program (CTP) on emissions, a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for electricity production, and tax credits for renewable electricity producers....

Several recent studies have used simulation models to quantify the potential effects of recent environmental regulations on power plants, including the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), one of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s most expensive regulations. These studies have...

Implementation of new environmental regulations of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury in the U.S. electricity industry has triggered concerns about system reliability. Results from a national electricity market simulation model suggest that these regulations lead to little change in...