EIRP Working Paper – Clean Energy Standards

Innovation and deployment incentives are essential for cost-effective decarbonization of the electric power sector—but are they sufficient? Will the combination of clean energy tax credits and Environmental Protection Agency regulations be sufficient to structure a successful energy transition? No, argues EIRP’s chief executive officer, Samuel Thernstrom, in this white paper.

EPA’s Clean Air Act authority is weak and contested, and tax credits can make it economical to build new clean generation but cannot eliminate emissions from the existing fleet. Innovation creates the opportunity for low-cost emissions reductions but a well-designed regulatory framework such as a clean energy standard is necessary to achieve our varied energy policy goals. CESs received significant attention in Congress in 2020-22, prior to enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act; now that the limits of the IRA and the Clean Air Act are evident, Congress should revisit the question of a clean energy standard for the electric power sector.

Read the paper here.