Overview

Renewable Economics for a Sustainable Energy Transition (RESET) is a new network in development that will create pricing and grid management solutions to support the continued rapid growth of renewables, including solar pricing that works for utilities, the solar industry and solar customers.  

Continued rapid expansion of solar and wind production is imperative if we are to avoid a climate crisis; and a well-supported renewable energy strategy will drive real economic value for the U.S. 

At the same time, the rapid rise of solar and wind energy production has proven disruptive to both the energy management systems and the economic models of distribution utilities. These static energy management systems are increasingly resistant to the expansion of renewable capacity on their systems.  In the short term, they are responding to the impact of midday solar production on their systems by threatening to shut off generation from solar facilities during certain periods.  In the long term, they have proposed either policies or very high fees on solar that would throttle its ability to come online in their systems. We need to develop a clear pricing model that recognizes the true cost of carrying solar on the grid, including the grid-connected systems’ effective use of the utility for “storage.”

Strategy

RESET participants will co-design an energy grid system, pricing models, technical systems, and the shared value propositions to support the continued expansion of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources, laying the path to an eventual 100% renewable energy system in the U.S.  Specific outcomes of RESET’s work will include;

1. A pricing model for solar and wind that everyone, including distribution utility operators, can live with and that can flex as needed for the near future.
2. State and federal policies, and regulatory interpretation of those policies, support the maximum utilization of renewables possible giving current technology.
3. A grid system that is able to effective and efficiently distribute renewable energy across the day.
4. High-trust relationships among key influencers in the utility, regulatory and renewables arenas who have demonstrated a capacity to develop pragmatic solutions to large and complex problems.