Category Archives: Blog

As Money-Losing Coal Plants Eye a Bailout, Solar Forges Ahead

Late last week, news broke that the Trump administration was planning to order grid operators—via “emergency measures” under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy—to buy electricity from struggling coal and nuclear power plants in the name of national security and reliability. Apart from those who would directly benefit from such unprecedented federal intervention…

Forecasting the Future for Renewable Energy Procurement

Last month, ACORE hosted an executive roundtable in Washington, D.C. with prominent corporate procurers, financiers and developers in the renewable energy sector to discuss corporate leadership in the renewable energy economy. The roundtable highlighted the ongoing shift in purchasers’ interests from conventional agreements for their own operations to a broader push for renewable energy adoption…

Five Ways Smaller Companies Are Accessing Renewable Electricity

The boom in corporate renewable energy buying over the past five years has changed the electricity landscape.  Thanks to rapidly falling prices in clean technologies—bolstered in the U.S. by the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar—corporate offtake from new capacity projects has played a major role…

Avangrid Renewables’ Megawatt Madness

As one of the nation’s largest owners and operators of wind and solar farms, Avangrid Renewables is leading the transformation to a reliable, clean energy future. With more than 60 sites across the United States, the company’s plants stretch from coast to coast and from our northern border to the tip of the South Texas…

American Renewable Energy Gala Celebrates Policy Champions and Corporate Leaders

On Tuesday, March 13, in the grand foyer of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., over 250 executives gathered to honor policy champions and industry giants for their leadership and contributions to innovation and growth of the renewable energy industry. The 2018 American Renewable Energy Gala was a special night…

Renewable Energy Impact v. Additionality: How and Why PPAs Matter

While additionality has become a key buzzword for corporate renewable energy buyers looking to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, help create new renewables on the grid, and tell a compelling story to their stakeholders, it’s critical to understand the basis of an additionality claim, how carbon offsets are different than renewable energy credits (RECs), and…

FERC Transforms the Role of Storage in Wholesale Markets

Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unanimously approved a rule that will break down barriers for energy storage deployment in wholesale energy markets. Current regional transmission organization (RTO) and independent system operator (ISO) rules for resource participation in wholesale electricity markets reflect the fact that for the last century electricity generation has been…

2018 Outlook: Resilient Investors Cautiously Optimistic for New Year

The uncertainty surrounding tax reform kept many U.S. renewables investors in “wait-and-see” mode throughout 2017. Those brave enough to push forward despite the political backdrop did so vigilantly, with many expending additional financial and legal resources to keep their options open. Each legislative turn drove new scenarios and document drafts. Without a confirmed corporate tax…

When Common Sense Prevails Over Politics: 5 Indicators FERC Decision Should Inform Looming ITC Remedy

In a decision that rapidly rippled throughout the electricity generation community—the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order terminating its docket intended to review the Department of Energy’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR). The NOPR, widely recognized as an attempt to shore up uneconomic coal and nuclear, was rejected for failure to establish a sufficient record…

Ensuring Renewable Energy Investment and Growth in Tax Reform

With the Senate version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) passing on December 2, we’re now in the midst of House-Senate Conference for resolution of the differences between the two bills. The differences are quite significant, which suggests an intensive and difficult negotiation over the next number of days as they seek…