Building a Coalition for Improved Resource Adequacy Policy in a High-Renewables West

Jurisdictions in North America and beyond are building massive amounts of new renewable energy. Two state leaders in renewables deployment, Texas and California, each generated about 26% of the total electricity they produced in 2022 with wind and solar (compared with less than 8% for both states as of 2012). 

These developments hold promise for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but they also represent a massive change in how we produce and use electricity. Wind and solar are not guaranteed to be available sources of energy when we need them, and electricity market regulation is not keeping pace with this new paradigm of intermittent supply. 

The old ways of making sure there is always enough electricity to meet demand no longer work when a lot of your supply depends on whether the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. Regulators are trying to fix this to make sure so-called “adverse reliability events”—like the devastating blackouts in Texas following Winter Storm Uri in February 2021—do not become more common as wind and solar shares grow. Crises are opportunities for change, but it takes knowledgeable and empowered regulators to make sure changes benefit electricity consumers, especially when the electricity-generating companies being regulated are advocating for their own interests in the stakeholder process.

Our team aims to build a coalition that empowers regulators to translate the latest scientific knowledge about long- and short-term market design for high-renewables grids into regulatory policies that benefit consumers. In collaboration with the Western Interstate Energy Board (WIEB), we will convene a broad group of regulators (including the Alberta Utilities Commission), ratepayer advocate groups (including the California Public Utilities Commission’s Public Advocates Office), and system operators (including the Alberta Electric System Operator). 

By learning from each other about common problems, engaging in simulations to prototype better regulatory mechanisms, and jointly developing “consumer-first” approaches to ensuring long-term resource adequacy, coalition members will gain the knowledge to model improved policy for jurisdictions everywhere that are grappling with the challenges of the new renewable energy paradigm.