U.S. / India Clean Energy Leadership Group: Volume 4

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ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER
Welcome to the official newsletter of the U.S./India Clean Energy Leadership Group (CELG)—a partnership between U.S. and Indian states that are leading the way to decarbonized electric power systems.
This newsletter is a resource for member states to learn more about common challenges and opportunities faced by both U.S. and Indian states, and to provide insight from outside experts on U.S. and Indian states’ collaboration.
We welcome your feedback at njain@csis.org
EVENTS
U.S.-India Subnational Forum: SNA Innovation Competition
On July 20, 2022, The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in collaboration National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) and Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (AREAS) conducted the SNA Innovation Competition (SIC) to provide an opportunity for the SNAs (State Nodal Agencies) to showcase their innovative clean energy projects. The idea was to create potential for the SNA’s to enhance the capacity of other states, strengthen the policy dialogue, and widen the operational impact in deployment and scaleup of clean energy solutions. The SIC aimed to contribute to an enabling environment for best practice exchange among the Indian states.
See Event Details on CSIS Website
U.S.-India Clean Energy and Climate Action and Collaboration: A Subnational Perspective
On July 20, 2022, The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in collaboration with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) hosted a full day event to examine the critical role played by state governments in India and the United States in addressing climate change. The convening brought together national and state energy officials from the United States and India to explore opportunities for cooperation in clean energy deployment, financing, and innovation. The event supported a Memorandum of Understanding signed last year between NASEO and AREAS in the presence of U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and India’s Minister of New and Renewable Energy Bhagwanth Khuba.
Special guests included U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk, Joint Secretary Dinesh Jagdale of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, AREAS Executive Director Jeevan Kumar Jethani, NASEO Executive Director David Terry, and Varun Sivaram, Managing Director for Clean Energy and Innovation, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. The discussion highlighted insights, expertise, and updates from key subnational actors in India and the United States, including state officials from Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Michigan, Florida, New York, and Connecticut. See Sandy Fazeli's analysis below for key takeaways from the event.
To watch the opening sessions from the event, visit CSIS’s website.
Role of States in Accelerating India's Net Zero Transition
On April 29, 2022, CSIS and the Network for Global Innovation hosted a joint round table discussion on the role of states in transitioning to a net zero economy. The talk featured remarks from Fred Walti, President and CEO of NGIN, and included panelists Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & Managing Director of Tata Power, and Martin Adams, General Manager and Chief Engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. The conversation encouraged an exchange of ideas from both parties, including in the following areas:
- Workforce and skill development
- Strengthening state-level policymaking and collaboration
- Implementing emerging technologies
- Importance of public-private partnerships
To view a recording of the event, visit CSIS’s website.
The path for long duration energy storage in India
Long duration energy storage technologies could play a critical role in enabling the widescale deployment of renewable energy necessary for a successful energy transition. On May 20 2022 and June 8 2022, CSIS hosted a two-part forum on long duration energy storage to foster a conversation with industry and policymakers on the need to work collaboratively to build market designs which allow early deployment of long duration energy storage and create a conducive environment for achieving scale. Participants included Indian state officials, U.S. government officials, representatives from the India Energy Storage Alliance and other industry representatives.
Dialogue between GRIDCO,Odisha Energy Department, and USAID
On November 17, 2021, CSIS facilitated a dialogue between USAID and Grid Corporation of Odisha (GRIDCO), the key state organization under the Department of Energy, Odisha. During the meeting, experts from USAID briefed about the Resource Planning Tool ‘REPOSE’ (Renewable Purchase Optimization & Smart Estimation). The tool has separate modules for demand forecasting, resource mapping & bulk procurement optimization with one stop dashboard. Further, the tool has provisions for tailored profile-based planning, EV and LED penetration, higher renewable energy integration, cost optimization, energy efficiency, grid storage & pump storage options and new technologies like hydrogen, etc.
GRIDCO then adopted the REPOSE tool in July 2022. Necessary support from USAID experts are being extended for the state-specific customization. The tool is designed to help the states with their medium-long term planning for strategizing procurement, capacity identification & allocation.
Dialogue between Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Department of Energy, Government of Madhya Pradesh
CSIS facilitated several dialogues between MIT and the Government of Madhya Pradesh’s Energy Department. On October 7, 2021, an agreement was signed between the two parties on data exchange for MIT to undertake a study on agriculture demand forecasting for the state of Madhya Pradesh.
EXPERT INSIGHTS
State Actions with Global Impacts: Four Takeaways from the “U.S.-India Clean Energy and Climate Action and Collaboration” Subnational Forum
by Sandy Fazeli, Managing Director, NASEO
In July 2022, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) brought together U.S. and Indian experts to discuss the role of state governments and other subnational entities in achieving clean energy and climate change solutions.
The conversations highlighted important realities about how the United States and India can harness the power, innovation, and abilities of states to advance a cleaner, more resilient, and more secure economy.
- Subnational entities in the United States and India can shape the climate future. When it comes to climate change and clean energy, central and state governments in both countries make policy and investment decisions that affect how and what types of energy are produced, delivered, and used. This may create a complicated patchwork of policies and market structures, but it also enables states, cities, and local communities to serve as incubators of policy and technology innovation that can be scaled and replicated – as the critical role of state policy in U.S. renewable energy growth has demonstrated.
- Climate change is a key driver of – but not the only motivation for – U.S. and Indian states to advance the clean energy transition. Many states seek to reduce the use of fossil fuels not only for the environmental and climate impacts, but also to promote utility bill affordability, access to reliable and diverse energy sources, economic security, and economic opportunity. Decentralizing and greening energy investments can offer direct benefits to communities, an opportunity many states have recognized as they develop strategies to expand infrastructure, mitigate the upfront costs of clean energy, and ensure a just transition, especially for those underrepresented or disproportionately impacted by changes.
- It’s not all about the money: Rules, systems, and people matter, too. Globally, trillions of dollars are needed to manufacture, demonstrate, and deploy clean energy and climate change technologies at scale. By designing policies and regulations that can shape markets and the energy workforce, Indian and U.S. states alike can play a critical role in aligning financing, funding, and investment to support clean energy and climate objectives.
- Cross-border clean energy collaborations are taking on new shapes, from bilateral to subnational. Climate and clean energy represent important building blocks of bilateral collaboration between the United States and India, Over the past year, through NASEO, CSIS, and AREAS, states in both countries have had the opportunity to learn and exchange best practices for state clean energy and policy program design on a wide variety of topics, including energy storage, financing, rural energy access, and workforce transition.
The scale and urgency with which U.S. and Indian policymakers need to address the climate crisis requires action and collaboration at all levels of government and decision-making. States in both countries will be crucial in shaping policies, investments, and projects in line with global, national, and local priorities and goals.
IN THE NEWS
PRS
The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022
THE WHITE HOUSE
STATE FACT SHEETS: How the Inflation Reduction Act Lowers Energy Costs, Creates Jobs, and Tackles Climate Change Across America
THE ECONOMIC TIMES
Assam Looks to Generate 2,000 MW Solar Power at Investment of Rs 10,000 Crore
PV MAGAZINE
Jharkhand to Install 4 GW of Solar Power Generation Capacity in Five Years
EXPRESS MOBILITY
Haryana Rolls Out EV Policy 2022
CLEAN TECHNICA
Governor McKee Signs Historic Legislation Requiring 100% Of Rhode Island’s Electricity To Be Offset By Renewable Energy By 2033
THE WASHINGTON POST
Massachusetts Just Passed a Massive Climate and Clean Energy Bill
PV MAGAZINE
Misssissippi Revamps Its Net Metering Policy
SPOTLIGHT ON CONNECTICUT
5%
Net generation from renewable resources in 2020
1,158 MW
Offshore wind procurements as of 2021
1,131 MW
Total installed solar in 2021
Innovative Policies
- The GreenerGov CT is a cross-agency initiative focused on achieving goals and targets related to reducing the environmental impact of Connecticut’s State government operations, including directives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% below 2001 levels, reduce waste disposal by 25% from a 2020 baseline, and reduce water consumption by 10% from the 2020 baseline.
- The Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), enacted in 2008, establishes a requirement for the state to reduce the level of economy wide GHG emissions 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050. The GWSA was amended in 2018 to add a mid-term target of 45 percent below 2001 levels by 2030. And it was further amended this past session to require that greenhouse gas emissions be lowered to zero percent for all electricity supplied to customers in the state by 2040.
- On April 21, 2020, Connecticut released the Electric Vehicle Roadmap for Connecticut: A Policy Framework to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption (EV Roadmap). The EV Roadmap represents a comprehensive strategy for accelerating the deployment of EVs through policies and regulatory tools addressing transportation equity, purchasing incentives, charging infrastructure expansion, and more.
Key Achievements
- Using the 2018 statewide annual GHG inventory as a reasonable proxy for FY19, the GreenerGov CT 2030 GHG reduction target is 32.53% below FY19 baseline GHG emissions. As of FY21, Executive Branch Agencies were 13.73% toward the 2030 GHG emission reduction target.
- The 2020 Integrated Resources Plan established that it was feasible to reach a zero-carbon electric supply by 2040 through multiple pathways which blend zero carbon electric generating resources like on- and offshore wind, grid-scale solar, and battery storage.
Challenges Ahead
- Statewide economy-wide emissions in 2018 were 42.2 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) — a decrease of 17.8 percent since 2001, indicating that the state is not on track to meet statutorily required emissions reduction targets for 2020 and 2030.
- Transportation-sector emissions remained stubbornly high, despite significant historical improvements in fuel economy. In contrast with other major sectors – especially the electricity sector – transportation sector emissions have risen since 1990.
- In 2018, the transportation, electricity, and residential sectors accounted for nearly 75% of Connecticut’s GHG emissions. Initiatives in these and other sectors must be accelerated for Connecticut to meet its 2030 and 2050 GHG emissions-reduction goals.
CLEAN ENERGY LEADERSHIP GROUP
The Clean Energy Leadership Group (CELG) is a collaborative initiative between the CSIS Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Studies and the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program.
CELG is made possible by the generous support of the SED Fund.