The Electric Sector’s Efforts to Decarbonize and Enhance Resiliency with Edison Electric Institute’s Emily Fisher

Path to Zero
Path to Zero
5.21 - The Electric Sector’s Efforts to Decarbonize and Enhance Resiliency with Edison Electric Institute’s Emily Fisher
Loading
/

In this episode of Path to Zero podcast, you’ll get an update on how the nation’s electric utilities are working to reduce emissions with emerging technologies. Emily Fisher, Senior Vice President for Clean Energy and General Counsel for the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), stopped by to join Tucker for his special conversations from the Reuters North America Energy Transition event in Houston.

The trade association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies is working to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies.

Highlights of Tucker’s conversation with Emily Fisher include:

  • Why electric utilities were big advocates for the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), particularly the clean energy tax incentives.
  • The legislation included some important measures to make it easier for utilities to use renewable energy and pass savings to customers.
  • More than 50 of the EII’s 63 member utilities have goals to reduce their emissions to net zero within a certain time frame.
  • According to Fisher, electric utilities have reduced emissions as a sector by around 36-40%.
  • Electric utilities are reducing emissions with obvious things like closing coal plants and increasing use of renewables.
  • To keep the system affordable and reliable, utilities realize they also need to rely on emerging technologies like carbon capture, hydrogen, advanced nuclear and long duration energy storage.
  • Why the EEI is optimistic about offshore wind, a potential large source of generation.
  • Most emerging technologies have financial challenges and the importance of riding through those challenges.
  • The electric utility industry is retiring a great deal of its older, fossil fuel generating facilities, particularly coal. But it’s much more challenging to bring on new sources.

Resources