This commentary is by Chad Farrell of Burlington, founder and CEO of Encore Renewable Energy. He represented the clean energy sector on the Vermont Climate Council, is on the boards of the Vermont Natural Resources Council and Renewable Energy Vermont, and is co-chair of the REV 2022 Conference.
Last month, representatives from Vermont-based renewable energy companies headed to the West Coast to attend the annual RE+ Conference, along with nearly 30,000 of our colleagues, partners and friends from across the country.
The Vermont renewable energy delegation found the overall tone of the conference to be one of extreme optimism. Following the passage of federal climate legislation this summer (the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA), this is an exciting time for the renewable energy industry as we collectively and collaboratively look to decarbonize our economy with reliable, cost-efficient, carbon-free sources of energy.
The conference offered an opportunity for meetings, educational experiences and the introduction of new and evolving technologies to support the clean energy transition.
Importantly, the conference also provided a glimpse of what lies ahead for Vermonters over the next 10 to 15 years as we electrify our economy to take advantage of the greatest job creation opportunity of the 21st century.
Much of the discussion at RE+ centered on the many market signals for the clean energy industry contained in the IRA. There were many conversations around various provisions of the new law, such as how to secure the additional financial incentives or “adders” related to using domestically manufactured materials, and placing projects in disadvantaged communities with financial benefits delivered to lower-income populations.
Equipment manufacturers were talking up the incentives contained in the bill to help finally stand up a domestic clean energy supply chain and support the nation’s need for increased energy security.
Leveraging underutilized, environmentally challenged properties like brownfields for the broader energy transition and how to transition as many of these brownfields to brightfields as fast as possible was a hot topic.
And finally, similar to trends we are seeing here in Vermont, several sessions covered the rising demand from larger corporations, institutions and other large-scale energy consumers for new, fixed-price, carbon-free sources of energy and how the clean energy industry can continue to grow and evolve to satisfy this increasing clean energy demand moving forward.
There was also significant interest at the RE+ conference around the constraints that the industry will face as we move toward the science-based targets required to address climate change.
For example, our success in meeting these climate goals will depend on how to most effectively, efficiently and equitably modernize the electric grid. We also need to reduce the tension between communities and developers, and more effectively communicate the energy security, job-creation benefits and the local revenues that can be delivered by building these projects.
Finally, there was significant focus on the need for increased regulatory capacity and streamlined project permitting to ensure that we have the proper regulatory environments across the country to support the rapid buildout of clean energy infrastructure required to power the new clean energy economy.
It’s important to consider how to best position Vermont to benefit from this new law in conjunction with the other recent federal infrastructure and Covid relief packages, and how to best capitalize on the coming clean energy economy. Simply stated, the clean energy economy will offer tremendous job-creation opportunities for Vermont’s business sector, communities and overall population, and we can’t afford to be left on the sidelines.
Grid modernization will be key and the energy storage industry was well represented at RE+ this year, as were a large number of businesses engaged around demand response and other software required to choreograph the distributed grid of the future.
We’re already seeing that evolution and all of the new jobs that are being created here in Vermont with the rapid growth of local businesses such as Dynapower, Kore Solutions (formerly Northern Reliability) and Packetized Energy.
Deciding where to site renewable energy projects remains a challenge but fortunately there is increased focus on advancing brownfields-to-brightfields trends and deploying agrivoltaic solutions — the co-location of energy and food resources.
It was exciting to see a growing number of businesses involved in agrivoltaics, from seed suppliers to sheep farmers to consultants and other experts who are supporting this new and important element of the solar industry.
Interestingly, the national conversation we took part in in California around renewable energy and the burgeoning climate economy is already playing out locally right here in Vermont, and a number of these topics and more will be discussed and debated at the upcoming Renewable Energy Vermont annual conference, REV2022, on Oct. 27 and 28 in South Burlington.
At REV2022, members of Vermont’s energy industry, legal community, utility executives, legislators, regulators, design and engineering professionals, climate activists and hundreds of students will gather to continue these discussions as we explore new and innovative ways to modernize our grid and cost-effectively decarbonize our energy footprint.
The conference will be a tremendous opportunity to learn more about the future of our local energy system and the economic opportunities ahead if Vermont is able to fully embrace the energy transition and support a cleaner, cheaper, more equitable economy for all Vermonters.
