Are higher carbon prices a good thing? The answer could be yes. On May 21, California completed its eleventh carbon allowance auction, the third joint auction with Quebec, which has linked its cap-and-trade program with California’s.

The time has come to optimize the grid. And the need is particularly acute at the edge of system – on the distribution side of the grid. But grid operators have yet to capitalize on the value of optimization because regulations and power markets have fallen behind the technology.

Policymakers rely heavily on quantitative analysis to understand how to manage rapid changes in the power sector, and quantitative analysis (particularly forward-looking projections) relies heavily on underlying assumptions. The quality and breadth of these assumptions are crucial to good decisions.

In the past, consistent load growth meant steady capital expenditures and stable returns on equity for utility shareholders. But today, the trends traditionally driving consistent load growth are being disrupted by rooftop solar, energy efficiency, and changing consumer preferences.

Energy Innovation reviewed the scientific literature on low-carbon cities and sustainable urban development. Our conclusion: compact, walkable, and transit-oriented development creates sustainable, healthy, and economically vibrant cities that deliver a high quality of life to residents.

Last week, representatives from China’s national Energy Research Institute, the State Grid Energy Research Institute, and others released a new study envisioning a nation powered by 57% renewables in 2030, growing to 86% renewables by 2050, all at the same time as China’s economy grows sevenfold.

Several market operators have instituted capacity markets to bridge the gap between revenue available from energy markets and the all-in cost of desired capacity. But will they deliver the outcomes needed for the energy system transition?

China’s low-carbon future depends on green buildings. With nearly 2 billion square meters of new floor space added each year, China’s building sector offers tremendous opportunities for the country to move toward a cleaner economy.

In 2014, for the first time in history, annual energy-related CO₂ emissions stayed flat while the global economy experienced positive growth. So is this the start of a serious movement to decarbonize the economy? And can we thereby halt runaway climate change and avoid almost unimaginable damage to this country—and indeed the whole Earth?

California is America’s climate policy leader, home to both the country’s biggest clean energy industry and an internationally-linked carbon market being modeled across the world. To build on this momentum, California must go even further.