The electricity sector is already in the midst of profound change, with new technological and market forces challenging utilities’ business models. These technology developments will help de-carbonize the utility sector at a very low cost, and at the same time increase reliability — but only if utilities rethink their business model, which in turn requires that states’ utility regulations are reformed.

Today’s distribution system faces some similar market conditions to those decades ago. Rising utility costs and falling sales due to the emergence of distributed energy resources (DERs) have led to rising retail rates, falling revenues, and cries of a new “death spiral”. DERs can provide services more cost-effectively than traditional utility assets, but their adoption has met resistance from many utilities.

In early 2015, the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) announced its 51^st State Challenge, which called for energy experts to submit proposals for how energy markets could be created in a 51^st state with no preexisting regulations or market structure. This article discusses several of the crosscutting themes and insights from the Challenge’s top three proposals.

Electricity, no matter where it comes from or how it is produced, is fundamental to life in the 21st century. Access to electricity provides us with life’s most basic necessities. Yet much of the world remains in the dark. One of the world’s regions left furthest behind during this electricity evolution is Sub-Saharan Africa.

Price declines in residential solar and battery systems like Tesla’s Powerwall mean solar-plus-battery systems will soon be found in homes and businesses at the grid’s edge around the country. But what role will utilities play in the fast-approaching storage shift?

America’s power sector is undergoing a dramatic transformation, challenging regulators to make sure policy keeps up with technological innovation, often leaving utilities in a tumultuous position – but a new set of policies can put us on the path toward a cleaner, more affordable, and more reliable future.

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 commercial and industrial solar power sector has not yet taken flight in the same way that residential and utility-scale solar has in recent years. But to many in the solar industry, that just screams opportunity.

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.

California has adopted a new climate target that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, partly by expanding the use of renewables. But the expansion of clean energy in California isn’t meaningful without an emphasis on the energy efficiency of buildings, electrifying vehicles across the transportation system, and optimizing the power grid to handle renewables.

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.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s new target for curbing California’s greenhouse gas emissions is the most aggressive mandate in the country. But achieving that standard will be difficult unless other states also ramp up their efforts regarding renewable energy, clean transportation, and energy efficiency.

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.

California Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order to reduce California GHGs by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. The state’s two-year-old cap-and-trade program and other climate-friendly policies have already set California GHG emissions on a downward course.

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?

The United States is overtaking the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as the vital global swing producer that determines prices. That remarkable change has been building since 2008, as American shale fields accounted for roughly half of the world’s oil production growth while American petroleum output nearly doubled. And shale production methods have proven highly adaptable to market conditions.

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?