Thread by @PMoutis

Long🧵on the provisions of #BuildBackBetter on all things #electricity & #grid. The act starts w/ ~3bn in loans for electric co-ops @NRECANews, incl. projects w/ #batteries. Co-ops have been very involved in @ENERGY-funded R&D & are now enabled to bring results to practice! 1/

It is funny that in my postdoc work @CMU_ECE & @NRECANews w/ @eeregov funding, we actually studied the added value of #battery to #photovoltaics for residential customers' energy cost savings: energy.gov/eere/solar/pro… & [1],[3], [4] here panay1ot1s.com/publications-s… 2/

Another ~10bn to co-ops for loans until 2031 to improve #resilience & #reliability w/ investments in #renewables & #transmission . Co-ops 'own' transmission lines & this money can motivate adjacent upgrades. Also critical that #renewables & #transmission appear together here! 3/

~100mn will be invested in informing & educating consumers, authorities & industry on why it is necessary & how to reduce #GHG emissions from domestic electricity. Since #misinformation => #NIMBY-ism + #climatescepticism this is an important initiative. 4/

Another ~350mn go for training contractors, energy auditors & installers for #energyefficiency, #HVAC, electric stoves & other similar retrofits. Which is complemented by ~6bn in direct rebates to consumers & entities for costs of energy efficiency projects & appliances. 5/

This previous part is VERY interesting because it matches rebate amounts to % energy efficiency improvement. I believe a study by @DrChrisClack, due to distribution system granularity, will be valuable to assess the fairness & impact of the rebates.. 6/

I am concerned that the rebates seem limited to 50% of expenses, which might limit access to energy efficiency to middle+low income families. The #UtilityDeathSpiral w/ photovoltaics should NOT be repeated w/ energy efficiency! Follow @DestenieNock on equitable energy shift. 7/

400mn to local authorities equally split for programs installing #EV charging and #hydrogen refueling stations. Also 3.5bn will fund domestic manufacturing of #EV, #PHEV & hydrogen-based vehicles. #transportation 8/

2bn are allocated for new #transmission projects of at least 1GW or upgrades of at least 500MW capacity. Again #transmission & #renewables are linked here! 9/

Taking a break here (I teach) & will continue in about two hours! #smartgridnerd #energy #energytwitter 10/n

Back! I start w/ a correction to tweet #9. The 2bn are targeted for #transmission projects across east-west #SEAMS, between @ERCOT_ISO & east/west interconnection, for #offshorewind & also at the discretion of @SecGranholm; interesting @ElectrifyBloom & @LizaBevin right? 11/

~1bn goes to 'mediation' for interstate #transmission projects. This points to the issues/delays arising when lines cross PUC authorities, that we saw in our project w/ a @CMUEngineering & @teppercmu students & alumni.

https://twitter.com/PMoutis/status/1310945229734846464

12/

50mn are planned to improve the operation of wholesale electricity markets and ISOs will have access to apply for such grants. Technical & policy assistance are considered. 13/

Since it is seems common sense that #transmission & #renewables go hand in hand, 100mn go towards studies on the value of new trX projects (modeling, capacity studies, load flow, etc) & the inputs of stakeholders on this assessment. 14/

In the previous studies, non-trX alternatives such as storage & #smartgrid technologies are explicitly mentioned as considerations. 15/

Licensing & wind lease provisions are mentioned for all #offshorewind locations along the east coast and the US territories incl. Puerto Rico. 16/

The government practically supports #EV & zero-emission vehicles w/ allocating ~3bn for own & ~6bn for @USPS procurements & charging stations. Which might explain why @Hertz moved swiftly into a deal for 100k @Tesla EVs a few days ago! theguardian.com/commentisfree/… 17/

Many incentives and credit provisions are extended or amended to various extents, but I will let #renewables & #energymarket experts list them & explain their impact. 18/

Several provisions & clarifications are added to #storage technologies incl. batteries, biogas, energy from #microgrids & others. They extend or enhance credits of existing laws. 19/

Low-income zones are getting a boost of credit for energy efficiency & renewables projects. This might help families & households of middle-low income who have struggled joining the clean energy shift. High upfront expenses are still a concern, though! 20/

Investments in workforce training in vicinities of coal mines and coal-fired generating plants are planned in the 0.25bn per year. 21/

And this is where I have reached to cover I think all #electrification & #grid references in the #BuildBackBetterAct. Thanks for following along and please comment and retweet with your thoughts! #energytwitter n/n

@threadreaderapp unroll