IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2018 - 89

Due to the pace of change in technology and the
speed at which those technologies need to be deployed,
agility in planning and market design is paramount.

likely produce less-optimal planning decisions than would
otherwise happen under a slower transition. the main risk is
that too many poor decisions could derail the entire process,
driving up costs while missing the carbon goals. this highlights the need for expanded long-term planning.

Concluding Thoughts: An Elevated
Role for Planning Is Needed to Ensure
Prudency and Guide Sequencing
Toward Deep Decarbonization Goals
Establishing and frequently updating a clear road map to deep
decarbonization in electricity is critical to ensure goals are met
on time and at reasonable cost. in creating and administering
such road maps, utilities and their regulators play an indispensable role and must rise to the occasion for the enterprise to
succeed. We conclude by offering some guiding principles for
success over the coming decades.
✔ a key to future planning will be the efficient and transparent sharing of information among stakeholders,
some of which have not coordinated historically.
✔ regulators should strive to understand which changes
will be best accomplished through markets and which
through regulations.
✔ it is better to delay reaching 2050 goals than to make
poor decisions because the goals may end up even
further delayed and have a damping effect on achieving long-term decarbonization. deliberation must be
properly balanced against urgency.
✔ all near-term decisions should always be viewed through
the lens of long-term goals. this will help minimize
carbon lock-in or stranded assets.
✔ regulators have an important role to play in democratizing risk and in transforming markets by deploying
novel technologies.
this article raises many questions regarding markets
and regulatory structures at large associated with a highly
electrified electricity system with significant amounts of
renewables. due to the pace of change in technology and
the speed at which those technologies need to be deployed,
agility in planning and market design is paramount. this
is perhaps the single most important concept for regulators
and system planners in the coming decades: maintaining
the ability to correct course quickly and frequently will be

july/august 2018

more valuable than the ability to perfectly follow a blueprint created years before.

For Further Reading
J. h. Williams, B. haley, f. Kahrl, J. Moore, a. d. Jones,
M. s. torn, and h. McJeon. (2014). pathways to deep decarbonization in the united states: the u.s. report of the deep
decarbonization pathways project of the sustainable development solutions network and the institute for sustainable
development and international relations. revision with technical supplement, nov. 16, 2015. [online]. available: http://
usddpp.org/downloads/2014-technical-report.pdf
J. h. Williams, B. haley, and r. Jones. (2015, nov. 17).
policy implications of deep decarbonization in the united
states: a report of the deep decarbonization pathways project of the sustainable development solutions network and the
institute for sustainable development and international relations. [online]. available: http://usddpp.org/downloads/2015report-on-policy-implications.pdf
J. Williams, r. Jones, G. Kwok, and B. haley, "deep decarbonization in the northeastern united states and expanded coordination with hydro-Quebéc," 2018.
G. Kwok and B. haley. (2018). portland general electric
decarbonization study. [online]. available: https://www
.evolved.energy/single-post/2018/02/23/portland-GeneralElectric-decarbonization-study
r. Jones. (2017). conference presentation: realities
of balancing electricity systems with 100% renewables.
[online]. available: https://www.evolved.energy/singlepost/2017/07/11/realities-of-balancing-electricity-systemswith-100-renewables

Biographies
Ryan Jones is with Evolved Energy research, denver,
colorado.
Ben Haley is with Evolved Energy research, denver,
colorado.
Gabe Kwok is with Evolved Energy research, portland,
oregon.
Jeremy Hargreaves is with Evolved Energy research,
san francisco, california.
Jim Williams is with the university of san francisco,
p&e
california.

ieee power & energy magazine

http://usddpp.org/downloads/2014-technical-report.pdf http://usddpp.org/downloads/2014-technical-report.pdf http://usddpp.org/downloads/2015-report-on-policy-implications.pdf http://usddpp.org/downloads/2015-report-on-policy-implications.pdf https://www.evolved.energy/single-post/2018/02/23/Portland-General-Electric-Decarbonization-Study https://www.evolved.energy/single-post/2018/02/23/Portland-General-Electric-Decarbonization-Study https://www.evolved.energy/single-post/2017/07/11/Realities-of-balancing-electricity-systems-with-100-renewables https://www.evolved.energy/single-post/2017/07/11/Realities-of-balancing-electricity-systems-with-100-renewables

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2018