{"428481":{"#nid":"428481","#data":{"type":"news","title":"States Can Lower Electric Bills with Clean Power Plan","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. electric system faces an array of challenges. Sluggish demand growth and the rise of solar power challenge the ability of utilities to recover their costs. The digital economy requires reliable power quality, and growing cyber threats call for increased investments in grid security. On top of these issues, global climate disruption suggests that energy systems need to be transformed. As a result, most forecasts predict that electricity bills will rise significantly over the next several decades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn response to these issues, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology examined options for the power industry\u2019s future. The report released Monday will \u201chelp states define their preferred approach for complying with proposed carbon pollution regulations,\u201d said Marilyn Brown, the project\u2019s lead investigator and the Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe report, \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/publications\/working-papers\/low-carbon-electricity-pathways-us-and-south-assessment-costs-and\u0022\u003ELow-Carbon Electricity Pathways for the U.S. and the South\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d examines two key issues: how states can reduce carbon pollution in the most cost-effective way and how different options impact household electricity bills.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo minimize costs, the South needs to reduce its coal consumption more rapidly, continue to expand its gas-fired power plants, but temper this growth with aggressive policies to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy,\u201d Brown said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project took a turn when last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first ever carbon pollution standards for existing power plants (known as the Clean Power Plan). Since states have considerable latitude to define their preferred response, they are vigorously debating the pros and cons of different options.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing state-of-the-art modeling, Georgia Tech identified least-cost clean power pathways that would lower household electricity bills and reduce carbon pollution. This combination may not seem intuitive to some, but it is good news for states across the South and the nation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis work provides the type of analytic basis that is needed to inform policymaking and will guide the future of the power industry for decades,\u201d said Tim Lieuwen, director of the Strategic Energy Institute at Georgia Tech. \u0022Georgia Tech plays an important role as honest broker in national policy discussions, and we will continue to support decision makers through these types of analyses.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new Georgia Tech report, \u201cLow-Carbon Electricity Pathways for the U.S. and the South,\u201d examines\u0026nbsp;how states can reduce carbon pollution in the most cost-effective way and how different options impact household electricity bills.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech identified least-cost clean power pathways that would lower household electricity bills and reduce carbon pollution."}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2015-07-27 08:17:11","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:15","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"408421":{"id":"408421","type":"image","title":"Marilyn Brown","body":null,"created":"1449254188","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:28","changed":"1507036835","gmt_changed":"2017-10-03 13:20:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"202185","name":"140923_brown.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/140923_brown_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/140923_brown_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":38907,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/140923_brown_0.jpg?itok=n_eW5fpm"}}},"media_ids":["408421"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/publications\/working-papers\/low-carbon-electricity-pathways-us-and-south-assessment-costs-and","title":"Low-Carbon Electricity Pathways for the U.S. and the South"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"167070","name":"serve\u2022learn\u2022sustain"},{"id":"166890","name":"sustainability"},{"id":"83491","name":"utilities"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"},{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}