Value of clean local energy

Generating renewable energy in the communities where it is used avoids the expensive and inefficient long-distance transmission of power.

• Massive transmission infrastructure — which is needed to get energy from large, distant power plants to communities where it is consumed — is expensive to site, build, and maintain.
• In 2017 – 2018, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) cancelled $2.6 billion worth of approved transmission projects because faster-than-expected deployment of distributed energy resources (DER) and energy efficiency eliminated the need for this expensive transmission.
• Long-distance energy transmission is inefficient — about 11% of all the energy bought in California is lost during transmission.
• Emissions from electricity loss on long transmission lines are significant.

• Developing clean energy locally creates jobs within the community — and it creates more jobs than developing traditional, centralized power plants.
• Generating clean energy locally keeps dollars in the community. And it can give residents, businesses, and institutions a path to entrepreneurship in the fast-growing clean energy economy.
• A 2014 report showed that 1 MW (megawatt) of locally owned solar means as much as $5.7 million in lifetime economic benefits for a community
• Developing clean local energy generation turns underused spaces such as parking lots, fields, and rooftops into energy-producing assets — without the controversy and cost involved in building large power plants on undeveloped land.

Updating our power system will boost America’s energy independence.

• A modern power grid incorporating clean local energy can fully support electric vehicles, reducing our reliance on foreign oil.
• An intelligent grid can support high levels of renewable energy, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels in favor of clean energy made in communities across America.