Study by the Electricity and Energy Innovation finds choosing a clean energy pathway to meeting America’s electricity demand in 2030 would cost $5 billion less than meeting the demand with fossil fuels
Peak electricity demand in the United States is projected to increase 24% by 2030, according to Vote Solar, driven by data centers, industrial growth, and widespread electrification. The grid could meet this demand most cost effectively with clean energy rather than with fossil fuels, according to Let the sun in: Clean energy is the cheapest way to meet rising demand, a recent report from Electricity and Energy Innovation (EEI), a nonpartisan think tank.
To better understand the best pathway to meet the growing demand, EEI examined two scenarios for meeting electricity demand through 2030. In one, the United States follows the current federal policy approach, increasing use of fossil fuels as demand accelerates. The other pathway models the United States taking full advantage of clean energy to meet growing electricity use.
The report found that meeting the expected demand growth in the U.S. with a fossil fuel-heavy approach will add $29.7 billion annually to customer bills by 2030. The clean energy scenario, however, reduces overall costs to meet load growth by $5.1 billion annually that year compared to a high fossil scenario, a savings of 17%.
