TechNet supports policies that are technology-neutral and that foster and promote innovation in clean energy supply and demand for a sustainable climate. This allows companies to create, thrive, and compete in the United States and around the globe. Technology is a significant driver of efficiencies and innovative solutions for solving a wide range of environmental issues, so it should be fostered through smart policy and research and development funding. TechNet’s state program supports the following principles:
- A robust, technology-neutral energy agenda that will spur the development and deployment of clean energy and clean transportation resources and technologies.
- Customer choice.
- Resilience and reliability in the face of security threats, natural disasters, and uninterrupted energy supplies. Understanding that clean energy and resilient energy are not mutually exclusive, TechNet will seek to advance the intersection of sustainable energy and resilient energy.
- The expansion of competitive and transparent energy supply markets at the wholesale and retail levels.
- Forward-looking policies that ensure open access and enable market-based deployment of wholesale and distributed energy resources.
- States should support deploying new transmission lines and upgrading existing transmission lines to expand and fortify grid infrastructures with grid-enhancing technologies (GETs), reconductoring, and other innovative solutions that reduce congestion and transmission constraints.
- Fair and equal access to data, in a standardized format, to enable industry growth while empowering consumers to effectively deploy and utilize clean energy and clean transportation solutions.
- Stable tax policies that provide industry and consumers with long-term clarity to support the investment in and deployment of clean energy technologies.
- Policies that recognize the contributions of companies with voluntary clean energy initiatives that move faster than state goals, such as accelerated renewable energy buyer provisions in Clean Energy Standards and Renewable Portfolio Standards.
- Policies that provide support for green jobs, including training and upskilling.
Environmental Stewardship
TechNet member companies have developed and continue to maintain significant policies and practices that protect the environment, address climate change, and promote sustainable conservation, recycling, and waste reduction. Technology is used to drive efficiencies, reduce waste and emissions, and create innovative solutions for environmental challenges. Efforts to expand or create new mandated environmental programs should be inclusive, balanced, flexible, and data-driven in order to achieve stated aims and avoid significant disruption.
Environmental Applications of AI
Artificial intelligence can assist with tackling the world’s greatest environmental challenges. To promote these efforts, governments should create and maintain open-source environmental data and forecast databases, making them freely accessible to train AI models. Working together, industry and governments can leverage these climate models and forecasts to turn big data into actionable information and accelerate the research and development process.
TechNet will support policies that foster collaboration between government, private sector, and academia to accelerate environmental applications of AI, including the option to open source these learnings and best practices to ensure the benefits of AI are shared with communities that may lack the resources to implement such technologies independently.
TechNet will support policies to leverage grants and tax incentives to promote the environmental applications of AI, which can unlock new opportunities. For example, AI can help to optimize critical systems like the electricity grid or detect and monitor wildfires and illegal deforestation.
Energy Appendix
TechNet’s clean energy priorities include advocacy and support around the following policy areas; further details on each of these can be found in the Appendix.
- Demand Response (DR)
- Distributed Energy Resources (DER)
- Energy Efficiency Standards
- Resilient Energy Supply
- Clean Energy Standards, Renewable Portfolio Standards, Alternative Portfolio Standards, Renewable Fuel Standards, and Low Carbon Fuel Standards
- Grid Modernization
- Retail Energy Competition and Self-Supply
- Grid and Customer Data Access and Transparency
- Electrification of Transportation
- Clean Energy Supply
- Microgrids
- Demand Charges