Each week, we review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted at the “indispensable” RFF Library Blog, curated by RFF Librarian Chris Clotworthy.
EPA’s Clean Power Plan: States’ Tools for Reducing Costs & Increasing Benefits to Consumers
[Press Release] States are well positioned to implement the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recently proposed Clean Power Plan, according to a new report from Analysis Group. The report, funded by the Energy Foundation and the Merck Family Fund, was released at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ conference in Dallas. Analysis Group says the study is based on a careful analysis of states that already have experience regulating carbon pollution. It finds that those states’ economies have seen net increases in economic output and jobs... – via The Analysis Group for the Energy Foundation and the Merck Family Fund / by Paul Hibbard, et al.
National Funding of Road Infrastructure
This report examines the funding of roads and highways in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England and Wales, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, and Sweden. It provides a description of the infrastructure in the jurisdiction, information on the ownership and responsibility of the roads, and taxes or other ways of collecting money to fund the nation’s infrastructure. If applicable, a discussion of reforms or new initiatives is examined... – via Law Library of Congress
[Fort Worth Star Telegram] …Banning hydraulic fracturing in Denton would cause potential losses of $251.4 million in economic activity in the city over 10 years and more than 2,000 jobs, according to an economic impact study conducted by The Perryman Group in Waco being released today. It would also reduce tax revenue by $5.1 million to the city of Denton, and $4.6 million to the Denton Independent School District, the study projects... – via The Perryman Group for the Denton Chamber of Commerce
Resilience of the Electrical Grid to Natural Disasters: DOE Workshop
On June 11, 2014, the Department of Energy held a half-day workshop to identify key R&D activities for enhancing the resilience of electric distribution grids to natural disasters. Workshop attendees met to share current practices by distribution utilities and ongoing activities on resilient electric distribution grid R&D, define R&D gaps, and identify key activities to fill those gaps... – via 2014 Resilient Electric Distribution Grid R&D Workshop: Final Report and Other Materials
Modernizing America’s Electric Grid: Solutions for Transmission, Storage, Distribution & Resilience
[From an Energy Wire article by Peter Behr, sub. req'd] …Members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) outlined their proposals to the [Obama Administration's Quadrennial Energy Review] (QER) yesterday, making the case that a transformation of the power grid is underway, with large-scale retirements of coal plants yielding to natural gas generation, renewable power resources, electricity storage and demand-side programs. The changes require efficient, accelerated development of new technologies, and that requires a national energy road map, the NEMA representatives said… – via National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
