Photo by Henrik Kam
We have the opportunity to achieve President Biden’s goal of building a 100 percent clean electricity grid by 2035. By going big and bold on climate-friendly energy investments and incentives for utilities that achieve ambitious clean energy targets, the US has the chance to create a strong, affordable, 100 percent clean energy electric grid -- and our new fact sheet on the federal Clean Electricity Standard shows how we can get there.
We need to grow our annual installations of wind and solar by 20 percent every year for each of the next 10 years.The good news: The US is very capable of sustaining this ambitious level of growth. In fact, renewable energy installations grew nearly 20 percent each year on average from 2010 through 2020.
This kind of steady clean energy growth needs policy certainty. To set the nation’s grid on that path requires historic investments in clean, renewable energy sources, including expanded tax credits for renewable energy and clean energy payments for utilities that achieve ambitious clean energy targets. These tools, along with ending subsidies for fossil fuels like gas and coal, are critical to transforming our grid and creating a system that will protect the climate, reduce energy bills, and reduce air pollution.
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley studied whether it would be possible to run our grid on 90 percent carbon-free electricity and 70 percent renewable energy by 2035. They found that a clean electrical grid would be both affordable and reliable, and that there was no need to build additional gas plants as backup. This is just the latest in a series of studies that show clean energy is best for consumers and the planet.
We can power the places we live and work with 100 percent clean electricity, which will reduce pollution, protect community health, and mitigate the climate crisis. A clean, reliable, affordable grid that protects the public from dirty air and water is within our reach -- but only if we take bold climate action now.