As the Clean Energy Transition Institute (CETI) approached our five-year anniversary in February, the CETI Board and team undertook an assessment of the current clean energy ecosystem in the Northwest and CETI’s role and impact.
From January 6-February 13, 2023, we conducted interviews with over 40 key climate and clean energy stakeholders/thought leaders in Washington and Oregon. We were particularly interested in determining the implementation tools the region most needed to accelerate equitable decarbonization between now and 2030.
Our goals were to:
We asked stakeholders how well they thought the Northwest was positioned to meet net-zero carbon emission targets and what the region’s biggest opportunities and challenges were to achieving a clean energy economy. We also asked what the Northwest needed to take full advantage of the federal funding that will be flowing to states in 2023 and who the key people were who would make the decisions about funding.
Lastly, interviewees shared their thoughts on CETI’s strengths and weaknesses, our value to the climate and clean energy policy landscape in the Northwest, and whether there were organizations CETI should partner with.
We interviewed 43 people from 30 different organizations in Washington and Oregon, including businesses, foundations, government agencies and a National Laboratory, nonprofits, and utilities. This was a small sample of the larger clean energy community who, for the most part, were engaged in CETI’s work, so it did not represent a comprehensive nor unbiased list of clean energy stakeholders. Figure 1 shows the breakdown by type of organization for those we interviewed.
The vast majority of interviewees agreed that the Northwest is relatively well-positioned to meet net-zero carbon emission targets, at least compared to other U.S. regions, but thought that there were still significant challenges to grapple with. We heard:
“We are better off than any other place in the country because we start with low-carbon electricity and hydropower, we have a long rich history with energy efficiency, we do not have highly polluting industries, and the policy direction is clear.”
“We are well-positioned with a suite of [clean energy] laws and policies in Oregon and Washington. The challenge is implementation and getting the pieces moving quickly enough. ‘Making it real’ is going to be the hard part.”
“Just because we created those policies, it doesn’t mean they will necessarily happen. There is a gap between policies and on the ground activities…leading in policy matters does not necessarily mean leading on action.”
With regard to specific opportunities and challenges to achieving a clean energy economy in the Northwest, the number one challenge was the need to solve implementation issues, such as clean energy siting and infrastructure, including transmission, and how to ensure that the transition happens equitably. A selection of comments that illustrate these responses includes:
“The transition must be equitable and not leave people behind, both for the sake of those communities, and because if the transition has a negative effect and overburdens already vulnerable communities, that can set back transition efforts across the country.”
“Siting is huge, monstrous. It is a huge challenge to site as much renewable energy as we need. Public opposition will be hard, and it is key to have early upfront planning to get a running start on stakeholder engagement.”
“We have frameworks and targets, but not specific programs and projects. We need to figure out how to get implementation done and how to deploy at scale. We need to know what to invest in now so we don’t get to 2040 and say we really should have built ‘x’ along the way.”
“The electric grid is at the center of the transformation, contrary to five or ten years ago. There are new loads from building electrification, transportation electrification, hydrogen electrolysis at scale, etc. Flexibility is going to be key.”
We asked stakeholders what the Northwest needs to take advantage of incoming federal funding opportunities for climate and clean energy. Over and over, we heard calls for leadership, increased capacity, planning, and prioritization of opportunities, as well as comments about the roles that non-state government entities (NGOs, private sector, local governments, and Tribes) must play:
“We need greater capacity for communities to gain access to funding. NGOs, community-based organizations, Tribes, rural coops, etc., do not necessarily have experience with federal grants.”
“How do we make sure that funds are going to the places where they are most needed? The challenge is how to get money to the right people so that it’s not just another thing where the wrong people using it for the wrong reasons.”
Interviewees noted that our small scale inhibits our impact and urged CETI to grow its team and influence while broadening our audiences. At the same time, they affirmed CETI’s strengths in terms of analytics, research, communications, and convenings:
“[CETI] provides unbiased, sober assessments of how to get from here to there. When there is fatigue from all the different studies showing different 'solutions,' CETI provides the directionally correct strategy and scenarios.”
“CETI is the place where multiple stakeholders can agree on a problem set of questions and come up with a clear-eyed scenario analysis to direct future-making policy.”
“CETI plays an important role in bringing nuance. We need entities like CETI to be good brokers. You are in a better position to bring in a more diverse set of stakeholders."
“Your research is really important in that it recognizes the policy and political challenges and the regional context.”
“[CETI has] done the calculations and the math that prove the points that decisionmakers need to see to understand what is feasible with today’s technology, and the trade-offs if they take one path versus another.”
“You offer the imagery and analysis that is required for people to feel comfortable moving into this deeply uncomfortable space of changing how our economy works.”
The CETI Board and staff used what we learned to drive our strategic thinking for 2023 and beyond. There are six top areas emerging from the assessment that will guide our focus:
In the coming year, CETI will build on the groundwork we have laid since our inception five years ago; sharpen our definition of an equitable clean energy transition and how we apply it to our work; and focus on regional decarbonization implementation strategies where we can provide the most value. Read more about our 2023 plan here.
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