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The article focuses on the development of offshore wind energy in the U.S. and its potential as a renewable energy resource. Topics include the Biden Administration's goals to deploy significant offshore wind energy capacity, the progress of various offshore wind projects in state and federal waters, and the debates and issues in Congress regarding the promotion of offshore wind energy development, including concerns related to environmental impacts, infrastructure, and revenue sharing.

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants is a focus of many proposals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. One option is to replace some coal power with natural gas generation, a relatively low carbon source of electricity, by increasing the power output from currently underutilized natural gas plants. This report provides an overview of the issues involved in displacing coal-fired generation with electricity from existing natural gas plants. This is a complex subject and the report does not seek to provide definitive answers. The report aims to highlight the key issues that Congress may want to consider in deciding whether to rely on, and encourage, displacement of coal-fired electricity with power from existing natural gas plants. The report finds that the potential for displacing coal by making greater use of existing gas-fired power plants depends on numerous factors. These include: • The amount of excess natural gas-fired generating capacity available. • The current operating patterns of coal and gas plants, and the amount of flexibility power system operators have for changing those patterns. • Whether or not the transmission grid can deliver power from existing gas power plants to loads currently served by coal plants. • Whether there is sufficient natural gas supply, and pipeline and gas storage capacity, to deliver large amounts of additional fuel to gas-fired power plants. There is also the question of the cost of a coal displacement by gas policy, and the impacts of such a policy on the economy, regions, and states. All of these factors have a time dimension. For example, while existing natural gas power plants may have sufficient excess capacity today to displace a material amount of coal generation, this could change in the future as load grows. Therefore a full analysis of the potential for gas displacement of coal must take into account future conditions, not just a snapshot of the current situation. As a step toward addressing these questions, Congress may consider chartering a rigorous study of the potential for displacing coal with power from existing gas-fired power plants. Such a study would require sophisticated computer modeling to simulate the operation of the power system to determine whether there is sufficient excess gas fired capacity, and the supporting transmission and other infrastructure, to displace a material volume of coal over the near term. Such a study could help Congress judge whether there is sufficient potential to further explore a policy of replacing coal generation with increased output from existing gas-fired plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike natural gas or fuel oil, electricity cannot be easily stored. However, interest in electric power storage (EPS) has been growing with technological advancements that can make storage a more practical means of integrating renewable power into the electricity grid and achieving other operating benefits. This report summarizes the technical, regulatory, and policy issues that surround implementation of EPS. Electricity storage is one of several non-traditional technologies and methods of meeting power demand that are of current Congressional interest (others include distributed generation, renewable power, and demand response). EPS and these other alternatives do not fit the traditional power industry paradigm, which involves reliance on large scale central power plants and long distance transmission lines to meet demand. This raises the question of how quickly and effectively the power industry and its regulators will be willing to pursue and deploy new approaches. Electricity storage is also currently a relatively high cost technology, another factor which could delay its deployment. The report identifies several areas for possible cfongressional oversight, including: ∙Power industry and state regulator acceptance of storage technologies. ∙Integration of storage into transmission system planning, including integration of renewable power into the electricity grid. ∙Federal executive agency focus on EPS as a solution to power system needs. ∙The application of incentives for electric power storage development included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA; P.L. 111-5). The report discusses how the provisions of several pending bills relate to the development of electric power storage, including S. 1091, the Storage Technology of Renewable and Green Energy Act of 2009 (STORAGE Act); H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES); and S. 1462, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 (ACELA). This report will be updated as warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising energy prices and concern over greenhouse gas emissions have focused congressional attention on energy alternatives, including wind power. Although wind power currently provides only about 1% of U.S. electricity needs, it is growing more rapidly than any other energy source. In 2007, over 5,000 megawatts of new wind generating capacity were installed in the United States, second only to new natural gas-fired generating capacity. Wind power has become "mainstream" in many regions of the country, and is no longer considered an "alternative" energy source. Wind energy has become increasingly competitive with other power generation options. Wind technology has improved significantly over the past two decades. CRS analysis presented here shows that wind energy still depends on federal tax incentives to compete, but that key uncertainties like climate policy, fossil fuel prices, and technology progress could dominate future cost competitiveness. A key challenge for wind energy is that electricity production depends on when winds blow rather than when consumers need power. Wind's variability can create added expenses and complexity in balancing supply and demand on the grid. Recent studies imply that these integration costs do not become significant (5-10% of wholesale prices) until wind turbines account for 15-30% of the capacity in a given control area. Another concern is that new transmission infrastructure will be required to send the wind-generated power to demand centers. Building new lines can be expensive and time-consuming, and there are debates over how construction costs should be allocated among end-users and which pricing methodologies are best. Opposition to wind power arises for environmental, aesthetic, or aviation security reasons. New public-private partnerships have been established to address more comprehensively problems with avian (bird and bat) deaths resulting from wind farms. Some stakeholders oppose the construction of wind plants for visual reasons, especially in pristine or highly-valued areas. A debate over the potential for wind turbines to interfere with aviation radar emerged in 2006, but most experts believe any possible problems are economically and technically manageable. Federal wind power policy has centered primarily on the production tax credit (PTC), a business incentive to operate wind facilities. The PTC is set to expire on December 31, 2008. Analysts and wind industry representatives argue that the onagain off-again nature of the PTC is inefficient and leads to higher costs for the industry. While there is often bipartisan support for the PTC in Congress, debate centers more fundamentally on how to offset its revenue losses. A federal renewable portfolio standard -- which would mandate wind power levels -- was rejected in the Senate in late 2007; its future is uncertain. If wind is to supply up to 20% of the nation's power by 2030, as suggested by a recent U.S. Department of Energy report, additional federal policies will likely be required to overcome barriers, and ensure development of an efficient wind market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]