INDUSTRY LEADERS
LABOR UNIONS
“We need to be careful not to let aspirational goals like “carbon free by 2035” impose arbitrary limits on our ability to maintain a reliable and affordable supply of electricity.”
“We support the transition to renewable energy but disagree with arbitrary numbers that don’t take into account our current energy mix and energy needs. 2050 is certainly better than 2035.”
– Patrick O’Loughlin | President and CEO Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives
“What concerns the industry as a whole is 2035, and what you’re hearing from the industry is a recognition that we need to get it right. We can’t compromise reliability.” – Lisa Barton | Executive vice president and COO American Electric Power Co.
– Yvette Pena O’Sullivan | Executive director Laborers’ International Union of North America
“We will not support policies that accelerate the closure of coal plants. The closures are already happening more rapidly than communities can deal with and are leaving economic devastation behind them.” – Lee Anderson | Director of government affairs Utility Workers Union of America
TRADE ASSOCIATIONS “Where’s the technology today that can allow that to happen? What are going to be the commercially viable, always-available, and affordable carbon-free technologies to provide electricity? People can set goal X, Y, or Z, but are the lights going to go on whenever consumers flip the switch? And will they be able to afford it?” – Jim Matheson | CEO National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
“It’s not something we can do in a very short period of time, and it’s going to come at considerable costs.” – Desmarie Waterhouse | Vice president of government relations American Public Power Association (APPA)
GRID OPERATORS “When we start looking at what 2040 looks like, you look at the performance of existing assets and the storage capabilities of existing battery technologies. All our models suggest there are just enough days when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun is shielded, and not enough battery storage to fill those gaps.” – Richard Dewey | CEO New York Independent System Operator (NYISO)
“In transmission terms, 2035 is like tomorrow. It feels challenging to me.” – Jennifer Curran | Vice president of system planning Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)
ENERGY ANALYSTS “The key threat is that too much investment too fast would raise customer bills more than customers might be willing to spend.” – Travis Miller | Equity strategist Morningstar Research Services
“The pace of wind and solar isn’t going fast enough to meet the 2035 target. But even if it was, there would also have to be contributions from new technologies like batteries, carbon capture and storage, nuclear, or hydrogen.” – Tom Rowlands-Rees | Head of North American research BloombergNEF
6 OHIO COOPERATIVE LIVING • NOVEMBER 2021
ELECTED OFFICIALS “I think that we can do [the clean energy transition] and move forward, but we’re not going to eliminate. You can’t just say we’re going to eliminate using all fossil and coal’s going to be out, oil’s going to be out, everything else, gas is going to be out of it.” – Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)
