Building energy infrastructure: Brookings CEPR Event, May 22

Building clean energy infrastructure: Roadblocks, tradeoffs, and solutions

A Hamilton Project and Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability event

Wednesday, May 22, 2024, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. EDT
The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium
1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20036

The Hamilton Project (THP) at the Brookings Institution and the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability will host an event exploring the roadblocks and tradeoffs that policymakers need to confront in order to create a resilient and clean electricity grid. Even as the federal permitting process has become more efficient, the fragmented governance of the grid has slowed projects and needed investments. Solving those issues is not enough: Utilities must also act to mitigate the increasing risk of wildfires from climate change and the aging grid.

The event will feature two fireside chats, the first with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and the second with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Commissioner Allison Clements, along with two panel discussions.

The event will coincide with the release of two new policy proposals focused on the governance of the electricity grid and the intersection of wildfire risk and utilities. The Hamilton Project will also release a facts document highlighting permitting reform.

For updates on the event, viewers can follow @HamiltonProj and join the conversation using #CleanEnergyFuture to ask questions or email info@hamiltonproject.org.

Guests at Brookings are required to attest to their state of health before attending. Visitors may not enter the building if they are feeling ill for any reason, have any symptoms commonly associated with COVID-19, have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and do not yet meet the criteria to resume normal activities based on current CDC guidance, or have been advised by their healthcare professional or otherwise to not enter any space where some persons may not be vaccinated.

—————–

1:30 p.m. | Welcome

Robert E. Rubin, Former U.S. Treasury Secretary; Chairman Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations

1:35 p.m. | Fireside chat with Senator Padilla

The Honorable Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), U.S. Senator
Moderator: Evan Halper, Energy Reporter, The Washington Post

2:05 p.m. | Panel discussion: Clean energy transition and the trade-offs required to move quickly and efficiently

Michael Wara, Senior Director of Policy, Sustainability Accelerator, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Shelley Welton, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Catherine Wolfram, William F. Pounds Professor of Energy Economics, MIT Sloan School of Management
Moderator: Sanjay Patnaik, Director, Center on Regulation and Markets, Bernard L. Schwartz Chair in Economic Policy Development, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution

2:55 p.m. | Break

3:05 p.m. | Fireside chat with Commissioner Clements

The Honorable Allison Clements, Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Moderator: Lauren Bauer, Associate Director, The Hamilton Project, Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution

3:35 p.m. | Panel discussion: Challenges and solutions to clean energy infrastructure trade-offs

Suzi Kerr, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Environmental Defense Fund
Maria Pope, President and CEO, Portland General Electric
Mark Toney, Executive Director, TURN – The Utility Reform Network
Moderator: Wendy Edelberg, Director, The Hamilton Project, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution

4:30 p.m. | Event adjourns