As the intensity of climate change accelerates globally with record heat waves, floods, and droughts, a heightened sense of urgency among national and utility industry leaders is evident in news reports and shareholder briefings.
The newly formed National Public Utility Council (NPUC) seeks to galvanize and amplify this shared sense of climate urgency. On Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in collaboration with Motive Power and Visual Capitalist, NPUC launched their first Annual Utility Decarbonization Report.
NPUC’s report ranks 30 top U.S. investor-owned utilities (IOUs) according to a set of six metrics that identify steps those utilities have taken toward decarbonizing their power generation. Those metrics include the following:
- Low Carbon Fuels in Generation Mix
- CO2 Emissions Intensity per MWh
- Total CO2 Emissions per Utility
- Emissions Per Capita (customer)
- Decarbonization Goals and Targets toward Net Zero Emissions
- Low-carbon Capital Investment
Applying the metrics above, the Decarbonization Report ranks the 30 largest U.S. electric utilities on a scale of one to five, with a ranking of five (5) designating utilities which are setting the best, most effective example to the public, its shareholders, regulators, and its industry peers of active decarbonization effort. By highlighting these six metrics, NPUC hopes to build a critical mass of action, spearheaded by utility industry executives, which will influence industry peers to initiate and accelerate similar action toward power generation decarbonization.
The Annual Utility Decarbonization Report scrutinizes and showcases industry fuel transition best practices. Going a step further, it highlights obstacles utilities of all sizes face as they confront regulatory mandates and investor pressure to undertake fuel transition. Obstacles include current lack of suitable grid infrastructure; lack of funding; technical challenges presented by intermittency of renewables; socio-economic divide issues; and workforce attrition and development. The report offers a range of potential solutions to those challenges. The report further highlights utility response to newly emergent imperatives involving Environmental Stewardship, Social Responsibility, and Governance (ESG) commitments.
By providing a clearinghouse of industry activity, information, and discussion, NPUC’s intent with this report is to further press the electric power generation sector – responsible for 25% of national carbon emissions – to accelerate the transition away from carbon-rich, fossil fuel electricity generation. NPUC believes that as the power industry moves toward decarbonization goals, that action will cascade into other sectors, notably transportation and manufacturing.
The Annual Utility Decarbonization Report is free to industry and the public. Look for the report starting Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, here.
