Photo Credit: Jackson Cooper Gango
About the Clean Energy Legislative Academy
The Clean Energy Legislative Academy (CELA) brings together a bi-partisan cohort of state legislators and legislative energy staffers for two intensive four-day academies. Both events provide attendees the information and resources necessary for developing effective state-level clean energy policy. Our politically neutral forum provides an opportunity to learn about clean energy policy, discuss challenges in your state, and speak freely.
Typically held in Breckenridge, Colorado in July, our summer event brings together 25-30 state legislators from across the political spectrum and the country. Legislators learn from a team of expert policy faculty about a variety of issue areas, network and share their stories with one another, and develop strategies to make their states more competitive in the clean energy marketplace. In September, we invite the legislative staffers of our July attendees, returning legislators are also welcome. At this event, attendees join our experts in ‘deep dive’ workshops exploring policy solutions to the key issue areas identified as important by state by legislators in July.
The energy sector in the U.S. and around the globe is in transition. Coal plants are shutting down earlier than expected, and electricity is being replaced by cleaner and less expensive energy sources like renewables (wind and solar) and natural gas. Communities home to coal mines and coal plants rely on the jobs and revenue provided by the coal industry, and with mine and plant closures, they will face uncertain futures. The Center for the New Energy Economy is working with coal community members and policymakers to help support community-led, equitable transitions from coal to a cleaner economy.
Repowering the Western Economy is the umbrella for the Center for the New Energy Economy’s (CNEE) work with Western states and utilities as they develop and implement their climate and clean energy plans.
In early 2020, CNEE, at the request of the Western Energy Industry Leaders (WEIL), convened a group of Western governors’ energy advisors along with a small but diverse group of experts representing utilities, power marketing administrations, renewable energy companies, and clean energy advocates. The goal of this effort, referred to as the Western Interconnect Regional Electricity Dialogue (WIRED), was to provide a set of recommendations to governors by the end of the year. To achieve this goal, CNEE facilitated a series of work group meetings to discuss and analyze a range of regional electricity issues including state clean energy and climate policies, resource adequacy (RA), and transmission development.
Advanced energy encompasses a broad range of products and services that constitute the best available technologies for meeting energy needs today and tomorrow. Among these are energy efficiency, solar, wind, electric vehicles, energy storage, and smart grid technologies. Advanced energy encompasses all of the innovations that make the energy we use more secure, clean, and affordable.
The AEL Tracker database tracks current and historical energy-related legislation introduced across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The database includes legislation that would either reduce or increase the market share for advanced energy technologies. The AEL Tracker’s easy-to-use interface allows users to search by state, year, keyword, bill status, or policy category (economic development, electricity generation, emissions, energy efficiency, financing and financial incentives, infrastructure, natural gas development, regulatory, transportation, or other energy). Our website offers access to bill texts, recent actions, and trends analyses. Users are also able to create a free, individualized bill tracking account through our myTracker service.
The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) for Clean Energy is a hub of information on both existing state clean energy policies and, uniquely, future policy opportunities. This resource synthesizes data from multiple sources on existing state policies, analyzes various components of those policies, and displays that information at the state and individual policy level. This allows users to view each state’s existing clean energy policies as well as opportunities for policy adoption. The SPOT for Clean Energy is a planning resource for states as they develop their clean energy policy roadmaps.
Users can download our full 50-state gap analysis, review our energy policy briefs, review source information, visit state-specific websites, and find the latest legislation in their state.
Written and co-authored by CNEE staff, our reports cover a range of energy policy topics.
The Energy Policy Podcast
Recorded between 2013 and 2018, our podcasts explored the rapid changes occurring in the energy industry and the state policies that addressed and responded to that change.
