Special Presentation: What’s the Role of Existing Hydro in Decarbonizing the U.S. Electric Sector?

Between now and 2035, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licenses for about 450 hydro projects, totaling nearly 16,000 MW of capacity, will expire. Will going through the relicensing process - which is expensive and lengthy - ultimately result in less hydropower capacity and generation?

If that happens, what will be the overall effect on the U.S.'s quest for a clean energy grid?

Climate analysis experts at EPRI (the Electric Power Research Institute) are investigating how decisions about hydro relicensing will affect electricity costs, emissions, and the future electrical capacity and electricity generation mix in the U.S.

Come to this special session to learn what EPRI is planning to model in order to see what's at stake ... not only the hydro industry but the overall U.S. electric sector.

It's also your opportunity to give feedback in real time about what factors EPRI should incorporate into its modeling to make the tool as useful as practicable.

Presenter(s)

Chris RoneyResearch Lead, Economy-wide Analysis and Electrification, Energy Systems and Climate Analysis GroupEPRI - Electric Power Research InstituteSpeaker