Energy policy of the United States
It addresses issues of energy production, distribution, consumption, and modes of use, such as building codes, mileage standards, and commuting policies.
[2] Federal energy policies since the 1973 oil crisis have been criticized for having an alleged crisis-mentality, promoting expensive quick fixes and single-shot solutions that ignore market and technology realities.
[6] In 2018, US exports of coal, natural gas, crude oil and petroleum products exceeded imports, achieving a degree of energy independence for the first time in decades.
Various multinational groups have attempted to establish goals and timetables for energy and other climate-related policies, such as the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement.
[18][19] Abundant oil in California, Texas, Oklahoma, as well as in Canada and Mexico, coupled with its low cost, ease of transportation, high energy density, and use in internal combustion engines, led to its increasing use.
[20] As oil imports increased, US foreign policy was drawn into Middle Eastern politics, seeking to maintain a steady supply via actions such as protecting Persian Gulf sea lanes.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (aka CAFE) standards were enacted in 1975 and progressively tightened over time to compel manufacturers to improve vehicle mileage.
[34] The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 provided funding to help improve building codes and outlawed the sale of incandescent light bulbs in favor of fluorescents and LEDs.
[40] On June 1, 2017, then-President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would cease participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, agreed to under the President Barack Obama administration.
[71] Second, it raised royalty rates from 12.5% to 16.7%, doubled rents and increased lease bond minimums by a factor of 15 on federal lands for oil and gas companies.
[75][76] January 22, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency, stating that increased drilling and expedited pipeline construction would necessitate court orders.
“It could accelerate energy projects, but it would compromise water standards, jeopardize endangered species, and create significant gaps,” remarked Mark Novitt, a professor at Emory University School of Law.
"[78] As of January 2023[update], its elaboration of the mission statement is as follows: The US bans energy imports from countries such as Russia (because of the Russo-Ukrainian War)[79] and Venezuela.
[84] Under President Biden, the pattern continued, as hundreds of other new oil and gas projects, many of them marked for boosting exports to counter China and Russia's influence, were approved.
[117] Landowners and operators who establish, produce, and deliver biofuel crops may qualify for partial reimbursement of startup costs as well as for annual payments.
[117] The 2005 Energy Policy Act offered incentives including billions in tax reductions for nuclear power, fossil fuel production, clean coal technologies, renewable electricity, and conservation and efficiency improvements.
[120] Permian Basin drilling activity, some of it on federal lands, also brought about record high oil production even after the Act's signing in 2022.
The legal and policy cornerstone of these rules is to remedy undue discrimination in access to the monopoly owned transmission wires that control whether and to whom electricity can be transported in interstate commerce.
"[136] The Order required all public utilities that own, control, or operate facilities used for transmitting electric energy in interstate commerce, to have open-access non-discriminatory transmission tariffs.
[140] In February 2018, FERC issued Order 841, which required wholesale markets to open up to individual storage installations, regardless of interconnection point (transmission, distribution or behind-the-meter).
[141][142] The Order was challenged in court by the state public utility commissions via the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), the American Public Power Association, and others who claimed that FERC overstepped its jurisdiction by regulating how local electric distribution and behind-the-meter facilities are administered, i.e., by not providing an opt-out of wholesale market access for energy storage facilities located at the distribution level or behind-the-meter.
[143][144][145] FERC issued Order 2222 on September 17, 2020, enabling distributed energy resources such as batteries and demand response to participate in regional wholesale electricity markets.
[148] The Supreme Court had ruled in 2016 in FERC v. Electric Power Supply Ass'n that the agency had the authority to regulate demand response transactions.
[153] On October 30, the DOE announced the results of a mandated triennial study that, for the first time in its history, included anticipation of future grid transmission needs; the Act had explicitly required this inclusion.
[152][150] The following April 25, the DOE announced the TFP selection of the 2-gigawatt Southwest Intertie Project North, which effectively extends the One Nevada Transmission Line northward to Idaho.
[158] Even with the IRA, U.S. transmission grid capacity would have to triple in order to meet the global target of net zero carbon emissions according to a Princeton University study.
1920-A, an amendment to it passed unanimously the following November, allows state regulators even more opportunities to provide input on interstate grid projects, adds six months to the cost allocation negotiating process, and gives utilities more leeway to forecast additional needs scenarios.
[168] While the United States has cumulatively emitted the most greenhouse gases of any country, it represents a declining fraction of ongoing emissions, long superseded by China.
[170][171] Since its peak in 1973, per capita US emissions have declined by 40%, resulting from improved technology, the shift in economic activity from manufacturing to services, changing consumer preferences and government policy.
This means accelerating the deployment of the 11 wedges so they begin to take effect in 2015 and are completely operational in much less time than originally modeled by Socolow and Pacala.
