24/7 Carbon-Free Energy
Local Governments Cohort
From 2022 to 2023, WRI convened a cohort of local governments interested in exploring 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE). Through this cohort, local governments engaged in a series of ten virtual workshops to build a community of practice around 24/7 CFE. Slides from each cohort workshop are posted below. While the content is designed for cohort participants, the materials may be helpful to other local governments and organizations interested in exploring 24/7 CFE.
Disclaimer: The following documents are provided as supplementary material for the cohort and have not been subject to rigorous external review.
Cohort Workshops
Workshop 1: Local Government Cohort Kickoff and Introduction to 24/7 CFE
The first workshop provided an introduction to 24/7 CFE; why it is important; why cities are interested in 24/7 or have set 24/7 goals; market experience to date with hourly CFE matching; and approaches and steps cities can take to implement 24/7 CFE. The workshop featured presentations from WRI and Google, who described their commitment and approach to 24/7 CFE.
Workshop 2: Assessing Hourly Loads and Coincidence with CFE
This workshop focused on understanding how hourly load data, grid generation and emissions data, and additional energy procurement data are used together to conduct 24/7 CFE analyses, and what resources and tools are available to collect and analyze these data. The workshop featured presentations from WRI; the city of Boulder, CO; RMI; and Greenlink Analytics.
Workshop 3: Exploring Supply-Side 24/7 Options and Firm Dispatchable CFE
This workshop explored how cities can utilize publicly available data to identify which types of procurement best support their hourly matching goals, how wind and solar generation can complement each other, and how hydropower can contribute to a city’s carbon-free energy resource portfolio. The workshop featured presentations from WRI, Peninsula Clean Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and National Hydropower Association.
Workshop 4: Integrating Storage into Supply Portfolios
This workshop examined how local governments can include storage options in a supply portfolio, how the storage market is developing, and how recent federal funding impacts storage deals. It also explored how one buyer structured a value-sharing deal to expand its storage capacity. The workshop featured presentations from the American Clean Power Association and Google.
Workshop 5: Assessing Demand Side Solutions
This workshop identified key opportunities for local governments to shift demand to better align with clean energy production on an hourly basis. It explored emerging research on grid-interactive building technology and highlighted how one leading city is pursuing electrification. The workshop featured presentations from WRI, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Luis Aguirre-Torres.
Workshop 6: Emerging Technology Solutions for Hourly Matching
This workshop highlighted a variety of emerging energy technologies and explored how they might be utilized to advance cities’ 24/7 carbon-free energy goals. For two technologies—advanced geothermal and advanced nuclear reactors—experts provided details on the timelines for commercialization, economic comparisons, and safety considerations. The workshop featured presentations from Clean Air Task Force, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and the Electric Power Research Institute.
Workshop 7: Reporting and Verification Practices for 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy
This workshop provided cohort participants with a deep dive into the key considerations and processes involved in reporting and verifying 24/7 carbon-free energy purchases. Participants also learned how new processes for hourly accounting of community electricity emissions are currently being tested. The workshop featured presentations from Center for Resource Solutions, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), and M-RETS.
Workshop 8: Developing an RFP for Hourly Matching of CFE; Assembling Resource Portfolios that Can Match City Loads
This workshop explored many of the important factors for local governments to consider when developing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to meet hourly matching goals. Participants also heard from Jan Pepper (CEO, Peninsula Clean Energy) about Peninsula’s new advanced modeling tool and the findings of their recent research. The workshop featured presentations from World Resources Institute and Peninsula Clean Energy.
Workshop 9: Developing a 24/7 CFE Strategy and Getting to Implementation
This workshop presented pathways and strategies for cities to advance 24/7 carbon-free energy goals. Participants learned how two peer cities are developing internal and external buy-in as they pursue advanced clean energy projects. The workshop featured presentations from C40 Cities, the City of Ann Arbor, MI and Salt Lake City, UT.
Workshop 10: Implementation Challenges and Cohort Wrap-Up
The final workshop centered on the key challenges that cohort members face implementing 24/7 CFE and meeting their clean energy goals. Representatives from three participating local governments shared challenges around working with their utility to develop CFE projects, collecting baseline 24/7 CFE data, and balancing 24/7 CFE investments with current needs. Workshop participants provided feedback and shared relevant experiences. To facilitate open sharing amongst cohort participants, we removed specific speaker attributions from the slides.
Cohort Resources
Resources developed by WRI and partners to support the cohort’s work on 24/7 CFE are also linked below. While the content is designed for cohort participants, the materials may be helpful to other local governments and organizations interested in exploring 24/7 CFE.
24/7 CFE Local Governments Cohort Summary Slide Deck
This slide deck provides a synopsis of the format of WRI’s 24/7 CFE Local Governments cohort, its participants, and key takeaways that emerged. The slide deck also covers the content of the cohort workshops, which were structured to follow the fundamental steps that local governments can take to advance 24/7 CFE goals.
24/7 CFE Local Governments Pitch Deck
This pitch deck provides local government staff with a modifiable template for proposing actions related to 24/7 CFE procurement to decision makers. The slides include instructions and links to resources to give additional context for potential actions.
Data Sourcing and Collection Memo
This resource is designed to help local governments understand the data needed to conduct a 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE) analysis. In addition, this memo offers general guidance about where and how these data can be collected or estimated.
24/7 CFE Analysis Template
A complementary resource to the Data Sourcing and Collection Memo, this Excel file provides additional details about how the data sources are used in a 24/7 CFE analysis and includes a simple template that local governments can adapt to their needs.
24/7 CFE Request for Proposals (RFP) Template
This document provides U.S. local governments and their partners with an easily modifiable template with sample language to use for developing an RFP for the procurement of a 24/7 portfolio of CFE resources.
24/7 CFE Request for Proposals (RFP) Bid Sheet Template
A companion to the 24/7 CFE RFP Template, this bid sheet provides U.S. local governments and their partners with an easily modifiable template for the key document used to collect pricing and generation data during the procurement of a 24/7 portfolio of CFE resources.