Near-term energy system policy incentives and regulations are currently in flux, and drivers of demand are shifting projections of load growth. While fully net-zero emissions energy systems are often studied in isolation, their configuration and feasibility are linked to the pathways to reach them. Understanding how near-term conditions may transition into a net-zero energy system may elucidate how company strategies for emissions reduction fit into a broader energy transition.
This analysis uses EPRI’s U.S. Regional Economy, Greenhouse Gas, and Energy Model (US-REGEN) to understand how feasible net-zero pathways are changing as a result of drivers of new demand, changes to state and federal policy, and technology outlooks. The study investigates how constraints on deploying new generation resources in the power sector to respond to new demand and meet emissions reduction strategies may make some cost-effective pathways impossible to realize and challenge the feasibility of some proposed strategies.