Description: How corporate ownership of the electricity grid matters to state-level renewable energy policymaking.
Historically (and for the foreseeable future), most public policy action in the United States to combat the global climate crisis has taken place at the state level. Former President Joe Biden's administration marked a significant departure from that trend, as his policies pursued a strategy of "electrify everything" (transportation, buildings, and industry). But who owns the electricity system that is the linchpin of such a strategy, and how does this ownership affect the policy preferences of interest groups at the state level? Owning the Green Grid addresses these questions and more through an in-depth study of a quarter century of renewable electricity policymaking in seven states. Drawing on legislative and regulatory texts, interviews, and archival material, Joshua Basseches shows how the investor-owned utilities (IOUs) that provide electricity to three-fourths of the country have succeeded in designing policies that serve environmental aims sometimes but these companies' shareholders always. Grappling with the impact of political partisanship and in-state energy economy, the author finds that although these factors do matter, it is the structure of a state's utility sector that has the most consistent impact on the interest group politics of these policies. The book offers lessons for the politics of the clean energy transition going forward, and while those related to corporate political power may be troubling, others provide hope that climate politics need not be as polarized as it is perceived to be today.Review Quotes: ENDORSEMENTS
"Moving beyond red versus blue, Basseches incisively exposes how investor-owned utilities quietly shape--and often capture--the rules of America's clean energy transition, revealing that who owns and governs the grid matters as much as technology or partisanship."--Jonas Meckling, author of Carbon Coalitions "A sharp, original analysis of how investor-owned utilities shape renewable energy policy, Owning the Green Grid reveals the political forces behind electricity reform and climate progress, offering essential insights for scholars, policymakers, and advocates alike."
--Leah Stokes, author of The Carbon Wave "Drawing on interviews with legislators, regulators, advocates, and industry participants, Basseches captures pivotal moments in state energy policymaking. The result is an inside account of a transformative era for electric utilities and clean energy deployment."
--Ari Peskoe, Director, Electricity Law Initiative, Harvard Law School