Energy Policy Now

Can the energy choices we make today influence affordability for decades to come?
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Affordability has become one of the defining issues in American politics. Rising costs for housing, healthcare, groceries, and energy continue to strain household budgets. But economist Heather Boushey argues that affordability runs much deeper than prices alone. It reflects how the economy is structured, the kinds of jobs and opportunities the economy creates, and how the benefits of economic growth are shared.
Boushey, a professor of practice with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and head of the EconClimate Lab, discusses the relationship between affordability, energy, and economic opportunity.
Drawing on decades of work at the intersection of economics and public policy, as well as her experience as chief economist for the White House Investing in America Cabinet during the Biden administration, she explains why energy plays a central role in economic growth and competitiveness, why she believes that “what we make here matters,” and how investments in domestic industries can shape long-term economic opportunity. Boushey also reflects on what the Inflation Reduction Act set in motion, what may endure from the law, and what its implementation reveals about the challenge of sustaining long-term economic strategies in a short-term political environment.
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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.
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Southwest Power Pool’s expansion into the West marks a major step toward greater regional coordination of the electric grid.
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Earlier this year the Southwest Power Pool, the electric grid operator for much of the central United States, expanded into the Western Interconnection, becoming the first Regional Transmission Organization to operate in both the Eastern and Western grids. The move comes as Western utilities seek to address rising electricity demand, the integration of growing amounts of clean energy, and concerns about future grid reliability, challenges that broader regional coordination may help address.
SPP plans to build on that expansion with Markets+, a new regional market initiative scheduled to launch in 2027. Together, these efforts represent one of the most significant pushes yet toward greater electricity market coordination in the American West. They also come as California’s grid operator pursues its own effort to expand regional market participation through its Extended Day-Ahead Market, or EDAM, giving Western utilities multiple paths toward closer regional integration, each with different approaches to governance and market oversight.
On the podcast, SPP Chief Executive Officer Lanny Nickell discusses SPP’s expansion into the West and the development of Markets+. He explains why Western utilities are becoming more interested in regional coordination, the tradeoffs between independence and larger markets, and what these developments may mean for the future of the electric grid in the American West.
Lanny Nickell is the Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Power Pool.
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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For years, electricity prices broadly tracked inflation. New pressures may be changing that.
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Electricity prices have become a major political issue in the United States, with policymakers increasingly focused on rising utility bills and the costs of meeting growing electricity demand. At the same time, renewable energy has often been blamed for driving prices higher.
But what does the data actually show?
Ryan Hledik of The Brattle Group discusses research conducted with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on U.S. electricity price trends. The research finds that, nationally, electricity prices have largely tracked inflation, though significant regional differences tell a more complicated story. Hledik explains the factors that really drive electricity prices, the role of renewable energy, natural gas, and infrastructure investment, and why electricity costs vary so dramatically across the country.
Hledik also explores whether 2025, when electricity prices rose faster than inflation nationally, marks the beginning of a new era of rising electricity prices, or a temporary departure from a longer-term trend.
Ryan Hledik is an alumni policy advisor with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and a principal with The Brattle Group.
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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clean energy funding under the GGRF remains frozen, with projects on hold and questions over federal spending authority unresolved.
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The $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund has become a focal point of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back federal clean energy policy. The program was designed to finance clean energy and emissions-reducing projects by channeling public funds through nonprofit financial institutions to attract private investment, including investments that support community resilience.
After taking office in 2025, the administration moved to freeze funding and sought to terminate grant agreements that had already been awarded, citing concerns about oversight, conflicts of interest, and program design. Supporters argue the funds were lawfully appropriated and that the administration is attempting to unwind commitments based on claims that have not been substantiated in court. Roughly $20 billion of that funding now remains in limbo, with projects on hold.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, discusses how the program was designed to work, the administration’s stated rationale for shutting it down, and what the dispute could mean for clean energy investment and congressional authority over federal spending.
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Governing the Greenhouse Gas Protocol https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/governing-the-greenhouse-gas-protocol/
Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the global standard for corporate emissions accounting, is increasingly embedded in policy, drawing new scrutiny of its governance.
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The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the global standard for how companies measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions. It is used by most large companies worldwide and increasingly underpins climate disclosure requirements in places like the European Union and California.
Originally developed outside of government, the Protocol filled a gap at a time when policymakers had not agreed on how emissions should be measured. But its role has evolved, and what began as a voluntary reporting tool is now becoming embedded in climate policy.
As its influence has grown, so has scrutiny. Questions about how emissions are counted have persisted. More recently, attention has turned to how the Protocol itself is governed, including how decisions are made, who has influence, how scientific input is handled, and how transparent the process is.
Danny Cullenward, senior fellow at the Kleinman Center and a member of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Independent Standards Board, discusses how the Protocol was developed, how its role has evolved, and the challenges it faces as it takes on a more central role in climate policy. He also examines whether recent governance changes go far enough, and what is at stake as the Protocol continues to shape how emissions are measured and reported.
Danny Cullenward is a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center and a member of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Independent Standards Board.
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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.