The POWER Initiative: Energy Transition as Economic Development

The POWER Initiative: Energy Transition as Economic Development. Congressional Research Service. Michael H. Cecire. November 20, 2019

With the decline of the U.S. coal industry, managing the economic effects of energy transition has become a priority for the federal government. The Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative, and the broader POWER Plus Plan of which it was a part, represent the U.S. government’s efforts to ease the economic effects of energy transition in coal industry-dependent communities in the United States, and especially in Appalachia. Launched in 2015 by the Obama Administration as a multi-agency effort utilizing various existing programs, the POWER Plus plan received partial backing through appropriations for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY2016) to the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Economic Development Administration, and for abandoned mine land reclamation. 

Fostering Effective Energy Transition

Fostering Effective Energy Transition. World Economic Forum. March 14, 2018.

 The first edition of the Fostering Effective Energy Transition report, prepared with analytical support from McKinsey & Company, is part of the World Economic Forum System Initiative on Shaping the Future of Energy. The report introduces the “Energy Transition Index”, which builds upon the previous series of “Global Energy Architecture Performance Index” by adding a forward looking element of country readiness for energy transition. The index benchmarks 114 countries on the current level of their energy system performance, and the readiness of their macro environment for transition to a secure, sustainable, affordable and inclusive future energy system. The fact-based framework and rankings are intended to enable policy makers and businesses to identify the destination for energy transition, identify imperatives, and align policy and market enablers accordingly. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

 [PDF format, 44 pages].