SEI Blawg – The GW Point Source

November 16, 2023December 19, 2023

New GW Alliance Addressing Climate Change and Sustainability Brings Change to GW Law’s Energy Program

President Granberg’s inaugural address on November 4, 2023 foretold “a revolutionary next step in how our students and faculty conduct and develop innovative research, advocacy, and coursework in sustainability.” That step, the founding of The GWU Alliance for a Sustainable Future was officially announced in GW Today on November 15. The GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future is a big, bold, university-wide initiative that will bring together all members of the GW community who support climate change and sustainability work, forming a powerful strategic alliance of research institutes, academic programs, organizations, and individuals dedicated to the shared mission of combating climate change and promoting healthy and thriving resource systems for all. Under one GW banner, the Alliance will amplify GW’s commitment to climate and sustainability work and increase its global impact.

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Overburdened and Underserved Communities in The District of Columbia

By Tim Nau

The transportation sector was responsible for the largest share of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 (28%). Promoting electric vehicles (“EV”) on the nation’s streets has been an important element of the United States’ strategy for meeting its ambitious goal of achieving a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

Taking into consideration overburdened and underserved communities creates an important yet often undervalued perspective. This post will address the benefits of promoting equitable deployment of EV charging infrastructure in these communities in the District of Columbia (“DC” or the “District”) as well as the challenges associated with it, and present what has been done so far.

September 8, 2023September 8, 2023

The St. Elizabeths Microgrid: The District’s Newest Microgrid Project Strives to Strengthen Community Resilience

By Faren Bartholomew

A new microgrid is potentially coming to Ward 8 in Washington, D.C. In April 2022, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funded the new St. Elizabeths microgrid, a project that intends to bolster community resilience by maintaining power at several critical locations in Ward 8 in the event of an outage. FEMA awarded several D.C. agencies $20 million to construct the microgrid through its new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program (BRIC), designed to fund projects that lower the risks and mitigate the impacts of disasters on communities. The BRIC grant program outlines its guiding principles as “supporting communities through capability- and capacity-building; encouraging and enabling innovation; promoting partnerships; enabling large projects; maintaining flexibility; and providing consistency.” In fiscal year 2020, when BRIC selected St. Elizabeths to receive funding, BRIC had $500 million in available program funding. For fiscal year 2021, BRIC’s program funding doubled, with $1 billion in available funding to distribute to selected resiliency projects for states, territories, and tribes.

August 25, 2023September 25, 2023

Microgrids: Community-Based Electricity for a More Equitable Energy Future

By Meghan Briggs

In 2022, electricity costs in the United States rose by 14.3% for the average consumer compared to 2021. Power outages due to severe weather have doubled since 2002, causing extended losses of electricity and endangering lives. In the absence of affordable cooling, heatwaves threaten the lives of the most vulnerable in our society. Microgrids, among other emerging energy technologies, can help make the U.S. energy grid more resilient and reliable in the face of these challenges. If implemented in a way that centers energy equity and justice, microgrids can also help make the U.S. energy system more equitable. This article explores microgrids and discusses how they are being deployed to improve energy reliability and resilience and to support energy equity and justice for vulnerable communities.