The panelists at the June 12 CEF meeting will discuss what can be done to help China move towards a greener, more market-oriented electricity system that does not make air and water quality worse. Mun Ho (Resources for the Future) and Chris James (Regulatory Assistance Project/RAP) will talk about the challenges facing power sector reform and potential solutions to promote green electricity dispatch in China. Eleanor Stein (Albany Law School) will discuss New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision process, and whether principles and concepts from that process might be considered for China.

At the March 2017 National People’s Congress, Premier Li Keqiang stressed the importance of making China’s skies blue again, promising the government would accelerate upgrades on coal-fired power and integrate renewables more effectively onto the power grid. Since 2008, operating hours of coal-fired power plants have declined by over 20% and installed wind and solar capacity since 2008 has quintupled. However, the amount of electricity wasted by China’s solar and wind power is rising. In 2016 the amount of “garbage wind” was enough to to power Beijing for the whole of 2015.

Speakers

Chris James
Principal, Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)

Eleanor Stein
Professor, Albany Law School

Mun Ho
Visiting Fellow, Resources for the Future
Senior Economist, Dale Jorgenson Associates

Moderator

Jennifer Turner
Director, China Environment Forum

RSVP: http://pages.wilsoncenter.org/06.12.2017ChinasGreatGreenGrid_Registration.html