Our power system is outdated — and so are the policies that continue to determine its development. Americans deserve a modern, efficient power system that takes advantage of the latest technology to provide cleaner, more affordable, and more reliable energy.
The Clean Coalition pushes for smarter energy policy across the country. We achieve this by:
- Reaching out to utilities and communities to provide direct support
- Helping national and state regulatory bodies implement effective policies and programs
- Ensuring legislators understand energy issues and craft sensible legislation
- Spreading the word about successful clean local energy initiatives and sharing best practices
We advocate for smart policies that unleash the potential of clean local energy — known as distributed generation (DG). In particular, the Clean Coalition works to advance Wholesale Distributed Generation (WDG), as this critical market segment has been vastly overlooked in existing policy. Learn more below.
What is Distributed Generation?
Distributed generation (DG) refers to generating energy close to where it is consumed, rather than forcing communities to rely on faraway fossil fuel plants and inefficient long-distance power transmission. An energy system built around DG is decentralized and more resilient when compared to centralized generation, which relies on a few large power plants located far from the communities that consume the energy.
What is Wholesale Distributed Generation?
Wholesale Distributed Generation (WDG) refers to DG systems that connect to the local distribution grid and sell the electricity they produce to the local utility. The clean local energy produced by WDG is used to serve local energy demand.
What are the Benefits of Wholesale Distributed Generation?
Unleashing the WDG market segment provides significant benefits:
- WDG facilities serve local load — avoiding the expensive and inefficient long-distance transmission of energy
- WDG projects keep energy dollars close to home — growing local economies, driving business growth, and creating jobs
- WDG projects come online quickly — avoiding the lengthy and expensive process of building new, large, centralized power plants and transmission lines
- WDG projects democratize access to clean local energy — anyone can participate, not just homeowners