In this Post:What Are the SEPA Snapshots?Explore the Focus AreasResilience: A Stronger, More Reliable GridTransportation: Electrifying the RoadsEmerging Technology: Unlocking Future PotentialEnergy Storage: Powering StabilityPolicy: Laying the Groundwork for ProgressEnergy Equity: Building an Inclusive FutureInsights Powered by CollaborationDive Deeper Share Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedIn Accelerating the Clean Energy Future: Insights from SEPA’s 2024 Snapshot Series January 14, 2025 | By Ted Burhans The energy industry’s journey toward a carbon-free future is a movement that is gaining momentum. As the pace quickens, staying informed with timely insights will be essential for stakeholders and leaders to understand challenges and identify opportunities. Enter SEPA’s 2024 Snapshot Series, a comprehensive collection of concise, data-driven briefs. What Are the SEPA Snapshots? The 2024 Snapshot Series comprises six chapters aligned with SEPA’s six focus areas: resilience, transportation, emerging technology, policy, energy storage, and energy equity. Each Snapshot delves into topics shaping the clean energy landscape, offering insights tailored for utilities, policymakers, and industry innovators. These briefs are informed by SEPA’s semi-annual pulse surveys—capturing feedback from utility representatives and energy industry participants—and enriched with data from submissions for the 2024 Power Player Awards. Together, these inputs provide a snapshot of trends, challenges, and collaborative solutions in the clean energy transition. Explore the Focus Areas Resilience: A Stronger, More Reliable Grid Resilience is no longer optional in the face of increasingly severe extreme weather events and rising energy demand. The Resilience Snapshot explores how utilities are leveraging cutting-edge technologies, such as microgrids and behind-the-meter resources, to create adaptable, dependable energy systems that protect communities and support economic growth. It includes case studies on DER integration and solar and battery storage microgrids. Transportation: Electrifying the Roads Electric vehicles (EVs) promise to reduce emissions, improve air quality, and lower costs. However, challenges remain in building infrastructure, addressing affordability, and raising public awareness. The Transportation Snapshot highlights collaborative strategies at the utility and business levels to accelerate EV adoption and create a cleaner, more efficient transportation network. Emerging Technology: Unlocking Future Potential Emerging technologies are crucial to decarbonization efforts. The Emerging Technology Snapshot discusses how electric power sector stakeholders are using artificial intelligence (AI), distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS), advanced distribution management systems (ADMS), and virtual power plants (VPPs) to reduce carbon emissions. Regulatory hurdles and market adoption delays continue to create barriers to new technology adoption, and the snapshot identifies pathways to overcome these challenges through innovation and supportive frameworks. Energy Storage: Powering Stability Energy storage is key to integrating renewables and stabilizing the grid, but misconceptions and high costs have slowed its adoption. The Energy Storage Snapshot explores customer-focused storage programs and emerging trends in long-duration energy storage. Education, innovation, and cost reduction will be essential to realize the full potential of this transformative technology. Policy: Laying the Groundwork for Progress Forward-thinking policies are driving clean energy investments and helping utilities incorporate carbon reduction strategies into their long-term plans. The Policy Snapshot examines the intersection of regulatory frameworks, energy efficiency, customer programs, and cross-sector collaboration in advancing equity, resilience, and decarbonization. This snapshot reviews impactful policies and identifies areas where further action remains needed. Energy Equity: Building an Inclusive Future Equity is the cornerstone of a just energy transition. The Energy Equity Snapshot provides utility and industry case studies of prioritizing equity in clean energy programs. Information collected for this snapshot highlights that community engagement, income-qualified programs, and workforce development help ensure the benefits of clean energy extend to all. Insights Powered by Collaboration The 2024 Snapshot Series is a testament to the power of collaboration and shared knowledge. By aggregating insights from survey participants and industry leaders, the SEPA Snapshots reflect the current state of the energy sector and inspire action for the future and workforce development to help ensure the benefits of clean energy extend to all. Dive Deeper Explore the 2024 SEPA Snapshot Series to stay at the forefront of the clean energy transition. Whether you’re a policymaker, utility leader, or technology innovator, these Snapshots provide the insights you need to help drive decarbonization and transformative progress. Discover the Snapshots. Shape the Future. About the Author Ted Burhans Director, Market Intelligence Ted joined SEPA in June 2022 with over 15 years of experience working for a vertically integrated utility, most recently directing renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric vehicle programs. His time at SEPA started by overseeing its body of work around distributed energy resources and their impact on the grid. He now oversees the organization’s Market Intelligence group, conducting utility and industry surveys and information gathering. He has a bachelor of science degree in Engineering Management from the University of Arizona and a master’s in business administration from the University of Arizona Global Campus. Ted lives in Tucson, AZ with his son and a variety of pets. He loves to travel, camp, and cheer on the Wildcats!