Query: The Clean Power Plan, a major component of fulfilling the agreement, would spike energy costs for working and middle-class Texans by 16% by 2030, according to the Economic Reliability Council of Texas

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Smart grid <=SEP=> A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operational and energy measures including smart meters , smart appliances , renewable energy resources , and energy efficient resources . Electronic power conditioning and control of the production and distribution of electricity are important aspects of the smart grid .   Smart grid policy is organized in Europe as Smart Grid European Technology Platform . Policy in the United States is described in § 17381 .   Roll-out of smart grid technology also implies a fundamental re-engineering of the electricity services industry , although typical usage of the term is focused on the technical infrastructure .

Energy policy of the United States <=SEP=> The energy policy of the United States is determined by federal , state , and local entities in the United States , which address issues of energy production , distribution , and consumption , such as building codes and gas mileage standards . Energy policy may include legislation , international treaties , subsidies and incentives to investment , guidelines for energy conservation , taxation and other public policy techniques .   Several mandates have been proposed over the years , such as gasoline will never exceed $ 1.00 / gallon ( Nixon ) , and the United States will never again import as much oil as it did in 1977 ( Carter ) , but no comprehensive long-term energy policy has been proposed , although there has been concern over this failure . Three Energy Policy Acts have been passed , in 1992 , 2005 , and 2007 , which include many provisions for conservation , such as the Energy Star program , and energy development , with grants and tax incentives for both renewable energy and non-renewable energy .   There is also criticism that federal energy policies since the 1973 oil crisis have been dominated by crisis-mentality thinking , promoting expensive quick fixes and single-shot solutions that ignore market and technology realities . Instead of providing stable rules that support basic research while leaving plenty of scope for American entrepreneurship and innovation , congresses and presidents have repeatedly backed policies which promise solutions that are politically expedient , but whose prospects are doubtful , without adequate consideration of the dollar costs , environmental costs , or national security costs of their actions .   State-specific energy-efficiency incentive programs also play a significant role in the overall energy policy of the United States .  The United States refused to endorse the Kyoto Protocol , preferring to let the market drive CO2 reductions to mitigate global warming , which will require CO2 emission taxation . The administration of Barack Obama has proposed an aggressive energy policy reform , including the need for a reduction of CO2 emissions , with a cap and trade program , which could help encourage more clean renewable , sustainable energy development . Thanks to new technologies such as fracking , the United States has in 2014 resumed its former role as the top oil producer in the world .

Efficient energy use <=SEP=> Efficient energy use , sometimes simply called energy efficiency , is the goal to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services . For example , insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature . Installing fluorescent lights , LED lights or natural skylights reduces the amount of energy required to attain the same level of illumination compared with using traditional incandescent light bulbs . Improvements in energy efficiency are generally achieved by adopting a more efficient technology or production process or by application of commonly accepted methods to reduce energy losses .   There are many motivations to improve energy efficiency . Reducing energy use reduces energy costs and may result in a financial cost saving to consumers if the energy savings offset any additional costs of implementing an energy efficient technology . Reducing energy use is also seen as a solution to the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions . According to the International Energy Agency , improved energy efficiency in buildings , industrial processes and transportation could reduce the world 's energy needs in 2050 by one third , and help control global emissions of greenhouse gases .   Energy efficiency and renewable energy are said to be the twin pillars of sustainable energy policy and are high priorities in the sustainable energy hierarchy . In many countries energy efficiency is also seen to have a national security benefit because it can be used to reduce the level of energy imports from foreign countries and may slow down the rate at which domestic energy resources are depleted .

Wind power <=SEP=> Wind power is the use of air flow through wind turbines to mechanically power generators for electric power . Wind power , as an alternative to burning fossil fuels , is plentiful , renewable , widely distributed , clean , produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation , consumes no water , and uses little land . The net effects on the environment are far less problematic than those of nonrenewable power sources .   Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines which are connected to the electric power transmission network . Onshore wind is an inexpensive source of electric power , competitive with or in many places cheaper than coal or gas plants . Offshore wind is steadier and stronger than on land , and offshore farms have less visual impact , but construction and maintenance costs are considerably higher . Small onshore wind farms can feed some energy into the grid or provide electric power to isolated off-grid locations .   Wind power gives variable power which is very consistent from year to year but which has significant variation over shorter time scales . It is therefore used in conjunction with other electric power sources to give a reliable supply . As the proportion of wind power in a region increases , a need to upgrade the grid , and a lowered ability to supplant conventional production can occur . Power management techniques such as having excess capacity , geographically distributed turbines , dispatchable backing sources , sufficient hydroelectric power , exporting and importing power to neighboring areas , using vehicle-to-grid strategies or reducing demand when wind production is low , can in many cases overcome these problems . In addition , weather forecasting permits the electric power network to be readied for the predictable variations in production that occur .   As of 2015 , Denmark generates 40 % of its electric power from wind , and at least 83 other countries around the world are using wind power to supply their electric power grids . In 2014 global wind power capacity expanded 16 % to 369,553 MW . Yearly wind energy production is also growing rapidly and has reached around 4 % of worldwide electric power usage , 11.4 % in the EU .