US renewables body names oil and gas veteran as new policy chief
US renewables body names oil and gas veteran as new policy chief | Windpower Monthly
Frank Macchiarola – currently the senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute – will take up his new role at the ACP on 20 June.
He has previously held staff jobs in the US Senate during the presidencies of George W Bush and Barack Obama, and also served as executive vice president for government affairs for industry body America’s Natural Gas Alliance during the country’s post-2008 shale gas boom.
At the ACP he will lead a team working to develop the regulatory and legislative framework needed for clean energy.
The US wind power industry is preparing for massive growth as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) channels billions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks to the clean energy industry. The US offshore wind industry is preparing to launch its first commercial-scale projects, while the onshore wind sector is looking to ramp up manufacturing capacity and expand project development after slowing down in recent years. The US's renewable energy rollout also faces key bottlenecks including permitting challenges and insufficient transmission capacity.
Macchiarola said: “The energy industry is going through a generational change – an entire sector of the global economy is being transformed.
“I have spent my career working on energy policy and I am eager to get to work to advance ACP’s commitment to secure, affordable and clean domestic energy. I am excited to join the team at ACP and be a part of the next phase of the American energy revolution.”
ACP CEO Jason Grumet said that the US clean energy sector is at a “pivotal moment”, and added: “Frank is uniquely qualified to understand the speed and scale we need to move the organisation forward and will partner with our dynamic team to make that happen. I have no doubt that together, we will bring both sides of the aisle, and different constituencies and communities, together to meet our common goal, which is an America powered by clean, domestic energy.”
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: renewables
Renewable energy sources — once the fuel of the future, then practical in specific, narrow applications — are increasingly economic mainstream sources of power generation. Hydropower was long the mainstay of U.S. renewable electricity generation, although wind power surpassed hydro for the first time in 2019, and solar continues its rapid growth. The continued growth of wind and solar, with their fluctuations, is tied in part to improvements in storage technology: batteries.