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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

▪ Large energy buyers—including corporates, cities, and institutional customers—have played and will continue to play an important role in driving clean energy in the near term, particularly renewables. However, to ensure that the power sector achieves deep decarbonization over the next two to three decades, large energy buyers will need to take additional actions to play a leading role in accelerating the transition to a carbon-free grid.

▪ Large energy buyers can implement approaches that help transform the grid such as matching clean energy purchasing with the timing of their energy use, incorporating demand flexibility, purchasing dispatchable clean electricity, adopting enabling technologies (e.g., energy storage), maximizing emissions reductions, and driving an an equitable transition to clean energy.

▪ There is no single strategy for implementing transformative procurement practices, which is why we have
highlighted a variety of approaches in this issue brief. Optimal procurement approaches can vary based on differences in customer electricity usage, market context, available product offerings, staff and resources, and differences across grids.

▪ To enable large energy buyers to implement transformative procurement practices, new products and solutions will be needed. Metrics and recognition programs will also need to be revised to incentivize and encourage more customers to take actions that can facilitate a carbon-free grid.

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