The Club 20 Research and Education Foundation, the 501(c)(3) sister organization of Club 20, has identified its first major project in an era of revitalization under new leadership – and it could have far-reaching impacts on U.S. energy.

The foundation is launching an Energy Impact Analysis (EIA) to study and ultimately improve how major U.S. energy system options are comparable over time, with the aim of providing extensive data for apples-to-apples comparisons to help policymakers, utilities and communities navigate their energy options and make the best choices for themselves for the short and long terms.

The analysis will be conducted in partnership with Purdue University, Purdue’s Applied Research Institute (PARI), KeyLogic, and the Purdue State Utility Forecasting Group.

“The idea of this energy impact analysis is to have clear comparable data before long-term decisions are made,” said Club 20 Foundation CEO Matt Solomon. “Energy sits at the center of economic stability, reliability, workforce transition, and a lot of the long-term planning taking place in Colorado and nationally. There’s decisions being made right now very quickly that have long-term consequences, and there’s this need for an objective independent analysis to help the communities and policymakers understand the tradeoffs before these decisions get locked in. This project aligns directly with our mission to support education and research. Energy is timely, it’s relevant and it’s useful to the communities on the Western Slope.”

The study will use the same assumptions, criteria and timelines for all forms of energy production, providing a shared baseline for discussion among decision-makers. The analysis will evaluate major electricity generation, storage and demand-side options, offering comparisons across systems that differ in cost structure, operating characteristics and longevity.

What sets the study apart and makes it a first of its kind, Solomon said, is its emphasis on timelines and back-end life cycle analysis.

Every source of energy has a different life cycle. Some sources might have a cycle of 10 to 20 years, and others might have a cycle of 60 years. This analysis will examine factors such as financial depreciation for these sources, the true cost of kilowatt hours over their life cycles, environmental impact, the cost of waste management, and the feasibility of recycling this energy as well as the recycling cost.

The results, Solomon said, should be broadly applicable across the country. He emphasized that this study will inform discussions among utilities, policymakers, regulators, technology developers, investors and communities without advancing the interests of or endorsing any single technology, policy or market position.

“The foundation’s role is to support high-quality education and research that benefits our communities, our region, our state and so forth,” Solomon said. “This study fits squarely in that mission.

Purdue is nationally recognized as one of the country’s leading energy research institutions, making this partnership both a substantial win for the foundation as well as a logical collaboration. The project will be managed by Stephen Tourangeau of PARI and Purdue’s Energy and Energetics Laboratory (PEEL), with technical leadership from Rinaldo Hunt of PARI and Purdue’s Infrastructure and Innovation Laboratory (PIIL).

“Purdue’s got a long history and a depth of experience in life cycle analysis, long-term system modeling and independent third-party research. PARI and their partners do have a history of working across technology and policy environments, and I have a rapport with some of the folks at Purdue. The collaboration came together with a shared interest in addressing this widely recognized gap, and the gap is how energy options are evaluated,” Solomon said.

“We had a mutual commitment to analytical rigor, transparency and neutrality. We have a shared recognition that energy decisions are being made without consistent long-term analysis. Club 20’s role was being able to convene this group of partners and support with fundraising…. None of us can do it alone, so the emphasis on collaboration is huge.”

The foundation is raising $2 million to cover the cost of the study. When the first $1 million is raised, Solomon said, the study will officially begin.

The study should last two years, with one year dedicated to compiling data and one year dedicated to analyzing the data for the final report.

“We could change the discussion of how energy sources are evaluated and we’re potentially setting a new standard,” Solomon said. “Off of this study, other new questions could be asked that other people pick up on and do research off of.”

In a Club 20 Foundation statement, Hunt provided Purdue’s perspective:

“Advances in safety, operations, and lifecycle management have altered how certain technologies perform over time and how their costs, reliability, and environmental impacts should be assessed when considered over full operational lifetimes. The EIA will provide a true cost of power for available technology and a neutral basis to make informed cost-conscious decisions for the United States all-of-the above strategy.”