Energy Pathways

Building Decarbonization

Industrial Decarbonization

Rural Community Decarbonization

Northwest Clean Energy Atlas

Decarbonization Forums

All Programs

Energy Pathways

Economy-wide energy pathways studies identify the interdependencies, efficiencies, and trade-offs to consider when pursuing decarbonization. CETI’s studies provide blueprints for policymakers, advocates, leaders, and investors on how to achieve a clean energy economy in the Northwest.

Ongoing

Washington Emissions Pathways Modeling

CETI and Evolved Energy Research began working with the Washington Department of Commerce in April 2024 to develop economy-wide energy pathways scenarios that would achieve the state’s emission reduction goals and form the basis for Washington’s Comprehensive Climate Action Planning (CCAP), which will meet Environmental Protection Agency Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) requirements.

Ongoing

Western Transmission Expansion Coalition

The Western Transmission Expansion Coalition (WestTEC) is a West-wide effort to develop an actionable transmission study to support the needs of the future energy grid. The final deliverable will be a West-wide transmission needs study looking out over 10- and 20-year periods.

November 2025

Oregon Energy Strategy

The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) selected CETI in a competitive process to provide technical support for an engagement-driven approach to develop an energy strategy for the state over the next two years. This work is ongoing.

January 2024

Green Electrolytic Hydrogen Report

Green Electrolytic Hydrogen and Renewable Fuels: Recommendations for Deployment in Washington is a report for the Washington Department of Commerce that assesses opportunities for and barriers to deploying green electrolytic hydrogen and renewable fuels in the Evergreen State.

June 2023

Net-Zero Northwest

Net-Zero Northwest: Technical and Economic Pathways to 2050 is an economy-wide deep decarbonization pathways analysis to guide actions that will put Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington on the path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

July 2021

Oregon Clean Energy Pathways Analysis

In partnership with Renewable Northwest, GridLab, and Evolved Energy Research, the Oregon Clean Energy Pathways Analysis used deep decarbonization pathways modeling to test decarbonization scenarios for Oregon to inform policy discussions during the 2021 legislative session.

January 2021

Washington 2021 State Energy Strategy Technical Advisory Process

The Clean Energy Transition Institute provided technical and economic analysis to support the Washington State Department of Commerce in developing the 2021 State Energy Strategy, which is a 10-year roadmap for how the state could get on the path to achieving its 2050 net-zero target.

September 2020

Montana Governor’s Climate Solutions Council

In December 2019, the Clean Energy Transition Institute and Evolved Energy Research presented deep decarbonization pathways modeling results to Montana Governor Steve Bullock’s Climate Solutions Council.

June 2019

Meeting the Challenge of Our Time

Meeting the Challenge of Our Time: Pathways to a Clean Energy Future for the Northwest was the first economy-wide analysis to examine decarbonization pathways mapped to the Northwest’s economic and institutional realities.

Building Decarbonization

The building sector represents 14% of the Northwest’s greenhouse gas emissions. This program focuses on strategies to scale clean buildings in the region at the pace needed to meet emissions reduction targets by 2050.

ongoing

SCALE 2030

To meet 2050 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limits Washington state must scale equitable building decarbonization at pace by 2030. This level of market transformation will require systemic change and large-scale mobilization not in place with current policies, programs, or incentives. The Clean Energy Transition Institute (CETI) and 2050 Institute have been working on this challenge since 2021.

August 2024

Washington State Residential Energy Workforce Gap Analysis

CETI worked on a project with Kinetic West, BW Research Partnership, and Uncommon Bridges to conduct a residential energy workforce gap analysis for a contract with the Washington State Department of Commerce.

January 2022

Operation 2030: Scaling Building Decarbonization in Washington State

The Clean Energy Transition Institute launched Operation 2030 in partnership with the 2050 Institute to identify the time-critical strategic decisions and actions that Washington must take in the 2020s to meet its transformational building decarbonization targets by 2050.

Industrial Decarbonization

The Clean Energy Transition Institute created two projects in 2022 to explore the opportunities and challenges of industrial decarbonization. Industry, especially “heavy” industry that produces basic materials like metals, chemicals, and cement, tends to be highly carbon-intensive and difficult to decarbonize.

February 2025

Washington State Refinery Economic Impact Study

CETI supported Western Washington University’s (WWU) Center for Economic and Business and Research on a Washington Refinery Study for the Department of Commerce

May 2022

Clean Materials Manufacturing

The Clean Materials Manufacturing project helps stakeholders and policymakers understand different methods for decarbonizing six of Washington state’s manufacturing sectors: aluminum, concrete and cement, glass, iron and steel, pulp and paper, and wood products.

July 2021

Washington State Industrial Emissions Analysis

The Clean Energy Transition Institute analyzed Washington state’s industrial emissions to help the Department of Commerce improve its data collection methods and develop Washington-specific decarbonization roadmaps for the state’s top nine emitting industries, including a case study on green cement.

Rural Community Decarbonization

This program works on clean energy projects in the Northwest that seek to center and elevate rural voices in policy discussions as full participants in defining the benefits and challenges of decarbonization.

december 2025

The Sun Also Rises in Washington

CETI worked in partnership with the University of Washington to examine the potential benefits of community-scale solar development for rural communities.

December 2024

Rural Clean Energy Economics and Community Engagement

CETI worked with Ross Strategic and Industrial Economics, Inc. on a Rural Clean Energy Economics and Community Engagement Study and Report for the Washington State Department of Commerce.

October 2022

Claiming Power: Stories of Rural Communities and Clean Energy

Using short films and other media, Claiming Power tells stories of Washington state’s rural communities—from the Olympic Peninsula to the inland Northwest—as they navigate their relationship to land, energy, and economic opportunity as the region embraces decarbonization.

September 2022

Community-Defined Decarbonization

Community-Defined Decarbonization has two goals: (1) to understand the barriers to decarbonizing buildings for the state’s rural and Tribal low-income, energy-burdened households, and (2) to determine whether decarbonization strategies and clean energy development could address energy inequities in these communities.

Northwest Clean Energy Atlas

May 2022

Northwest Clean Energy Atlas

The Northwest Clean Energy Atlas project uses interactive visualizations to explore data relevant to deep decarbonization in the Northwest. Having access to detailed, up-to-date, and transparent energy system data is critical for stakeholders to make informed decisions and track the progress of the clean energy transition.

Decarbonization Forums

CETI presents decarbonization forums to illuminate, demystify, and debate the trade-offs of the most important and complex aspects of decarbonization in Northwest. The forums – ranging from in-person summits to virtual webinars – bring together experts, policymakers, industry representatives, civil society organizations, and interested citizens to learn about and discuss the challenges and opportunities of transitioning to a clean energy economy.

December 10, 2024

Demystifying Emissions Accounting

CETI Research Fellow Jade Sauvé presented a webinar demystifying the patchwork of methods that measure, report, and verify greenhouse gas emissions and reductions across different sectors and activities.

April 22, 2025

Data Center Energy Use and Impact on the Northwest Clean Energy Transition

This CETI Decarbonization Forum convened a panel of experts to explore the impacts of growing demand for data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) services on the Northwest’s electricity system and clean energy transition.

June 2022

Washington State Clean Materials Manufacturing Summit

With the Washington BlueGreen Alliance, the University of Washington’s Carbon Leadership Forum, and SEI-US, the Clean Energy Transition Institute put on a Clean Materials Manufacturing Summit in June 2022 to explore building a shared vision for making the Evergreen State a global leader in clean materials manufacturing.