CELS clean‑energy playbook
A new playbook aimed at local and state governments lays out affordable, justice‑centered strategies for clean energy and grid upgrades — recommending cross‑sector partnerships, workforce development, and targeted policies for marginalized communities. The guidance offers concrete policy tools municipalities can adopt to couple decarbonization with local hiring and equity provisions. (fas.org)
FAS released the CELS Playbook on March 31, 2026, authored by Arjun Krishnaswami, Megan Husted, Addy Smith, Diego Núñez, and Zoë Brouns. (fas.org) The playbook is produced under FAS’s new Center for Regulatory Ingenuity (CRI), an initiative FAS launched on February 12, 2026 to modernize regulatory capacity for climate and infrastructure work.. (fas.org) CELS builds on FAS’s December 15, 2025 “Barriers to Building” analysis, which concluded the U.S. must construct roughly 70–125 gigawatts of clean energy per year to align with modeled cost‑effective scenarios, compared with a 2024 record of about 50 GW.. (fas.org) That same FAS analysis found transmission capacity must more than double within regions and increase more than four‑fold between regions by 2035, noted only 322 miles of new high‑voltage transmission were completed in 2024, and large transmission projects often take 7–15 years from planning to in‑service.. (fas.org) As a statutory model to shorten timelines, the playbook cites New York’s Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act and its Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) and Build‑Ready program, which consolidate environmental review and prioritize shovel‑ready sites while providing state support for siting and permitting.. (fas.org) CELS stresses administrative reforms—what FAS/CRI terms “transaction‑speed infrastructure”—calling for staffing models, underwriting playbooks, and surge capacity that align government permitting and financing timelines with private‑sector deals.. (fas.org) Lead author Arjun Krishnaswami is listed among the playbook’s authors and is identified by FAS as a former White House Senior Policy Advisor for Clean Energy Infrastructure, linking the playbook’s recommendations to federal implementation experience.. (fas.org)
