Community Engagement Towards a Clean Power Grid: How Cities and Towns Can Advance the Fight for Transmission and Grid Reform

The electric power grid is an essential part of our energy system. While we can see the transmission lines and supporting infrastructure that crisscross the landscape, what is hidden from view are the billions of dollars consumers pay to support the power grid. 

Historically, the power grid has established planning and tariff policies that have favored fossil gas generation in the name of reliability and has failed to embrace the full potential for clean energy. The result is that over 50% of electricity is generated by fossil gas plants. This exposes consumers to volatile pricing in fossil fuel markets and imposes economic burdens by limiting clean energy options that offer clean, cost-effective technologies. By sustaining fossil infrastructure, public health is damaged, most often in communities that suffer from disproportionate impacts of pollution. Acadia Center’s recent RGGI Report shows the stark legacy of siting fossil fuel infrastructure near low-income communities. 

Local communities are key stakeholders in how the regional grid is operated. Many cities and towns have adopted clean energy and climate goals that can only be achieved with the regional grid acting in alignment to embrace clean energy. Hospitals, agencies, and social services – are impacted by energy costs, volatility, and the myriad ways harmful air pollution affects residents. 

For these reasons, with the generous support of the Barr Foundation, Acadia Center is starting a new program to conduct outreach on power grid issues to communities. Our Communities and Clean Grid Engagement Project will explore the interest of local communities in adding their voices to the critical issues addressed at the regional grid level. 

Cities and towns play a unique role because they are large energy consumers themselves and they represent their residents’ interests in having access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity. Across the United States, cities and towns are emerging as clean energy leaders and have procured over eight gigawatts of renewable energy over the last five years. This city leadership is catalyzing action across smaller communities and other public institutions. 

Acadia Center has been engaged since 2006 in the role of the grid in addressing and intruding on climate, clean energy, and consumer goals. We have raised issues around barriers created by project funding and tariff formulas, governance, and failures in long-term planning. We are working with other organizations and coalitions growing in their focus and outreach. 

We look forward to engaging with public officials, community leaders, and other stakeholders around the region and strengthening the movement for building a clean grid that benefits all residents. 

Climate Change Solutions with Bill McKibben

Most understand the climate is changing before our eyes. Implementing solutions has been slowly occurring, but much more needs to be accomplished. Join Bill McKibben for an in-depth discussion on the opportunities, priorities, and diverse solutions to address the challenges of carbon emission and climate change. Find out what each of us can do to make a difference.


Recording of the Webinar available here: https://www.nfrpp.org/2023/07/13/climate-change-solutions-with-bill-mckibben/

Join us July 11 @ 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

To RSVP for the Zoom Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KhSMFuBjRCuTyV4aox1vuA

To watch the event on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/NFRPP/live_videos/


Speakers:

Bill McKibben is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, and a founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2014 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel,’ in the Swedish Parliament. He’s also won the Gandhi Peace Award, and honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities. He has written over a dozen books about the environment, including his first, The End of Nature, published in 1989, and his latest book is The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened.

 

Daniel L. Sosland, the moderator, is the President of Acadia Center. For over 25 years, Dan has been working in the field of climate and clean energy solutions. His major focus has been as president and co-founder of Acadia Center, a non-profit research and advocacy organization acting at the state, regional, and community levels to advance climate and clean energy solutions in the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada. One of the first such organizations created in the U.S. to address climate solutions, Acadia Center, has won awards from U.S. EPA, the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy and others for its groundbreaking work on climate pathways, energy efficiency and transforming government to be responsive to climate and equity and is ranked in the top 1% of non-profits evaluated by Charity Navigator. Prior to Acadia Center, Dan’s work focused on energy efficiency and forest and watershed protection. Dan was given the Maine Forever Award by Gov. Angus King and the Exemplary Public Service Award from Cornell Law School.  He began his career at a major law firm in New York City and holds a JD with honors from Cornell Law School and a BA from Brown University.  He is a member of the board of directors of the U.S. Climate Action Network.

PURA Advancing a Framework for Performance-Based Utility Regulation

Utilities recover the costs of the investments that are needed to provide customers with energy through the bills that customers pay each month. This “cost-of-service” framework is the foundation of traditional utility regulation. In contrast, Performance-Based Regulation (PBR) is an alternative method for regulating utilities that ties utility revenues more directly to their performance, such as efforts to reduce emissions or to support the deployment of distributed energy resources, rather than tying earnings primarily to the costs required to provide service.  

By allowing regulators to better align utility revenues with improved performance, PBR— which includes a broad set of regulatory tools, such as performance metrics and financial penalties or rewards—can help overcome outdated incentives under traditional utility regulation. High allowed returns create incentives for utilities to build expensive infrastructure projects, but PBR can help reorient utilities towards more cost-effective solutions that can save customers money and deliver additional benefits, such as reducing emissions and improving environmental justice outcomes.   

States across the US have experimented with PBR to varying degrees and with varying degrees of success. Recently, Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) announced a decision that formally adopts regulatory goals and outcomes for PBR in the state. Over the past year, Acadia Center worked with a range of stakeholders to help develop PBR goals and assess how well existing utility regulatory policies do or do not align with those goals. (Some of Acadia Center’s filings in support of PBR in Connecticut can be found here and here.) 

PURA’s decision formally adopts four overarching goals for PBR in Connecticut and nine priority outcomes within those goals, including greenhouse gas emission reductions, advancing social equity, ensuring affordable service, and advancing reliability and resiliency. PURA’s decision sets the stage for the next phase of the PBR proceeding, which is expected to last through 2024. Phase 2 will consist of three “reopener” proceedings, each covering a specific set of issues in more detail, including the rules that govern how utilities recover their costs; performance metrics and incentives; and a process to develop an Integrated Distribution System Planning proceeding. 

Acadia Center commends PURA for taking this important step. However, although Phase 1 of Connecticut’s PBR proceeding has clarified the goals and outcomes that will inform future analyses and proposals, stakeholders will only know the real outcome of this decision in the spring and fall of 2024, when the three reopener proceedings end—and after PURA decides to what extent policy reforms will be implemented. PURA’s recent decision is a commitment to consider potential changes to many types of regulatory tools, which itself is a major step forward, and Acadia Center looks forward to exploring in more detail how utility regulatory tools should change.  

PURA’s leadership in moving this proceeding forward is noteworthy, and Acadia Center is hopeful that the PBR proceeding results in a robust framework that accelerates the achievement of Connecticut’s climate and clean energy goals and helps to deliver a clean and affordable energy system for all ratepayers.  

Daniel L. Sosland: Arctic Refuge affects people in Connecticut

Acadia Center recently joined more than 240 other organizations in requesting that major insurance companies, including The Hartford and Travelers here in Connecticut, show their solidarity with the Gwich’in Nation, who speak with one voice from Canada to Alaska against oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska. The coastal plain of the refuge is the birthing and nursing grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd and known to the Gwich’in people as Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit — the Sacred Place Where Life Begins.

The letter asks 10 of the largest insurance companies to commit to the protection of the Arctic Refuge from the harms of fossil fuel development by announcing policies against insuring drilling projects there.

As a Northeast-based organization with deep Connecticut roots, this may seem like a far step from local concerns, but the issues arising around the protection and sanctity of the Arctic Refuge are ones that should register here. Acadia Center works to advance bold, effective, and equitable clean energy solutions for a livable climate and a stronger, more equitable economy in Connecticut and around the region. Connecticut, often a clean energy leader in the region, is working to build a clean energy system that puts people front and center, shifting conversations to promote equitable and economically beneficial solutions.

What happens in the Arctic impacts us all — even in the Northeast. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world. If we allow drilling to happen in the refuge, entire coastal villages will continue to erode into the sea, the melting of permafrost will increasingly make infrastructure insecure or impossible, and food sources will disappear. Already, federal dollars are being spent to relocate villages sliding into the sea.

The sea around our coastline is also rising faster than the global average. Hurricanes are increasing in number and intensity – 2020 saw 30 tropical storms, forcing forecasters to dig deep into the Greek alphabet for names, and we are experiencing more heatwaves. With each passing year, the urgency grows to accelerate progress toward clean energy for people across the Northeast. Yet there is hope and progress. Connecticut is joined by most states in the region with aggressive plans to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency. Jobs in renewable energy industries such as wind and solar now outnumber jobs in the fossil fuel industry. This is our economic and environmental future. Producing and burning oil from the Arctic Refuge would accelerate climate change not just for Arctic communities, but for the world. And have little to no impact on energy prices.

Recently, Chubb became the first American insurance company to issue a policy stating that they will not underwrite oil and gas projects in the Arctic Refuge. They join 17 insurers and 29 major financial institutions that have restricted support for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Refuge. This list includes five of Canada’s largest banks along with America’s six largest: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. These financial institutions recognize the risks and the reputational consequences they would face should they support the violation of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights and such an important ecosystem.

Acadia Center is proud to have a presence in Connecticut’s vibrant community, and we all want to be proud of our large companies and employers. In solidarity with the Gwich’in Nation, we respectfully urge two of the most important businesses in the state, The Hartford and Travelers, to join colleagues and competitors, and other financial institutions that have taken a stand against financing or insuring oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The human rights of Alaska Indigenous communities, the ecological value of the refuge, and the need to do all we can to avoid the devastating climate impacts are compelling reasons to phase out our addiction to oil and gas. Current and future generations depend on all of us making forward-thinking commitments to human rights and the health of our planet.

Op-ed originally featured in the Hartford Courant. Click here to read it there.

Jumpstarting the Clean Heat Standard Process

Clean Heat Standard Momentum 

In the past few years, discussion about implementing a Clean Heat Standard (CHS) has quickly gained steam around the country. In 2021 Colorado passed legislation requiring the development of Clean Heat Plans. Just this week, the Vermont Senate overrode Governor Phil Scott’s veto of a CHS bill, and the House appears to be poised to do the same. In Massachusetts, a CHS was first seriously considered several years ago as the state developed its clean energy and climate plans for 2025 and 2030. Later, as part of its Final Report, the Massachusetts Commission on Clean Heat endorsed developing a CHS. The Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050 later adopted the CHS framework outlined in the Clean Heat Commission’s report. With all this momentum in place, you may be left with one question: what exactly is a Clean Heat Standard? 

What is a Clean Heat Standard? 

As identified by the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) in a paper prepared for the Massachusetts CECP, a CHS is a “credit-based performance standard that would be applied to suppliers of heating energy in Massachusetts, notably gas utilities and providers of heating oil and propane, and possibly electricity suppliers.” These parties would then be obligated to provide gradually increasing amounts of low- or zero-emissions fuel to consumers. The concept is similar to a Renewable Portfolio Standard. In Massachusetts, the goal would be to decarbonize the building sector at the speed and scale necessary to support the state in achieving its building sector emissions reduction target of 47% below 1990 emission levels by 2030 and 93% by 2050. 

However, while the basic concepts are simple enough, the actual details of such a program and its implementation are a bit trickier. If properly designed, a CHS could serve as another valuable decarbonization policy tool for cost-effectively electrifying and improving the efficiency of buildings in a state without driving up costs to electric ratepayers. However, if poorly implemented, a CHS could serve to potentially undermine decarbonization goals. One critical area to get right is understanding the actual lifecycle emissions of certain alternative heating fuels, such as biofuels. Vermont’s proposed CHS is extremely friendly to biofuels, but biofuels can produce significant emissions. Another key issue surrounds the future of fossil gas as a heating fuel. Neither the RAP report nor the Massachusetts Clean Heat Commission report for example provide detailed recommendations on how the most complicated (and important) elements of a CHS should be designed. For example, what is the long-term vision to phasing out fossil gas for heating and for the future of the natural gas distribution system? How can a CHS be designed to support achieving that vision? Further, if certain biofuels are deemed eligible within the CHS, what specific methodology should the Commonwealth use to accurately account for lifecycle emissions from these fuels? These are the types of make or break decisions that can cause the policy to sink or swim. Therefore, it is absolutely crucial that states looking to adopt a CHS get the details of its proposal correct. 

Acadia Center and Colleague Input 

In Massachusetts, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEP) initiated a stakeholder process in April 2023 regarding the development of a CHS for Massachusetts, to little fanfare or attention. This process included a stakeholder discussion document in which DEP requested information on program design input, recommendations for further input, and suggested topics, locations, and formats for stakeholder meetings and hearings. In response, Acadia Center worked with a number of stakeholders, including Conservation Law Foundation, Green Energy Consumers Alliance, Home Energy Efficiency Team, and Pipe Line Awareness for the Northeast to develop a response document on to which over 35 organizations signed. Acadia Center with our colleagues produced a comprehensive 22-page document responding to the DEP’s questions and outlined our vision for a successful CHS for Massachusetts. These top priorities include a CHS that ensures adequate equity protections and an electrification-only compliance program, particularly for gas utilities.  

On equity and energy justice, the document asks DEP to design the program to focus direct and indirect benefits on customers with the highest energy burdens. We also ask DEP to coordinate closely with the Department of Energy Resources and the Department of Public Utilities on complimentary strategies, including rate design, the Alternative Portfolio Standard, and a managed transition off gas. 

Acadia Center and its colleagues further ask DEP to design the CHS in a manner that best supports the most cost-effective long-term emissions reduction pathway. This concept centers around focusing compliance pathways on non-combustion technologies rather than biofuels or hydrogen blending, particularly for gas. The document asks DEP to utilize the 2025/2030 CECP’s High Electrification Scenario as opposed to the Phased Scenario, as the High Electrification Scenario emphasizes higher levels of near-term full-building electrification and a more rapid phase down of gas heating systems, better positioning the state to achieve 2050 climate goals at similar costs.  

On stakeholder input, we urge DEP to balance different tracks of stakeholder processes for different types of stakeholders. We also urge the development of technical sessions on key design topics, such as coordination with the Mass Save energy efficiency programs, hybrid heating system credits, and calculation of credits by technology. 

While many details remain to be worked out, Acadia Center is encouraged by the positive first steps taken by the Commonwealth. We look forward to working with the Administration as these proposals move forward. 

 

For more information: 

Kyle Murray, kmurray@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 ext. 106 

The Race for a Renewable Future: How the EU and US Are Tackling Clean Energy

States have long filled a climate gap in the United States and served as leaders in establishing clean energy and emissions goals. Over 30 states and the District of Columbia have clean energy standards in place. Clean energy goals set mandates for clean energy, usually called Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) or Clean Energy Targets, typically imposed on electricity providers. States differ in what clean energy technologies qualify under their laws. Climate goals, or Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets, set goals for the overall emissions in a state – including energy, transportation, and other sectors.  

Northeast states were early leaders in this trend. Connecticut, for example, was one of the first states in the country to set a goal of 80% emissions reductions by 2050 in legislation. Acadia Center monitors the northeast and mid-Atlantic region and has found the following:  

By the end of 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports that 67% of electricity retail sales in the U.S. States fall under legally binding RPSs. 

At the federal level, there is no specific statute setting a national U.S. clean energy standard or climate goal, although legislation passed last year – the Inflation Reduction Act – and nonbinding national targets are designed to produce emission reductions 40-50% below 2005 levels by 2030, in line with aggressive state climate goals. Federal policy is intended to reach commitments in the Paris Climate Accords. 

How do these efforts at the state and federal levels compare to other countries?  

The European Union (EU) and the United States are both taking steps to transition towards cleaner energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. However, there are some notable differences in their approaches. 

The goal set by the EU would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. To achieve this, the EU has implemented a variety of policies and initiatives to support renewable energy, such as the Renewable Energy Directive, which sets binding targets for renewable energy use, and the European Green Deal, which aims to make the EU’s economy sustainable. The EU also has a carbon pricing system in place, the Emissions Trading System (ETS), which covers energy and industrial sectors and provides a financial incentive for companies to reduce their emissions. 

In March 2023, the European Union agreed to double its renewable energy targets by 2030, a significant increase from its previous target of 32%. The new goal is for 65% of the EU’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030, with further targets for energy efficiency and electrification of transport. 

The US federal government has also recently made progress on climate policy. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan includes significant funding for clean energy and infrastructure, and he has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, similar to the EU 2030 goal. The Biden administration has also rejoined the Paris Agreement and has set emissions reduction targets for the US. 

However, there are still significant challenges facing both the EU and the US in their clean energy transitions. In the EU, some member states remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels, and there is resistance to phasing out these industries. In the US, there is political polarization on climate policy, with some states and industries opposing regulations and incentives for clean energy. 

Overall, while there are differences in the approaches taken by the EU and the US, both are making progress in transitioning to cleaner energy sources. The EU’s ambitious targets and policy framework provide a solid foundation for its efforts, while the US has made considerable progress at the state level and is now beginning to pursue more ambitious national policies. By continuing to work towards their goals, both the EU and the US can make significant contributions to global efforts to combat climate change. 

NESEA 2023 Building Energy Boston: Scalable Climate Solutions in Built Environment

Acadia Center recently participated in the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA)’s annual BuildingEnergy Boston Conference that occurred on March 28 – 29, 2023. With over 45 presentations from experts across the fields, the NESEA BuildingEnergy Boston conference has again drawn attention to the climate and clean energy implications in the design and construction sector in buildings. Our Environmental Justice & Outreach Manager, Joy Yakie served as a member of the 2023 Content Committee and curated two of the presentations at the conference. She found that the highlight of the conference was summarized by the two keynote addresses on the Net-Zero Building Revolution and Why We Stopped Doing Deep Energy Retrofits. The conference opened more dialogue on how solutions can be scaled up to ensure sustainable practices in the design and construction space.

Dividing her time at the conference, Joy supported two of the presentations she reviewed weeks leading up to the conference. Both presentations, Commitment to Learning: A Case Study of Three Public Schools and Addressing Racism and Subtle Acts of Exclusion in the Workplace, shared broader knowledge on sustainable practices in building public schools and how to handle microaggressions in the design and construction workplace respectively. The Case Study of Three Public Schools was presented by architects from HMFH, a leading design firm in the design and construction space that champions sustainability in their building design and construction. The buildings used for the case study on public schools were situated in Taunton, Westborough, and Dighton MA.

Joy also supported the presentation by the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director, Fatou Nije-Jallow, MHA,  from The New England Center for Children, expounding on subtle acts of exclusion in the workplace and the examples of well-crafted responses that foster inclusivity in the workplace.

Acadia Center is proud to work with our partners and other stakeholders in the building sector. We are a part of the ongoing conversations and will ensure that the success of our work reflects net-zero emissions from this sector in the near decade.

NESEA is planning its Building Energy NYC conference scheduled for October 12, 2023. Visit https://nesea.org/conference/buildingenergy-nyc for more information to participate and support.

 

For more information:

Joy Yakie, Environmental Justice & Outreach Manager, jyakie@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 x110

RGGI Findings and Recommendations Webinar Summary

Acadia Center hosted a webinar on April 11th, where staff discussed the latest Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Report, Findings and Recommendations for the Third RGGI Program Review. You can watch the full webinar and read through the summary below.

The presentation began with our hosts explaining what the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is. The cap-and -invest program launched in 2008 and includes 11 states across the Northeast. It aims to limit emissions by getting power plants to purchase emissions allowances through state auctions. The proceeds then go towards state-directed investments in things like clean energy and renewables. Since its inception, RGGI has generated $6.2 billion in proceeds for investment in these states. The 9 states that consistently participated have seen overwhelming success in shifting away from fossil fuels, growing the economy and lowering consumer costs simultaneously. The third program review is currently underway, which is why Acadia Center’s report is timely and can offer insights into how to improve the program.

This report analyzed the impact of RGGI on Environmental Justice communities who face disproportionate drawbacks from emissions, including health and quality of life impacts. RGGI collects little data tracking how the funds are spent and whether they’re flowing to EJ communities appropriately. Although RGGI has achieved great success in reducing NOx emissions across the region, localized air impacts in disadvantaged communities still exist. Acadia Center created a NOx Pollution Threat Score which ranks the worst offending NOx polluting plants in populated areas.

Acadia Center recommends RGGI address the following in their ongoing program review:

  • Set the market cap to reflect aggressive state climate and clean energy goals
  • Adjust market mechanisms to better align with decarbonization policies and the social cost of carbon
  • Commit to investing 40-50% of proceeds in EJ communities, and involve EJ communities in determining in what programs to invest
  • Provide publicly available information to track how funds are being used to ensure this threshold is met
  • Decrease NOx emissions at the power plants that create the largest respiratory heath risks
  • Increase funding and enforcement of air quality monitoring, particularly in EJ communities
  • Lower the threshold capacity for RGGI regulation to 15 MW, bringing in an additional [get number from FAQs] 91% of which are near EJ comunities

The webinar concluded with a Q&A session with the audience, which you can watch in the video above. Thank you to all who participated in the webinar for your interest in RGGI and our latest report.

After Fourteen Years of RGGI, Air Quality’s Up Next

Acadia Center today released a much anticipated sequel to our 2019 report RGGI: Ten Years in Review, taking stock of the impacts of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) as it turns 14 and making recommendations for improvements as the participating states embark on the Third Program Review – happening now!

What is RGGI?

RGGI is a cap-and-invest greenhouse gas reduction program by 12 states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic designed to limit the amount of carbon dioxide pollution (CO2) from electricity generating plants in the region. RGGI has been a pioneer of climate policy, generating $6.2 billion in proceeds for participating states over the last 14 years. RGGI is the United States’ first multi-state program designed to reduce climate change-causing pollution from power plants and has provided a wealth of lessons to be incorporated into the next generation of climate policies, including successes to build on and opportunities for improvement. 

Has RGGI provided benefits to participating states?

Yes! The nine states that have consistently participated in RGGI (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont) have experienced a more rapid increase in GDP per capita and a more rapid decline in power sector CO2 emissions and retail electricity prices. From 2008 through 2021, Acadia Center found that the RGGI states experienced:

· A nearly 50% reduction in CO2 from power plants: 10% more than the 40 states that have not consistently had a price on greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter “the rest of the country”)

· An increase in economic growth per capita of 50%: 13% more than the rest of the country

· A 3.2% decline in retail electricity prices compared to a 7.7% increase in the rest of the country

· A 91% decline in electricity generated from coal, and 808% growth in solar and wind

· An 85% reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx) in RGGI-regulated power plants over the entire region. Criteria emissions, particularly NOx, can have significant detrimental health impacts including damaging the respiratory tract and increasing vulnerability to respiratory infections and asthma.

Are air quality benefits seen equally in all communities?

No. While air quality improved across the region, differences exist in localized impacts of power plants covered by the RGGI program. Acadia Center analysis found that, between 2008 and 2021:

· Over a third of RGGI plants that emit significant levels of NOx emissions are located near high asthma communities (census tracts above 90th percentile in CEQ data for adults with asthma).

· NOx emissions from power plants within 3 miles of an EJSI community (above 90th percentile on at least one of U.S. EPA’s EJScreen socioeconomic indicators) declined by 85%, compared to the rest of the RGGI power plant fleet, where NOx emissions declined by 88%.

· Over two-thirds of RGGI plants do not have an active air quality monitoring site within a 3-mile radius – and over three quarters of these unmonitored plants are near an EPA EJSI or high asthma community.

Acadia Center analysis also found that although only 41% of the census tracts in the region are classified as EPA EJSI Communities, 81% of RGGI power plants are located within 3 miles of EPA EJSI Communities. Similarly, although only 11.5% of all census tracts in the region are considered high asthma communities, 37.5% of all RGGI plants were located within 3 miles of a high asthma community. Although complicated by the fact that the 3-mile radius around each power plant often touches multiple census tracts, this comparison suggests that RGGI plants may be more likely to be located within 3 miles of an EPA EJSI community or high asthma community than a random distribution would create.

What should we do about that?

The Third Program Review in 2023 offers communities, affected groups, and the public a key opportunity to advocate for changes that create a more equitable and direct distribution of investments in environmental justice communities, use the power of regional cooperation to improve air quality and health of communities that surround the power plants covered by RGGI and better align RGGI with state climate and clean energy mandates.

What improvements does Acadia Center recommend?

Acadia Center recommends that during the Third Program Review the RGGI states should:

Align the Cap and Market Mechanisms with State Climate and Clean Energy Goals: Set the RGGI cap level at or below the emissions allowed under state clean energy and GHG reduction laws and adjust market mechanisms to support higher levels of decarbonization.

Ensure Environmental Justice Communities Directly Benefit: Require that no less than 40-50% of RGGI proceeds are invested in EJ communities, ensure meaningful participation in investment decisions by EJ community members, and transparently track and report expenditures and impact.

Use the Power of Regional Cooperation to Improve Health and Air Quality: Accelerate decreases in NOx emissions at the power plants that pose the largest respiratory health risks, and increase funding and enforcement of air quality monitoring, especially in EJ communities.

Lower the 25 MW Threshold Capacity for RGGI Regulation to 15MW: 91% of smaller generating units are within 3 miles of an EPA EJSI or high asthma community. By including all generating units of 15MW or higher, and lower for co-located units, RGGI could have a significant health benefit in these areas.

How do we know which plants should be targeted?

To help identify some of the most problematic power plants in the RGGI region, Acadia Center developed a “NOx pollution threat score”, based on how much NOx the plant emits, how many people live within 3 miles, and whether the plant is near EPA EJSI or high asthma communities. With this tool, we identified a RGGI NOx Threat Ten list of power plants that pose the largest respiratory health risks to EJ and high asthma communities and should be considered as a starting point for targeted emissions reductions.

How can I participate?

RGGI states will be offering public comment and listening opportunities in the coming months. Acadia Center will be offering a webinar on April 11, 2023, at noon (EST) to provide information from our RGGI Report that can be used in commenting to RGGI states in the public processes they will be starting soon. We will be preparing additional materials to help interested parties provide comments to the states.

Wind Energy is Needed for Electrifying our Economy

Recent disputes between offshore wind operators and Massachusetts regulators highlight how our clean energy future is far from guaranteed. The two projects in dispute, Commonwealth Wind and SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind), together with Vineyard Wind Project 1, make up 3.2 gigawatts of offshore wind energy Massachusetts has planned for 2030. These offshore wind projects are essential to decarbonizing our electric grid and meeting the growing demands of key sectors, such as electric vehicles and heating buildings.

Fossil gas utilities, however, are asking regulators to use new wind projects to create green hydrogen as a heating fuel to replace fossil (natural) gas. But the data is clear; using renewable electricity directly – for example in heat pumps or electric cars – will always be more efficient than using that same electricity to produce hydrogen and pipe that hydrogen through the leaky gas distribution system. It’s a matter of physics. If regulators allow gas utilities to use renewable energy to produce green hydrogen to heat Massachusetts buildings, utilities will hijack our offshore wind energy resources and/or other sources of clean electricity, endangering our climate goals.

Buildings generate 27 percent of Massachusetts greenhouse gas emissions, one of the largest sources of emissions in the Commonwealth. In 2020, then-Attorney General Maura Healey urged the Department of Public Utilities  to open a “Future of Gas” investigation to determine how we can rapidly decarbonize our buildings sector. The result of this utility-led process is not surprising, but also not a low-emissions or low-cost solution. Gas utilities assert the need to continue using their pipelines (replacing some and building more) to distribute a blend of green hydrogen and “renewable natural gas” as an alternative to using electric heat pumps to heat our homes and other buildings.

The gas utilities claim that using this blended gas for heating would reduce demand for electricity, compared with switching to electric heat pumps. As they have provided little or no evidence to support this, we investigated two simple questions:

  • If gas utilities rely on green hydrogen, made using renewable electricity to convert water into hydrogen with electrolysis, how much renewable electricity would be needed?
  • How much renewable electricity would be necessary to provide the same amount of heat to homes and other buildings using heat pumps, as proposed by the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050?

Our finding disqualifies the use of green hydrogen for heat, without even considering the myriad issues of climate impacts, cost, equity, health, and safety that also should disqualify using green hydrogen to heat buildings.

We found that a 20 percent volume blend of green hydrogen (which would only replace 7 percent of the total gas) in the fossil gas distributed in Massachusetts would use 3.4 times as much electricity as heat pumps. While Massachusetts utilities have procured only 3.2 gigawatts of the mandated 5.6 gigawatt offshore wind by 2027, about 3.9 gigawatts would be needed to produce enough green hydrogen for this 20 percent blend. Thus, producing sufficient green hydrogen to satisfy the utilities’ plans to add it to the gas pipelines would deplete limited renewable energy and derail our efforts to decarbonize the electric grid.

Gordon Richardson has worked as an independent consultant, a consultant with Arthur D. Little, and as chief engineer at Houston-based Eastman Whipstock Inc. He is the coauthor of a report on green hydrogen production for Gas Transition Allies.  Ben Butterworth is the director of climate, energy, and equity analysis at the Acadia Center.

To read this article in Commonwealth Magazine, click here.