Out with the Old, In with the New: The New York DSIPs and What They Mean for the Modernized Energy Grid

The traditional system we currently use for serving the needs of energy users is quickly going out of style. The energy grid is still relying on a system that was invented almost 100 years ago (hello, the 1930s called and they want their transmission and distribution lines back!). The old classic version of the grid has served an important purpose for getting energy to consumers reliably and safely, but today’s energy fashion is more demanding. While the old grid excelled at sending energy one-way from generators to consumers, the new energy grid needs to be able to accessorize by incorporating distributed energy resources (“DER”) such as solar and wind energy, active load management, and energy efficiency programs. DER will enable the development of a grid that is increasingly resilient, flexible, and adaptable to the needs of all energy consumers. In New York, a process is under way to try to bring these innovative new options online.

A modernized energy grid doesn’t happen overnight. States across the Northeastern U.S. are trying to figure out how to facilitate the transition from a traditional energy grid system to a more modernized grid. The Distributed System Implementation Plan (“DSIP”) process initiated by the New York Public Service Commission (“PSC” or “Commission”) may be one model for helping utilities make a smooth and efficient transition.

The Commission has required all electric service utilities to create and maintain comprehensive Plans detailing the processes by which they will transform the traditional one-way electric grid into a more dynamic and integrated grid that can manage two-way flows, is more resilient, and produces fewer carbon emissions. The DSIPs are a comprehensive source of information for the public and serve to consolidate several important pieces of New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (“REV”) strategy.  They are also intended to be a source of data and information to assist third-party DER providers with planning and investment. The new energy grid will require joint decision-making and planning between utilities, third-party providers, consumers, regulatory bodies, and other interested parties. This means that transparency and visibility are paramount to achieving a modernized grid.

The DSIP process is novel in that it has required utilities to make their internal decision-making more transparent and begin making joint planning decisions. This type of practice has potential for creating a collaborative environment that produces a constructive transition. The DSIP process has done well in New York to:

• Provide insight into key decision-making processes of utilities, especially regarding the use of DER in addressing system needs
• Provide a baseline for current data-gathering capabilities as well as capabilities regarding load forecasting and accommodating DER
• Create a space for joint decision-making and planning between utilities
• Involve stakeholders on various key issues

While the DSIPs that the utilities produced are important and useful, in many ways they fall short of what was expected of them. Some improvements that should be made to the DSIPs include:

• Valuable data – for example regarding hosting capacity, DER forecasting, and DER impacts on the grid – has not yet been included in the DSIPs and the utilities have not in many cases provided sufficient plans for providing the data
• Many of the plans that have been provided are a good start, but are still not sufficiently detailed or specific enough to be useful for the public and third-parties, for example, almost no timelines for implementation are provided
• There is a general lack of description regarding how various processes, such as forecasting and making decisions about using DER for system needs, will be re-assessed and evolved as technologies and data-gathering capabilities improve
• Stakeholder process has been utility-centric and lacked necessary oversight by the state energy regulatory body to ensure fair and meaningful engagement by all interested parties, including at the scoping stage of the process.

In sum, the DSIP process provides one model for states to facilitate the transition to the modernized energy grid, but they should look for opportunities to build on New York’s model. These first DSIPs were filed in 2016. Updated DSIPs will be filed in June 2018, giving utilities another opportunity to seek and receive the level of detailed data and planning that is needed to inform decision-making by other stakeholders and in other states.

Summaries of Important DSIP Focus Areas

Some of the most relevant aspects of the DSIPs are briefly described and assessed below. For more information about the New York DSIPs, read Acadia Center’s full Summary Analysis or the DSIP documents available in the proceedings.

Forecasting is the process by which utilities make predictions about energy load on the grid. Utilities also use forecasting to predict penetration of different DER technologies on the grid. These predictions have varied implications for what the grid needs to ensure reliable and safe power to all customers. The DSIPs provide a first glimpse into the calculations that utilities use and the impacts that DER are expected to have on forecasting. However, the DSIPs also reveal that utilities need to improve their forecasting processes and especially that they need to continue refining their methods for predicting DER penetration as well as DER impacts on the grid.

Utilities’ plans for accommodating and enabling DER on the energy grid are addressed in the DSIPs. As DER increase, their impacts on the grid increase. Distributed generation (such as wind and solar) for example, will increasingly be able to inject energy into the grid from various locations. The current energy grid can only manage a limited amount of distributed generation since it is currently only configured to manage energy flowing from a select few large generators into the homes and businesses of energy users. To optimize development of DER, third-party developers need to have detailed information about where DER can be accommodated and where DER might be most beneficial. The DSIPs provide important information about when and how this information will be available. They also describe their plans for streamlining the interconnection processes for distributed generators. These efforts will go a long way to reduce barriers for integrating DER with the grid, but the DSIPs also show a lack of preparation and planning for actively encouraging more DER. Increasing DER will be invaluable for enhancing resiliency and flexibility as well as decreasing carbon emissions.

Non-wires alternatives are DER that are procured by utilities to address the needs of the energy grid. Traditionally, utilities simply invest in more traditional infrastructure when the need arises. These types of upgrades are costly for the utility and thus for ratepayers. Alternatively, DER can be more cost-effective and can be used to avoid or postpone traditional infrastructure investments. The DSIPs provide clear analysis of the types of projects that they consider suitable for using non-wires alternatives. The utilities have defined a narrow range of projects that are suitable for these alternatives, and limiting the range of possible projects in this way means that there will be missed opportunities to address a wider range of system needs.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (“AMI”) is important for advancing grid modernization efforts. It will enable utilities to vastly improve data-gathering capabilities and increase their ability to control energy load on the system. In the past, meters were only needed to measure energy used within a time frame, usually one month. With AMI, meters will be able to report hourly or even near to real-time data about energy use. This information will be invaluable for load forecasting and for better understanding DER impacts on the grid. Utilities will also be able to share data with customers – empowering them to better manage their own energy use. AMI also enables strategies to optimize the grid, like demand response, time-varying rates, and active load management. These strategies are based on increasing energy consumption during off-peak periods and decreasing it during peak hours. The DSIPs show that all utilities are planning to implement AMI over the next several years. However, the utilities are not consistent in how they present their plans for AMI roll-out. Some utilities provide excellent summaries or even include their full plans in the appendix of their DSIP. Other utilities provide almost no summary and simply refer to other proceedings.

Electric Vehicles will be key for achieving New York’s carbon emissions reduction goals. New York has made clear goals for increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road. This will require increased infrastructure, such as charging stations. Utilities are expected to be proactive about planning for and enabling the electric vehicle market. The DSIPs show that utilities are implementing pilot projects, mostly aimed at better understanding how these vehicles are used and charged, which will in turn help utilities better understand their impact on the grid. The utilities have also jointly produced a plan for creating an “EV Readiness Framework” which will guide their actions for preparing for electric vehicles. The DSIPs lack any concrete plans for going beyond pilot projects to implementing any wide-scale infrastructure investments for electric vehicles.

The DSIPs include investment plans that indicate how and where the utilities will spend money in the next several years to begin the transition to a modernized energy grid. Generally, utilities are investing in new systems and capabilities that will enhance data-gathering, load management, and DER integration, which will in turn increase grid reliability and efficiency. Utilities also need to invest in improving customer engagement by providing understandable billing and secure data exchange platforms.

Critics of R.I. budget take aim at one-time revenue transfers

“Imposing a new energy tax would be extremely unfair to Rhode Island’s already burdened ratepayers, who have been promised tangible benefits in return for their efficiency funding,” said the letter, provided by the Acadia Center.

Read the full article from the Providence Journal here.

Governor Raimondo Nominates Acadia Center’s Abigail Anthony to the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission

Providence, R.I. — Today, Abigail Anthony, Ph.D., will appear before the Rhode Island Senate for hearings to confirm her appointment by Governor Gina Raimondo as commissioner on the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (RIPUC). Dr. Anthony is currently director of Acadia Center’s Rhode Island Office and its Grid Modernization Initiative.

Since Dr. Anthony began at Acadia Center in 2007, she has had a leading role in advancing Rhode Island’s energy efficiency policies and grid modernization to achieve a sustainable and consumer-friendly energy system. This work will continue as she joins the Rhode Island PUC, which is working at the behest of Governor Raimondo to develop a more dynamic regulatory framework that will enable Rhode Island and its utilities to advance a cleaner, lower-cost energy system.

“In the decade that Abigail has been leading Acadia Center’s work in Rhode Island, the state has become a national leader in energy efficiency and adopting reforms to advance clean energy,” said Daniel Sosland, president of Acadia Center. “Abigail’s efforts have been instrumental in this progress and have helped build the foundation for a cleaner, more consumer-friendly and lower-cost energy system for Rhode Island’s businesses and residents. Governor Raimondo’s recent directive to take steps to modernize the power grid indicates that the state is serious about building a clean energy future. RIPUC will play a central role in determining Rhode Island’s energy future. Acadia Center will miss Abigail, but we are excited that she will bring her thoughtful, reasoned approach to the challenging issues before the PUC.”

In collaboration with the Office of Energy Resources and Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, the Public Utilities Commission is currently working to draft regulations that will allow clean energy resources to be integrated into the grid more easily. To comply with the Governor’s directive, they will explore utility function and compensation, the effects of adopting electric vehicles and electric heating, and means of expanding customer and third-party participation.

Today’s Senate committee hearing has been scheduled to confirm Dr. Anthony’s nomination. Acadia Center looks forward to continuing its work in Rhode Island to advance a clean energy future that will build a stronger economic future, improve public health and reduce climate pollution through initiatives expanding energy efficiency, clean energy and transportation, power grid modernization and community energy.

Media Contacts:
Daniel Sosland, President
dsosland@acadiacenter.org, 207.236.6470

Krysia Wazny, Communications Director
kwazny@acadiacenter.org, 617.742.0054 ext. 107

Acadia Center
144 Westminster Street, Suite 203
Providence, RI 02903
401.276.0600

Massachusetts bill would compel utilities to consider non-wires alternatives

Peter Shattuck, Massachusetts director for the Acadia Center and the Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions, which is supporting the bill, told Microgrid Knowledge that declining cost of solar and efficiency, and the state’s growing interesting battery storage, are fueling an interest in modernization.

“We’re glad to see utilities entering the energy storage market. Eversource, in their rate case, has a significant $100 million of storage proposed across four projects. But there is a clearly a big market for behind-the-meter storage as well,” Shattuck said.

Read the full article from Utility Dive here.

Massachusetts Bills Create New Opportunities for Microgrids, Non-Wires Alternatives

The Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions (ACES), a coalition of environmental and industry groups, discussed the bill and its other legislative priorities in an interview Monday, as it prepares for energy hearings at the state capitol this week.

“The appetite for local energy and microgrids continues to grow in Massachusetts because of declining costs for solar, progress on energy efficiency, and the attention the Baker administration has given to energy storage,” said Peter Shattuck, Massachusetts director for the Acadia Center and ACES co-chair.

[…]

The non-wires alternatives proposal is within a new grid modernization bill, H. 1725/S. 1875, that would “reset” a proceeding now before the state Department of Public Utilities, Shattuck said. The legislation puts greater emphasis on modernizing the grid via local energy than does the existing grid modernization docket.

[…]

At the same time, the bill would limit how much energy storage a utility or retail supplier could own. Shattuck said that the legislation places emphasis on securing more behind-the-meter – as opposed to utility-scale – energy storage than did last year’s energy storage bill.

“We’re glad to see utilities entering the energy storage market. Eversource, in their rate case, has a significant $100 million of storage proposed across four projects. But there is a clearly a big market for behind the meter storage as well,” Shattuck said.

[…]

Among the several green energy proposals, ACES’s top priority for this year is a bill that increases the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 40-50 percent by 2030, with annual increases running two to three percent after that.  The state’s current RPS requires that 12 percent of electricity come from renewables this year, rising to 15 percent by 2020. RPS requirements benefit microgrids because they create a revenue stream – renewable energy credits – for green energy development. New microgrids often include renewables, solar in particular.

“Given the federal government’s retrograde energy policies, it’s critical that states show a willingness to embrace clean energy solutions,” said Shattuck. “We’re proud of the direction our ACES members have taken in ensuring that Massachusetts remain a leader in the nation’s clean energy future.”

Read the full article from Microgrid Knowledge here.

Northeastern states moving on carbon pricing

Peter Shattuck, director of clean energy initiatives for the regional environmental advocacy group Acadia Center, noted that it was a Republican governor, George Pataki of New York, who proposed RGGI in the face of environmental inaction from President George W. Bush. Four of the region’s original seven RGGI signatories were Republicans.

“In a strange way – this may be one of the silver linings of the Trump administration,” he said. “As he guts every major climate policy that was put in place over the last eight years, there’s a need for governors in the region to step forward and show some leadership.”

Read the full article from Yale Climate Connections here.

Forum: We need to reduce energy costs, not tax ratepayers

Op-ed by Bill Dornbos and John Harrity in the New Haven Register.

The Senate Republican proposal to raid ratepayer funds for energy efficiency and renewable energy would decimate successful programs that reduce energy costs for Connecticut businesses and families. But that’s not all. Their proposal would also stifle job growth in the state’s rapidly expanding energy efficiency and solar industries, and it’s about the worst thing Connecticut could do as the harmful impacts of climate change become more apparent every day.

The Senate Republicans’ revised budget would not only divert $68 million annually from Connecticut’s award-winning energy efficiency programs into the General Fund for the next two fiscal years — a major cut that would reduce electric efficiency programs by about one-third — but it would also plunder almost half of the ratepayer funding for Connecticut Green Bank and its renewable energy programs.

In doing so, the Senate Republicans would convert cost-effective investments that save consumers money into a new energy tax on ratepayers to shore up the state’s budget deficit. Every dollar invested in energy efficiency last year produced $3.89 in lifetime savings on utility bills. But this new energy tax would slash that productive investment and then, even worse, cause significant and immediate job losses in Connecticut’s energy efficiency and renewables sectors, crippling these thriving industries at a time when we need to foster local economic growth and job creation to increase state revenues.

These raids also run completely counter to our state’s governing energy strategy, which, wisely, makes efficiency our first fuel source. The benefits of this choice are many and undeniable. Energy efficiency investments made in 2016, for instance, will save consumers an estimated $962 million in lifetime bill savings. Those same investments will also generate approximately 12,000 jobs in Connecticut because energy efficiency replaces fossil fuels imported from out of state with in-state labor. Last year’s investments will also protect public health and the environment by cutting carbon emissions and local air pollution.

The Senate Republican’s proposed budget inflicts even more harm by raiding $26 million annually from the market-based Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Unfortunately, the Democrats’ budget also raids RGGI, which reinvests money from carbon emission auctions in the energy efficiency programs and in the Green Bank. This funding was intended to reduce energy costs and speed the deployment of local clean energy, like rooftop solar — and it has worked.

Plus, the Green Bank has leveraged its RGGI funding to help attract tens of millions of dollars in private investment for in-state projects. Manufacturers and businesses helped by these investments have seen reductions in energy costs. And these reduced energy costs mean more competitive Connecticut companies sustaining more jobs for Connecticut workers.

Beyond these economic arguments is the critical concern about undermining our commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change is the most important issue facing all of us for the rest of our lives. And we are fortunate to live in a state that has provided bipartisan leadership in addressing this issue. Governor Malloy’s recent announcement that Connecticut would remain committed to the standards of the Paris Climate Agreement – despite President Trump’s withdrawal from the pact — is just the latest example of such leadership.

Connecticut’s legislature has mandated ambitious, yet achievable, goals for reducing in-state emissions. Harnessing ratepayer funds to invest in zero-carbon efficiency and renewables is a critical means to achieving those goals. We cannot afford to take a break or divert funds or wait for a good budget year to do this important work. Climate change is real, it is relentless, and it is unfolding more quickly than predicted. And it has a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable residents of our state, including working families.

Our kids, and their kids – and children around the world – expect and deserve to grow up in a world that is habitable. We must not step back from our responsibility to future generations in a short-sighted and misguided effort to balance the budget.

Protecting ratepayer funds that support energy efficiency and clean energy programs is good for consumers, good for homeowners and businesses, good for workers, good for people who breathe our cities’ air, and good for the climate.

John Harrity is president of the Connecticut State Council of Machinists. Bill Dornbos is Connecticut director and senior attorney at Acadia Center. Both serve on the steering committee for the CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs (www.CTClimateandJobs.org).

EnergyVision 2030: What the numbers tell us about how to achieve a clean energy system

What impact will current efforts to expand clean energy markets in the Northeast have over time? Where can we do more to advance these markets? What specific increases in clean energy are needed to adequately reduce carbon pollution and meet targets for deep reductions in climate pollution? What does the data show about claims that more natural gas pipeline capacity is needed?

A few years ago, Acadia Center released a framework entitled EnergyVision, which shows that a clean energy future can be achieved in the Northeast by drawing on the benefits of using clean energy to heat our homes, transport us, and generate clean power. Many studies have shown that a clean energy future will improve public health, increase consumer choice, and spur economic growth by keeping consumer energy dollars in the region. States have started to move towards the future put forward in our EnergyVision framework supporting key clean energy technologies like rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and wind, and increasing investments in energy efficiency and upgrades to the grid.

But other voices have tried to slow or even block progress toward a clean energy future. Claims that the region needs more natural gas capacity continue to be made, most recently by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and states are not uniformly moving forward in all areas of clean energy development. Efforts to reform the power grid vary from state to state, and the data needed to identify what our energy system could look like in a few years and what contribution clean energy can make has not been gathered.

To fill these important information gaps and help answer these questions, Acadia Center undertook a comprehensive analysis of the Northeast’s energy system. Using a data based approach, we looked at where current state and regional efforts to expand clean energy stand and what emissions reductions and growth in markets for clean energy technologies those efforts will produce. We then examined what expansions in clean energy are needed to attain state goals to reduce climate pollution. The result is EnergyVision 2030, an analysis of the energy system that provides a clear pathway towards a clean energy future that empowers consumers in the Northeast.

EnergyVision 2030 demonstrates that the Northeast region can be on track to a clean energy system using technologies that are available now. In the last several years, clean technologies have advanced rapidly, and they offer states an unprecedented opportunity to transform the way energy is produced and used. For example:

• The nation’s first offshore wind project has recently come online in Rhode Island
• Electric heat pumps that work in the cold climates of the Northeast are now readily available
• There has been a dramatic increase in the number of electric vehicle options on the market
• Efforts to modernize our electric grid are underway in several states
• Onshore wind is now the lowest-cost electric resource in some reports
• Massachusetts and Rhode Island have redefined the levels of energy efficiency that can be consistently achieved.

And the list goes on.

To determine what growth in key clean energy technologies is needed, Acadia Center used a well-respected model¹ to analyze the energy system as it might look in the year 2030 under different conditions. First, EnergyVision 2030 shows what the energy system would look like under current trends, and then if policies were put in place to expand markets for newer technologies more quickly—at rates leading states are already achieving.

With this approach, EnergyVision 2030 finds that the first generation of climate and energy policies has successfully built a foundation for progress. Energy efficiency, renewable portfolio standards, and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have all contributed to declining emissions since the early 2000s.

To be on track to meet state targets for emissions reductions the region needs to achieve a 45% emissions reduction by 2030.² We used this 45% reduction as a target to develop our “Primary Scenario,” which features individual targets for clean energy technologies that together would reduce emissions 45%. We also modeled what it would take to get to a 50% reduction, in our “Accelerated Scenario.”

Policy changes drive both of these scenarios, which would see lagging states catch up to leaders like Massachusetts in energy efficiency and other areas, expand and extend renewable portfolio standards as New York has recently done, and grow markets for newer clean energy technologies like electric vehicles and cold climate heat pumps. In other words, if all states did what leading states are doing in each area—if they expanded building heat pumps like Maine, electric vehicles and solar like Vermont, energy efficiency like Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and utility reform like New York—the Northeast would achieve its emissions goals.

The table below shows how much selected clean energy technologies will expand by 2030 under current trends and in the Primary and Accelerated Scenarios.

To foster these clean energy markets, states can redouble their efforts and create a second generation of clean energy policies building on their initial success. The following policy recommendations will help make this possible. A more complete list is available at 2030.acadiacenter.org.

Clean Energy:

• Extend and increase rooftop and community solar
• Expand Renewable Portfolio Standards

Electric Vehicles:

• Strengthen market for electric vehicles through consumer incentives and better electric rate design

Lower-Cost Heating:

• Increase the market for heat pumps through incentives and education
• End policies that promote natural gas pipeline expansion

Electric Grid:

• Modernize and optimize the energy grid
• Reform utility incentives and regulation to better align them with state policy goals

EnergyVision 2030 combines detailed data analysis and policy recommendations to provide a tool for policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders to demonstrate both why state-level policy changes are needed and what we can do to make those changes happen, putting us on the path to a clean energy system. As with the first generation of clean energy policies, results can take significant time to accumulate, so action is needed now to ensure the region is ready to meet 2030 goals. EnergyVision 2030 gives us the targets and tools we need to begin working toward those policy changes today.

EnergyVision 2030 is available as an interactive website and in printable formats at 2030.acadiacenter.org.

¹ Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system from Stockholm Environment Institute
² 45% emissions reduction from 1990 levels

The last large coal plant in New England has shut down

The coal plant was the state’s number one emitter of toxins into the environment, and hot water discharged into the bay was killing fish. A decade ago, plant owner Dominion Energy spent a $1 billion to clean up its act and comply with court rulings, but it was too little too late.

Peter Shattuck, director of the Acadia Center’s Clean Energy Initiative, says Dominion didn’t realize there was a revolution going on in energy production — away from coal to natural gas, renewable resources and efficiency.

Read the full article from Daily Kos here.

Here’s what some are saying about Trump’s decision to pull out of Paris Climate Agreement

Daniel Sosland, president of Acadia Center, a nonprofit: “The Northeast region has successfully proven the benefits of pursuing a clean energy, low polluting economy: states have reduced climate pollution while enjoying greater economic growth, job creation and public health benefits. This significant progress on clean energy under both Republican and Democratic leadership at the state and federal level serves as a prime example of what is possible across the nation.”

Read the full article from Mainebiz here.