Conn. Zero-Carbon Awards Include Nukes, OSW, Solar

Connecticut officials in June announced they would purchase 200 MW of output from the Revolution Wind project, adding to Rhode Island’s 400-MW procurement. (See Conn. Awards 200-MW OSW, 50-MW Fuel Cell Deals.)

The additional 100-MW “procurement is another step forward for Connecticut in growing its commitment to offshore wind,” said Emily Lewis, senior policy analyst at Acadia Center. “Adding more offshore wind to the state’s clean energy portfolio will continue the momentum of this growing industry … To ensure continued growth of this industry in Connecticut, the state should set an offshore wind mandate similar to other east coast states.”

Read the full article from RTO Insider here (article may be behind paywall).

Millstone, offshore wind among zero-carbon auction winners

Emily Lewis, senior policy analyst at Acadia Center, called the offshore wind procurement “another step forward for Connecticut.”

“Adding more offshore wind to the state’s clean energy portfolio will continue the momentum of this growing industry,” she said. “By carving out a portion of this RFP for offshore wind, the state is working to incrementally build its clean energy economy.”

Lewis said it seemed like Connecticut was “being a little shy” to enter the offshore wind game compared to Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. She noted the Acadia Center and Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs called on the state to set “an offshore wind mandate similar to other East Coast states.”

Read the full article from The Day here (article may be behind paywall).

Connecticut Boosts Offshore Wind in Selecting 100 MW Project

HARTFORD, CT – Today, Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) selected Ørsted US Offshore Wind’s proposal for 100 MW of offshore wind as one of the winning renewable energy bids in its Zero Carbon Resource request for proposals. DEEP also selected Millstone Nuclear Power Station, Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, and about 165 MW of solar projects – some including storage – to move forward to contract negotiations. The winning proposal from Ørsted US Offshore Wind, formerly Deepwater Wind, is an expansion of the 200 MW Revolution Wind project chosen this summer that was approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority last week. The expansion is estimated to power an additional 45,000 homes.

The full details of the bid are still hidden until the contracts are completed, but public documents showed that Ørsted US Offshore Wind committed an additional $13.7 million to Connecticut and New London in their proposal for port enhancements, economic development, and education.

“This procurement is another step forward for Connecticut in growing its commitment to offshore wind,” said Emily Lewis, senior policy analyst at Acadia Center. “Adding more offshore wind to the state’s clean energy portfolio will continue the momentum of this growing industry. By carving out a portion of this RFP for offshore wind, the state is working to incrementally build its clean energy economy. To ensure continued growth of this industry in Connecticut, the state should set an offshore wind mandate similar to other east coast states.”

“This announcement is good news for our workers and their communities, as it expands the new offshore wind industry’s footprint in Connecticut and demonstrates the state’s interest in securing a share of the highly-paid offshore wind jobs coming to the Northeast,” said John Humphries, lead organizer for the CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs. “However, this is a very timid step in comparison to other states in the region, and Connecticut needs to make a long-term commitment to a more substantial procurement to attract investments in manufacturing and supply chain activities. We hope the incoming administration will support a more aggressive approach to offshore wind procurement and investment in order to take full advantage of the economic opportunity this industry represents.”


Media Contacts:

Emily Lewis, Senior Policy Advocate; Acadia Center
elewis@acadiacenter.org, 860-246-7121 ext. 207

John Humphries, Lead Organizer; CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs
john@ctclimateandjobs.org, 860-216-7972

9 States Target Transportation Emissions with New Cap-and-Trade Plan

“I think they will want to draw on successful precedent, including California, but they also need to work with the communities that they are trying to help in this region,” said Jordan Stutt, Carbon Programs director at the Acadia Center, an organization focused on clean energy development in the Northeast.

“Making sure that there is a spot at the table for those communities to weigh in on how this program should be structured and how those benefits can delivered will be hugely important,” Stutt said.

Read the full article from Inside Climate News here.

Massachusetts’ popular electric vehicle rebates are about to shrink

To reach these ambitious numbers, it is essential to implement measures to help consumers of all income levels go electric, activists said.

“We absolutely need to take new steps to improve access to electric vehicles to low-income residents,” said Mark LeBel, staff attorney at the Acadia Center, a Boston-based nonprofit that promotes the development of clean energy economies.

Offering larger rebates to lower-income buyers and expanding the program to include used vehicles could help achieve this goal, LeBel said. Financing options that offered low or no-interest loans could also be useful, he said.

Read the full article from Energy News Network here.

Cap-and-Trade for Cars Is Coming to the Northeast

“This is a great step forward for a region that desperately needs a more modern transportation system,” said Jordan Stutt, the director of carbon programs at the Acadia Center, a Boston-based environmental group. “I think this is a reflection of the kind of process we want to see more of when it comes to climate and economic policy.”

Others pointed to the additional benefits associated with cutting carbon emissions from cars and trucks, including cuts to other pollutants that are harmful to public health.

Read the full article from Scientific American here.

In landmark agreement, Mass., eight other states vow to cut transportation emissions

One group that has long called for a regional agreement on transportation emissions estimated it could raise more than $5.5 billion over a decade and generate more than 50,000 jobs in Massachusetts.

“A cap-and-invest program could unleash billions of dollars to deliver the overdue improvements this region needs,” said Jordan Stutt, carbon programs director for the Acadia Center, an environmental advocacy group in Boston.

Read the full article from the Boston Globe here.

Connecticut efficiency program turns focus to smaller commercial buildings

Poor energy performance is not unique to Stamford; the whole state is grappling with energy efficiency. Connecticut continues to have some of the highest energy costs in the country. Though Connecticut has made progress over the last two decades — primarily through its Conservation and Load Management energy efficiency program — it now risks falling behind other states in New England. According to the Acadia Center, a nonprofit advocating for a clean energy future, Connecticut invests in cost-effective electric efficiency at “roughly half the levels pursued in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.”

Read the full article from Energy News Network here.

Cars, trucks, boats, planes add most emissions in Maine

Kathleen Meil, Maine policy advocate for the nonprofit Acadia Center, which focuses on clean-energy issues, called the transportation sector’s contribution to the challenge “astounding.”

“As other sectors become less carbon-intensive, the piece of the pie for the transportation sector has grown,” said Meil. “The other part of it is we have not taken the (concrete) initiatives with transportation emissions that we have with other sectors.”

In a recent report titled “Building a Stronger Maine: Memorandum to the Next Governor,” the Rockport-based Acadia Center said modernizing Maine’s transportation system could create up to 8,700 new jobs with more than $1 billion in new wages. The Acadia Center has recommended Maine work toward goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030 by, among other things, using 500 electric-powered buses and moving toward 17 percent of passenger cars running on electricity.

Read the full article from Central Maine here.

CT’s clean energy battles transition from Malloy to Lamont

Acadia Center, among the top tier of regional environmental advocacy groups, had no representative on the committee, but put together its own priority plan – a memo to the incoming governor.

That plan offers specific prescriptions, bolstered by data, for how to achieve changes in five key areas: transportation, including infrastructure and adoption of electric vehicles which while steady, has been slow; transition to cleaner more resilient local power; improving energy performance and emissions reductions in buildings; reforming rules for the grid; and improving community and individual energy choice – essentially the ability to use more distributed and flexibly designed generation.

“We’re taking an approach that’s not just about clean energy. We’re taking an approach that’s about economic competitiveness,” said Amy McLean Salls, Acadia’s Connecticut director and senior policy advocate. “We also need to put into place the policies and the personnel who also can be thinking innovatively and not looking at the past as the way to the future.”

Read the full article from the CT Mirror here.