Energy study draws divergent reactions
Mark LeBel, a staff attorney at the Acadia Center, an environmental advocacy group, cited what he called three major deficiencies in the report. He said it treats demand for natural gas for heating as a constant over the next decade, assumes no growth in onshore wind power in its renewables forecast, and downplays the beneficial impact electricity storage could have on the power grid.
Read the full article from CommonWealth Magazine here.
Mass DPU OKs new ‘demand charge’ on residential solar customers in Eversource territory
The non-profit Acadia Center said the DPU “rubberstamped” a ruling for Eversource that is “harmful to consumers” and counterproductive to the growth of energy efficiency, storage, electric vehicles, and rooftop solar. The groups said that Eversource does not provide “smart metering” that lets customers understand and manage their peak usage, leaving consumers with little control over the demand charge.
Read the full article from MassLive here.
Massachusetts approves new demand charge for Eversource’s net metering customers
Demand charges are very controversial among renewables and clean energy advocates, and Massachusetts’ decision has set the stage for intense debate over rate design. “Massachusetts needs to step up its game and embrace smarter electricity rates and more customer control,” Daniel Sosland, president of Acadia Center, said in a statement. He said eliminating optional residential time-of-use rates and approving demand charges shows the state “is moving backwards instead of forward.”
Read the full article from Utility Dive here.
MA Department of Public Utilities Order Damages Clean Energy and Consumer Control
BOSTON—On Friday, January 5, 2018, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (MA DPU) issued an order on a major rate case involving Eversource, the Commonwealth’s largest utility, which provides service from Boston to the Berkshires. In Docket 17-05, the DPU rubberstamped a range of proposals by Eversource including demand charges for new residential solar projects starting on December 31, 2018 and the elimination of optional time-of-use rates for residential customers. Acadia Center is an intervenor in the rate case and opposed these proposed changes, along with numerous other parties, as harmful to consumers and counterproductive to incentives for consumer-friendly, clean energy technologies that should be the cornerstone of a modern energy system: energy efficiency, storage, electric vehicles, and rooftop solar.
“In order to achieve a cleaner, modern, more efficient and consumer-friendly energy system, Massachusetts needs to step up its game and embrace smarter electricity rates and more customer control. Rate reform should provide customers with the right tools, including understandable incentives to reduce energy use and invest in clean energy technologies,” said Daniel Sosland, president of Acadia Center. “By eliminating optional residential time-of-use rates and approving complicated demand charges, the Department is moving backwards instead of forward.”
“Demand charges” are charges based on the highest peak hourly usage by a customer over the course of a month, regardless of when that electricity is used. Given the lack of sophisticated metering in Massachusetts, there is no way for consumers to know what time this peak occurred and what actions could be taken to manage these charges. As a result, consumers will be paying the highest possible rate for this charge without being provided the information needed to understand the cause of these costs. Importantly, because an individual customer’s peak usage does not necessarily correspond to peak demand across the utility’s electricity system, consumers are not being provided incentives to reduce energy usage in a way that could benefit the whole electricity system. The result is that opportunities to reduce peak demand—which drives costs for the system at large—will be lost. Acadia Center co-authored a paper on issues with demand charges in 2016.
“Acadia Center and other intervenors in the Eversource rate case made a detailed case that demand charges are not understandable by small customers and are inefficient because they are not tied to the peak times that drive costs,” said Amy Boyd, Senior Attorney and lead counsel for Acadia Center in the rate case. “The Department has chosen to move forward despite these issues. In addition, elimination of residential time-of-use rates harms efforts to reduce the costs associated with peak usage across the system through energy efficiency and other investments made by customers.”
Mark LeBel, Staff Attorney and expert witness in the rate case, said: “Imposition of demand charges on new residential solar customers starting in 2018 is a mistake. The Department has taken an unreasonable approach to addressing any issues with net metering and ignored Acadia Center’s proposals for more gradual reforms over time, including a distribution reliability charge that could be implemented with current metering.”
Media Contacts:
Amy Boyd, Senior Attorney
aboyd@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 x102
Mark LeBel, Staff Attorney
mlebel@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 x104
Krysia Wazny, Communications Director
kwazny@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 x107
Following Bonn Announcement, Leaders and Stakeholders Gather at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy to Discuss the Future of Transportation
MEDFORD, MA—On January 11, 2018 stakeholders from across the northeast region will gather at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University for “The Future of Transportation Symposium: Innovation, Technology & Policy,” a one-day conference co-hosted by Acadia Center and The Fletcher School’s Climate Policy Lab in their Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, and in partnership with Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA) and other allies.
The symposium will serve as a forum for conversations about how the region can address transportation pollution, access, and innovation from academic, policy, and business perspectives.
The conference follows the November announcement at COP23 in Bonn, Germany by seven states—Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, New York, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.—that they will explore regional climate policies for the transportation sector by holding listening sessions in the coming months. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s administration recently held several well-attended listening sessions, generating input from many members of the public and groups that want to see progress in this area. “The Future of Transportation Symposium” is an opportunity for stakeholders and policy makers to gather and discuss the best approaches and practices to shape state and regional transportation policy.
The symposium will also highlight the leadership of Massachusetts in working to promote modern, forward-looking transportation policies. Matthew Beaton, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, will open the day’s activities with an address about the future of transportation in Massachusetts and across the region.
In addition to T4MA, symposium partners include the Environmental League of Massachusetts and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.
WHAT: The Future of Transportation Symposium: Innovation, Technology & Policy – convened by The Fletcher School’s Climate Policy Lab and Acadia Center
WHO: Matthew Beaton, Secretary of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; Barbara Kates-Garnick, Professor of Practice at The Fletcher School and former Undersecretary of Energy for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Daniel L. Sosland, President, Acadia Center
WHERE: Alumnae Hall, Tufts University, 40 Talbot Ave, Medford, MA 02155
WHEN: January 11, 2018 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.
A complete agenda and list of speakers is available here.
Media Contacts:
Lindsay Hammes, Communications and PR Specialist, The Fletcher School
Lindsay.hammes@tufts.edu, 617-627-2447
Krysia Wazny, Communications Director, Acadia Center
kwazny@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054
Who Should Get Energy Rebates? Lawmakers Debate
Environmentalists are clashing with fossil fuel supporters over who should get money saved from cutting gas emissions throughout the state. Two bills will be voted on Tuesday that deal with how the money earned from the program should be spent. New Hampshire is one of nine states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first U.S. program that works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The program has been credited with cutting emissions by 30 percent and sending nearly $3 billion in savings back to the states over the last decade. The states’ economies grew 25 percent from 2008 to 2015, according to the Acadia Center, a nonprofit that promotes clean energy.
Read the full article from U.S. News and World Report here.