Governor Mills Signs Legislation to Advance Maine’s Clean Energy Economy and Climate Safety

Acadia Center Applauds Strong Suite of Climate and Clean Energy Actions

AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine’s most ambitious bills to fight climate change in a decade are now law. Today, Governor Mills signed three bills that will put Maine on track to 100% renewable energy by 2050, create an innovative Climate Council that allows voices from around the state to have a say in fighting climate change, expand access to renewable energy and put communities on the path to become energy independent. These join a suite of complementary bills that Governor Mills has signed into law since taking office, which reverse years of inaction and promise to advance the fight against climate change and bring the benefits of the clean energy economy to the people of Maine.

“For so long, Mainers have watched while other New England states invest in solar, wind, and large-scale procurements that reduce their dependence on foreign oil, lower consumer costs and provide cleaner and healthier power – now Maine will be a leader in creating jobs, saving money on energy bills and tackling the climate crisis using resources here at home,” said Daniel Sosland, Acadia Center President.

The bills signed today are An Act to Promote Clean Energy Jobs and to Establish the Maine Climate Council (L.D. 1679), An Act to Reform Maine’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (L.D. 1494), and An Act to Promote Solar Energy Projects and Distributed Generation Resources in Maine (L.D. 1711). They follow three other groundbreaking energy laws passed this month with bipartisan support.

Since the beginning of 2019, Governor Mills has signed legislation to restart a stalled offshore wind procurement process, install 100,000 clean and energy-efficient heat pumps in homes around the state in the next five years, create a fund to support rebates for the lease or purchase of an electric vehicle, expand training programs to build the clean energy workforce and address a suite of electric grid modernization initiatives, from energy storage to non-wires alternative solutions.

Altogether, these actions represent a remarkable turnaround in the leadership’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis and bringing the benefits of energy efficiency and clean energy to Maine. As neighboring states have demonstrated, the clean energy economy creates high-paying local jobs, saves consumers money and improves health and air quality by reducing the use of polluting fossil fuels.

“Acadia Center’s Building a Stronger Maine policy blueprint, submitted to the next governor at the end of 2018, laid out five critical areas where Maine needed to modernize its transportation and energy systems in order to address climate change and stay competitive in the New England region,” said Arah Schuur, Vice President – Climate and Energy at Acadia Center. “It should gratify all Mainers to see bipartisan support that takes concrete steps in each of these areas. Acadia Center applauds Governor Mills and the Maine Legislature for their swift action on clean energy.”

Connecticut House of Representatives Passes Pivotal Bill to Build 2000 MW of New Offshore Wind by 2030

HARTFORD, Conn. – Today, Connecticut’s House of Representatives passed landmark legislation that would require the state to solicit 2000 MW of new offshore wind energy by 2030, building significantly on the first 300 MW of offshore wind the state procured last year. This legislation would initiate the first new procurement this summer and includes rigorous environmental requirements and robust labor provisions. The bill has been strongly supported by a broad group of clean energy, labor, industry, and environmental advocates, and it comes on the heels of a major announcement by the governor promising new port infrastructure for this industry.

“This bill is an amazing achievement for the state of Connecticut, and the House of Representatives demonstrated exceptional bipartisan leadership in passing it today,” said Emily Lewis, senior policy analyst at Acadia Center. “This bill will put Connecticut on the path to reach its clean energy and climate commitments and is a critical element in building the state’s clean energy economy. Coupled with the recently announced public-private partnership to redevelop the State Pier in New London, Connecticut is solidifying its position as a national leader on offshore wind energy.”

Passage of the bill follows an announcement last week by Governor Lamont that the state of Connecticut, Bay State Wind, terminal operator Gateway, and the Connecticut Port Authority will be partnering in investing $93 million to redevelop the State Pier in New London to support the growing offshore wind industry in the state and the Northeast region.

“Passage of this bill by the House of Representatives is a tremendous victory for Connecticut’s workers and their communities, which will benefit from local jobs, economic development, and clean energy, ” said John Humphries, lead organizer for the CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs. “We applaud the efforts of legislators on both sides of the aisle, who worked together to make this aggressive long-term commitment to offshore wind with the strongest labor and environmental protections of any state in the region. We urge the Senate to act quickly and send this bill to the Governor’s desk, so we can all get to work making Connecticut the regional hub for this emerging industry.”

Over the past year, Acadia Center and the CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs have worked with allies to build broad support for an offshore wind mandate of at least 2000 MW by 2030. By passing this bill, legislators have provided a strong, bipartisan endorsement of this measure, which will not only help meet the state’s ambitious climate and clean energy goals but also help position Connecticut at the nucleus of the nascent Northeastern offshore wind industry.

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Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions Launches for Third Session, Announces Legislative Priorities for Massachusetts

Coalition to focus on establishing long-term net zero emissions targets, expanding clean energy procurement, modernizing regional energy infrastructure and taking action to address climate impacts of transportation.

BOSTON, MA – The Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions (ACES), a coalition composed of diverse organizations dedicated to advancing clean, affordable and reliable energy for Massachusetts, announced its legislative priorities today. The priorities build off of previous successes in the Commonwealth to advance clean energy but also take a longer term perspective and embark into new areas where action to address pollution is vital. They will facilitate clean energy development, reduce climate pollution and its associated health impacts, protect consumers, enhance economic growth and encourage innovation.

“We have made great strides in advancing renewable energy generation since ACES was originally formed, and our priorities continue building on that foundation,” said Deborah Donovan, Massachusetts Director of Acadia Center. “The science on climate has painted a clearer picture of the urgency of the crisis and requires Massachusetts to establish clear long-term goals reflecting the latest data. We are calling upon the legislature to also address other areas where we have not made as much progress, like modernizing our grid and lowering emissions from transportation while also ensuring the needs of low income, working class communities and communities of color are made more central.”

The priorities look to establish long-term greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) targets and to continue the success Massachusetts has had in building renewable energy generation by improving and expanding the state’s procurement mechanisms. They also aim to make substantial improvements to the region’s electrical infrastructure by modernizing the grid to accommodate renewables and other clean resources like energy storage. Lastly and significantly for the coalition, they look beyond electric power to the GHG impacts of transportation.

“The ACES policy priorities are critical to the economic, energy and environmental future of the Commonwealth,” said Peter Rothstein, President of NECEC. “Our diverse coalition looks forward to working with the legislature to build upon Massachusetts’ success deploying cost-effective clean energy solutions to reduce carbon emissions, while driving innovation in clean tech and creating jobs.”

The ACES legislative priorities include:

• Transportation Climate Policy and Equitable Clean Transportation Investment – Implement the regional approach to transportation climate policy under discussion (Transportation and Climate Initiative) in a timely manner, with proceeds to be invested to reduce transportation emissions, provide access to clean transportation for all, including communities with the least access to clean, reliable mobility options, through an inclusive process in the Commonwealth.

• A Modern, Clean, and Resilient Grid – Provide for a future with widespread local energy resources, including solar, storage, and demand response, with improvements to the timeliness and fairness of interconnection processes, smarter electricity rates, improved net metering, enhanced access for low and moderate income (LMI) customers, and increased stakeholder input.

• Stronger Long–term Climate Protection Policies – Expand the greenhouse gas reduction requirements of the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner, commensurate with the latest science, by using planning, public policy, and funding to reach interim targets⏤maximizing energy efficiency, utilizing 100% clean or renewable energy, deploying energy storage and other innovative clean technologies, implementing natural climate solutions, and expanding carbon pricing to all sectors.

• Improved and Expanded Renewable Energy Procurement Mechanisms – Authorize additional state and regional procurements for offshore wind and other RPS Class I renewable energy resources, guard against conflicts of interest in project evaluation and selection, require climate benefits for all selected projects, enable new procurement mechanisms and funding sources to empower businesses and communities, and ensure that environmental impacts of electricity generation and transmission are appropriately avoided, minimized, and mitigated.

Also, the ACES legislative priorities include support for specific strategies related to energy efficiency, clean and efficient heating, and electric vehicles.

“Massachusetts has many great policies on the books, but more is needed to address transportation emissions and to meet our climate obligations,” said Eugenia Gibbons, Policy Director at Green Energy Consumers Alliance. “With the right mix of new policies, we can further reduce emissions and save more money by avoiding imported fossil fuels.”

“Investing in clean energy solutions is an integral step in hitting climate goals and stimulating economic growth,” said Jesse Mermell, President of The Alliance for Business Leadership. “Already, the clean energy sector has created over 100,000 jobs and contributed billions of dollars to the Commonwealth’s economy. Advancing the ACES priorities can reaffirm the state’s commitment to transitioning to a cleaner future and send signals that Massachusetts is a competitive place in which to work and do business.”

To learn more about ACES, its members and its policy priorities, visit: https://www.acesma.net/

About the Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions (ACES) The Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions (ACES) is a “coalition of coalitions” comprised of business groups, clean energy companies, environmental organizations, labor, health, and consumer advocates dedicated to advancing clean energy for Massachusetts. ACES is committed to ensuring that those charged with shaping Massachusetts’ energy policies have the most rigorous, current data on the benefits and costs of clean energy. Our goal is to ensure that the Commonwealth can attain a cost-effective, reliable and diverse energy supply to power its businesses, communities and households, which will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, create a stable and prosperous business environment and meet the Commonwealth’s greenhouse gas emissions requirements. For more information: https://www.acesma.net/.

Media Contacts:

Krysia Wazny McClain
kwazny@acadiacenter.org
617-742-0054 x107

Sean Davenport
sdavenport@necec.org
617-500-9997

OurTransportationFuture.org: New Broad-Based Advocacy Effort Boosts Regional Initiative to Reduce Vehicle Pollution

42 Groups Join Together to Help Lawmakers, City Officials and Business Leaders Develop 21st-Century Clean Transportation Network Offering More Options and Serving the Needs of All in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic

WASHINGTON, D.C. AND BOSTON – Forty-two local, regional and national groups today launched a new coalition, Our Transportation Future, established to help Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states develop a regional clean transportation system that protects public health, curbs climate-changing pollution, expands economies and improves the flow of commerce. The coalition will support states’ efforts to address a transportation system that is unworkable, outmoded and is the leading source of carbon pollution driving climate change.

Our Transportation Future (OTF) is committed to finding solutions and modernizing transportation across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region. The coalition aims to help transform the region’s transportation system into a model for the nation that gets people in rural, suburban and urban communities where they need to go safely, more efficiently and with less exposure to harmful pollution.

OTF experts are taking an active role to educate state policy makers and the media.  The new OTF website will provide important news, information and announcements about the ongoing efforts to modernize transportation across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.  A monthly round-up of media coverage and commentary about regional clean transportation is available at OTF with a free subscription.

OTF supports the policy objectives of the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), a collaboration of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia working to reduce transportation pollution and invest in a modern, clean transportation future for the region. In December 2018, nine TCI states and D.C. committed to working over the course of 2019 to design and create a market-based program to limit transportation pollution while improving public transit, expanding electric vehicle use, establishing more bikeways and pedestrian walkways and fostering economic growth.

Jordan Stutt, carbon programs director, Acadia Center, said: “This broad group of organizations has united around a shared reality: it’s time to invest in our transportation future. Our air is polluted, our public transit is outdated, and traffic is choking our cities. Through TCI and other clean transportation policies, we can invest in solutions for cleaner air, healthier people, and a thriving economy.”

ABOUT OTF

Our Transportation Future is a coalition of local, regional and national organizations committed to modernizing transportation across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region. OTF is focused on improving our transportation system — the ways we move people and goods in the region – to spur economic growth, make us healthier and safer, clean up the environment, and improve our quality of life.

An improved transportation system means more clean cars and trucks, more reliable mass transit, more walkable and bikeable communities, and investments that connect everyone, including those in underserved and rural areas.

OTF members include:  A Better City, Acadia Center, Ceres, Clean Air Council, Climate Law and Policy Project, ClimateXChange, ConnPIRG, Connecticut Public Interest for the Environment, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), Energize Maryland, Environment America, Environment Connecticut, Environment Massachusetts, Environment Maryland, Environment Maine, Environment New Hampshire, Environment New Jersey, Environment New York, Environment Rhode Island, Environment Virginia, Environmental Advocates of New York, Environmental League of Massachusetts, Green Energy Consumers Alliance, Green For All, Health Care Without Harm, Maryland PIRG, Mass Climate Action Network, MassPIRG, NJPIRG, Northeast Clean Energy Council, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), PennEnvironment, Sierra Club, Transportation for America, Transportation for Massachusetts, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Union of Concerned Scientists, USPIRG, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Vermont Natural Resources Council, and 350 MASS for A Better Future.

Media Contact:

Krysia Wazny McClain, Communications Director
617-742-0054 x107, kwazny@acadiacenter.org

Herding cats: Controversy over the solar siting bill in Rhode Island

This approach appears to give a lot of leeway to towns and cities to make their own decisions about how to regulate the siting of solar, and would also steer developers to previously disturbed sites. As such it was endorsed by many of the main non-profits active in the environmental and energy space, including Conservation Law Foundation, Audubon Society, Acadia Center, Save the Bay and Green Energy Consumers Alliance.

Read the full article from PV Magazine here.

Our View: Fewer cars, cleaner air should be goal for Maine transit

But lowering emissions will show that Maine is serious about contributing to a very important fight.

It will make us healthier, too – according to the Rockport-based Acadia Center, passenger vehicle emissions were responsible for $500 million in health costs in Maine in 2015.

The Acadia Center also figures that modernizing and making green Maine’s transportation system would be a boost to the economy. By prioritizing electric cars and buses – and by implementing a vehicle emissions cap-and-trade plan based on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – Maine can raise $1 billion in new wages, create 8,700 long-term jobs and reduce emissions by 45 percent.

Read the full article from the Portland Press Herald here.

Lawmakers want to amend 2018 energy bill

The bill was a major issue in the energy landscape that met Gov. Lamont when he took office with an agenda that was at odds parts of the 2018 law.

“This was a big one coming into this year,” Arconti said just prior to the committee vote, two days before its deadline to act. “I think we have a really good framework going forward to a final product, and not having to address it for a while after the session.”

“It’s way better than it was, and it’s going to save Connecticut jobs, but it won’t expand the solar industry,” said Amy McLean Salls, senior policy advocate for the Acadia Center.

Read the full article from CT Post here.

Rhode Island Must Prioritize Solar Siting in 2019

Solar energy is growing in the Northeast, but the urgency of climate change means that states need to accelerate the transition to clean energy sources.

In Rhode Island, siting challenges that have arisen in the past few years show that the state can’t do this without a plan. In a landscape patchworked with forest, farmland, and open space, policies and incentives must prioritize solar projects in areas with compatible land uses.

On March 14, the House held a hearing for H5789, a solar siting bill that aims to address these challenges. The bill represents months of collaboration between conservation groups, municipal planners, renewable energy developers, farm interests, state agencies and others as part of the Renewable Energy Siting Stakeholder Committee. Acadia Center has worked alongside these groups to generate a range of strategies designed to drive projects to preferred areas, including previously developed and disturbed parcels.

These strategies include:

• Prohibiting the largest, most controversial projects by preventing projects from being built across neighboring parcels;
• Significantly limiting the size of solar projects in designated areas of environmental concern;
• Introducing an incentive through the Public Utilities Commission to reimburse solar projects in preferred areas for interconnection costs;
• Directing OER to incorporate smart siting policies in an implementation plan for reaching the state’s emissions reductions goals;
• Setting a deadline for municipalities to adopt individually tailored solar siting ordinances that will help local officials review projects and, if desired, establish more streamlined processes for preferred siting.

This bill is not the sole solution to the challenge of solar siting. Small-scale solar capacity in the state’s Renewable Energy Growth (REG) program has been nearly doubled to maximize residential and commercial rooftop arrays, which pose no siting conflicts. Further, just this week, OER and the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation opened a $1 million fund to support projects that propose solar on brownfields.

But make no mistake: legislators must act this session to avoid risking another year without significant protections for the state’s forests and habitats. The economics of siting currently favor large projects in flat, forested tracts, but they don’t have to remain that way.

To learn more, read Acadia Center’s full testimony on House Bill 5789.

Threat of shutdown hovers over negotiations between Millstone and utilities over power prices

Maine’s Biggest Utility Must Change to Make Way for Clean Energy

Maine is at a crossroads in its climate and energy future. For the state to move forward and embrace a consumer-friendly, low-polluting clean energy future, its biggest utility, Central Maine Power (CMP), must dramatically change the way it does business and do much more to support consumer and community access to solar, wind, building weatherization, and clean technologies like electric vehicles and heat pumps. Up to this point, CMP has frequently blocked these measures. It is time for CMP to change.

As a whole, Maine has struggled to make progress toward a clean energy future, falling behind its New England neighbors despite strong calls from Mainers and their communities for more clean solutions. Governor Mills understands the threats climate change poses to Maine’s economy and way of life. She has committed the state to the Paris Climate Accords among other steps. But for her attempts to gain ground, the state’s utility companies must also reform and stop putting roadblocks in the path to progress.

For instance, Maine prevents its communities from adopting advanced building energy codes. Maine bars community choice aggregation and has consistently blocked efforts to more fairly compensate solar customers for the power they create. CMP must align its investments and rates with consumer interests so that they have access to clean energy options like rooftop and community solar.

CMP’s request for a certificate from the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for a proposed power line to transmit hydroelectricity from Canada to New England has raised a host of issues directly tied to core Maine concerns: the urgent need to reduce climate pollution from energy generation; reforming the role of the state’s utilities, particularly Central Maine Power; and whether the intrusion of this project in the Maine forest is appropriate.

Acadia Center is involved in issues surrounding the project because of the importance of these issues to Maine’s energy, economic, and consumer future. In the PUC proceeding, Acadia Center has joined with other parties to recommend that if the PUC issue a certificate for the project, it should impose a set of commitments on CMP to support clean energy and consumer access to new technologies. These conditions would require CMP to:

• Provide measurable benefits to Maine ratepayers and affected communities.
• Support Maine’s efforts to expand its clean energy economy.
• Increase access for Maine residents to clean transportation and clean distributed energy resources such as solar.
• Make CMP’s planning and decision-making more transparent to expand opportunities for alternative investments in solar, storage, and efficiency.
• Support a study examining pathways to achieve regional decarbonization goals.

Outside of the issues before the PUC, a review of whether the land use and siting impacts of the project are tolerable is pending at the Department of Environmental Protection. Acadia Center looks to the efforts underway by organizations engaged in the Department of Environmental Protection permit review process to determine if the impacts to Maine’s forests and natural landscape are acceptable. Acadia Center does not believe this project should proceed unless there is satisfactory resolution of the land use issues, in addition to consumer benefits, and the need by the state’s largest utility to work in concert with clean energy and climate values.

In addition, the energy companies involved—CMP, Avangrid, and Hydro-Quebec—must change in their willingness to provide transparent information, to allow the public to determine that the regional climate benefits of the project are real and will bear out over time.

Conditioning the PUC certificate with added requirements on CMP is only the beginning of the changes in direction CMP must undertake. The company cannot cite the climate benefits of this proposal while also blocking clean energy options for Maine consumers and communities. In order to decide if the project is good for Maine, the Northeast, and the global climate, the public needs to know more.

Acadia Center’s statements on the line and the proposed settlement filed with the PUC are available here.