Maine Leaders, Community Members to Explore the State’s Economic and Environmental Future at Forum
AUGUSTA, ME – On Friday, December 7 stakeholders from across Maine will gather for “Building a Stronger Maine: Navigating the Path to a Clean Energy Future,” a one-day conference hosted by Acadia Center in Augusta, with experts in a wide variety of subject areas presenting. Governor-elect Janet Mills will provide the keynote address.
“Building a Stronger Maine” will explore clean energy and transportation system reforms that can unlock significant economic, consumer, and public health benefits.
Maine has an exciting opportunity to reevaluate its economic strategy and deliver significant benefits to residents through updates to the state’s energy and transportation systems. “Building a Stronger Maine” will gather stakeholders and policymakers to discuss the tools needed for Maine’s clean energy future; the intersections between climate and Maine’s biggest needs, including education, the economy, and public health; and the potential to modernize Maine’s transportation infrastructure to improve safety, access, and convenience.
The forum will also include facilitated discussion of potential barriers along the path to a clean energy future, including the evolving role of electric utilities, infrastructure reforms and reinvestments, and challenges of renewable siting.
WHAT: Building a Stronger Maine: Navigating the Path to a Clean Energy Future, convened by Acadia Center
WHO: Janet Mills, Maine Governor-elect; Lisa Martin, Manager of Strategy and Development, Emera Maine; Michael Stoddard, Executive Director, Efficiency Maine Trust; Ben Lake, Clean Transportation Manager, Greater Portland Council of Governments; Daniel L. Sosland, President, Acadia Center; and others.
WHERE: Dirigo Room, Bangor Savings Bank, 5 Senator Way, Augusta, ME 04330
WHEN: December 7, 2018, 8:30am to 4:30pm
An agenda and list of speakers is available here.
Media Contacts:
Kathleen Meil, Maine Policy Advocate
kmeil@acadiacenter.org, 207-236-6470 ext. 401
Krysia Wazny McClain, Communications Director
kwazny@acadiacenter.org, 617.742.0054 ext. 107
Connecticut: Transportation and Energy Reforms Could Bring $11 Billion in Economic Benefits and 33,000 New Jobs
New Analysis Released to Incoming Connecticut Administration
HARTFORD, CT – Today, Acadia Center released new analysis showing the impact a shift toward better transportation infrastructure and cleaner energy would have in improving Connecticut’s economic and environmental future. Acadia Center’s “Memo to the Next Governor of Connecticut” recommends concrete steps that will deliver significant economic, consumer and public health benefits to the state. The analysis shows that modernizing the state’s transportation system alone could produce over $6.9 billion in new economic benefits, add 14,900 new jobs, and create $3.7 billion in public health and other benefits. All told, Acadia Center’s analysis indicates that the state could add about $11 billion in new economic benefits and create about 33,000 new jobs through five transportation and energy reforms.
“Making Connecticut’s transportation infrastructure and its energy system work better for all state residents and businesses is smart economic strategy,” said Daniel Sosland, Acadia Center’s President. “This analysis focuses on five transportation and energy reforms that will have the most direct impact on Connecticut’s economy while also enhancing quality of life for its people and communities. The recommended reforms are achievable, the benefits are concrete, and the time is now to build a stronger Connecticut.”
The memo calls on the new administration to undertake five reforms to achieve these goals and benefits:
1. Modernize transportation infrastructure to improve safety, access, and convenience;
2. Transition power generation to cheaper, cleaner, and more resilient local sources;
3. Improve energy performance in buildings to reduce costly energy use and emissions;
4. Reform energy grid rules to reduce high energy costs and speed energy innovation;
5. Give communities and consumers more control over their energy choices.
“This new analysis underscores how important it is to remake Connecticut’s transportation and energy systems as a core part of the state’s new economic strategy,” said Amy McLean Salls, Acadia Center’s Connecticut Director. “Newly-unleashed investments and innovation will drive economic progress, improve quality of life, and extend benefits to communities and residents who have historically been overlooked.”
“The five recommended reforms complement Governor-Elect Lamont’s plans to create new economic growth and jobs in the state. These reforms will help make that vision of a more prosperous and livable Connecticut a reality,” said McLean Salls.
The full memo is available here.
Media Contacts:
Amy McLean Salls, Connecticut Director & Senior Policy Advocate
amcleansalls@acadiacenter.org, 860-246-7121 ext. 204
Krysia Wazny McClain, Communications Director
kwazny@acadiacenter.org, 617.742.0054 ext. 107
Charging Ahead with Electric Buses in Rhode Island
Rhode Island and its Northeast neighbors have achieved great reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from power plants since joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2009. Unfortunately, emissions from transportation sources are not covered by RGGI and still comprise about 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Rhode Island needs to act urgently to reduce emissions from passenger, commercial, and public transportation fleets.
Rhode Island has taken an exciting stride towards cleaner public transportation by leasing three 100% electric buses, slated to enter service in early 2019. The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) showcased the three 40’ vehicles at an October 22nd test drive featuring Governor Gina Raimondo, the state’s congressional delegation, and a contingent of state and local officials. Unlike Providence’s electric trolley-buses from the 1930s to 1950s, which were powered by fixed overhead wires, these battery-powered buses will charge overnight at RIPTA’s bus depot and can be flexibly used on a variety of routes.
RIPTA is using funds from Rhode Island’s $14.4 million share of a massive settlement between the federal government and Volkswagen after the automaker was caught circumventing emissions rules. The state has committed nearly $11 million to purchase 16 to 20 additional all-electric buses in 2021. Each electric bus that replaces an older, high polluting diesel bus could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) tailpipe emissions by nearly 230,000 pounds annually, according to bus manufacturer Proterra.
In addition to reducing CO2 emissions, each diesel-to-electric bus replacement would also avoid over 100 pounds of nitrogen oxide (NOx) tailpipe emissions, which can cause or worsen respiratory and heart diseases in local communities. RIPTA will prioritize deploying electric buses on routes that serve low-income, environmental justice communities in neighborhoods that disproportionately bear the negative health impacts associated with fossil fuel combustion. This approach to prioritizing health benefits in overburdened communities should serve as a model for future clean transportation investments in Rhode Island and the region.
While the upfront cost of electric buses is higher than existing diesel, diesel-electric hybrid, or compressed natural gas (CNG) equipment, RIPTA expects to achieve significant life cycle savings primarily through lower fueling and maintenance costs—electric vehicles have fewer drivetrain components and feature regenerative braking, which can greatly reduce the overall frequency and cost of parts replacement. Still, as transit agencies across the country seek to incorporate cleaner vehicles, the upfront premium on electric bus purchases will likely remain a significant barrier.
One way to generate a dedicated revenue stream for clean transportation investments is through a price on carbon emissions from the transportation sector. A group of dedicated states, including Rhode Island, has been exploring policy solutions through the Transportation & Climate Initiative. Acadia Center released a policy analysis in September detailing how enacting a $15 per metric ton price on carbon emissions from the transportation sector could help Rhode Island generate over $600 million in revenues between 2019 and 2030 for a variety of clean transportation investments. This could include vehicle electrification, improved commuter rail offerings, cleaner port operations, and expanded pedestrian and bicycle paths to connect more people to employment, recreation, and basic services in their communities.
Acadia Center will continue to advocate for programs that address transportation-related emissions, helping states pursue and expand new opportunities for investment in clean transportation programs. Click here to read more about Rhode Island’s clean transportation opportunities.
State backs Millstone bid to compete as zero-emissions player in energy auctions
Environmental advocates also have questioned Millstone’s need for state action.
Emily Lewis, senior policy analyst at the Acadia Center, a clean energy advocacy group, said Millstone “plays an important role in the energy mix” because it does not produce carbon dioxide. But policymakers should not “throw money at Millstone that could be used for renewables” such as solar and wind power, she said.
If and when the plant is retired, the power it generates should be replaced by offshore wind, Lewis said.
Read the full article from the Hartford Courant here.
Op-Ed: No panels? No problem. The secret to solar in the city
[…] Instead of buying and installing solar panels on your home or property, you subscribe to a piece of a large local solar project nearby, often along with a few dozen to a few hundred other people who live in the area.
A portion of the electricity generated by these projects gets credited directly to your utility bill, you get a discount on electricity, and you don’t have to pay anything to join.
Read the full article from Crain’s here.
Locational value of DER is essential to grid planning. So why hasn’t anyone found it?
Initially, there was an incentive for customers to build DER at locations where congestion was anticipated, LeBel added. But setting that locational value “has proved to be more administratively complicated than expected and commission staff has proposed eliminating it.”
The utilities did “guesstimates and concluded congested locations should get 50% more than other locations,” he said. “They are not coming to terms with the details.”
[…]
Lebel agreed. Getting to that vision “would be a massive change for the utilities,” he said. “But it has happened. It took decades to get from PURPA to restructuring. Maybe, in the 2030s, we will look back at the 2014 start of the New York REV and see a similar transformation. And maybe things will still be changing.”
Read the full article from Utility Dive here.
As solar grows in Rhode Island, so does the need for smart siting policies
One of Rhode Island’s newest renewable energy installations is being celebrated as a model of solar siting, repurposing contaminated land that is unlikely to be developed. The solar array’s 6,700 panels spread across 12 acres in North Providence that comprise an old landfill.
The rapid expansion of renewable energy projects in Rhode Island – and across the region – is bringing new and pressing land-use challenges. Because of the urgent threat posed by climate change, it is important to accelerate the pace at which clean energy resources replace polluting fossil fuels. At the same time, we must protect Rhode Island’s diverse ecosystems.
With collaborative work on smart siting policies – and solar projects like the one in North Providence – Rhode Island is demonstrating a commitment to doing both: creating a low-carbon energy system and serving as responsible stewards of our landscapes and habitats.
Solar’s role in the clean energy future
The deep greenhouse gas emissions reductions demanded by the rapidly changing climate will require an energy system that looks a lot different than today’s. Our vehicles and home heating systems will need to transition from gasoline, propane, and natural gas to electricity, which has the flexibility to run off the sun, wind, and other clean sources. That means our electricity supply must move away from fossil fuels and become significantly cleaner itself.
Solar energy will play a key part in the clean energy future. According to the State Energy Plan, Rhode Island could develop over 1,800 MW of solar by 2035, compared to the current 105 MW. Determining how much solar is needed to meet the state’s climate goals under the Resilient Rhode Island Act is only one part of the equation. We must work together to determine how best to site it, including on what types of land and at what scale, to minimize land-use conflicts in local communities.
First, Rhode Island must harness the potential of rooftop solar, which gives residents and businesses more control over their energy use and production, lowers utility bills, and helps avoid the siting of projects in sensitive environmental areas. Acadia Center’s EnergyVision 2030 Rhode Island Progress Report finds that Rhode Island is lagging regional leaders on locally-sited solar resources. While rooftop solar is not the only answer, we can do more to support it.
Larger-scale solar projects are also needed. Some municipalities in Rhode Island, especially rural ones where land is more readily available, are being inundated with solar proposals – some of which have resulted in widespread tree-clearing. In response, a number of communities are halting renewables development, at least temporarily, putting at risk continued progress towards a climate-safe Rhode Island. It is imperative that we find a new path forward that balances the need to deploy renewables with forest and habitat protection.
Consensus-based solutions
A stakeholder group of diverse interests began convening in August 2017 to address the siting issue. The committee, which includes Acadia Center, developed 13 consensus principles that reflect the priorities of conservationists, clean energy advocates, farm interests, municipalities, and renewable energy developers. State officials have also been holding public workshops all across Rhode Island to gather input from communities and residents. There has been widespread agreement on the need to influence the economics of siting to encourage cost-effective development of solar projects on already developed land like brownfields, commercial and industrial zoned land, and other environmentally disturbed sites.
There are no quick solutions, but progress is being made. Rhode Island is undertaking several initiatives designed to guide solar to preferred areas. An infusion of $1 million into the Renewable Energy Fund will support brownfields projects. A proposal before the Public Utilities Commission includes a 70 percent increase in small rooftop solar in the 2019 Renewable Energy Growth Program and a new category to promote solar carports. Between six and twelve solar canopies are expected to be developed as a result.
Much work remains. The stakeholder group is discussing additional strategies for the 2019 legislative session to encourage solar siting in least-conflict locations. The work being done in Rhode Island could serve as a model for the region as states grapple with a productive path forward that both reduces harmful emissions and protects our natural resources.
Amid funding cuts, Enfield manufacturer finds energy-efficiency program a worthy investment
Fewer participants have found their way into EnergizeCT programs this year due to a $117 million raid by state lawmakers on the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, which is staked from a sliver of customers’ monthly light bills.
The controversial raid, which prompted a lawsuit from the energy-efficiency industry, helped plug a hole in the state’s General Fund budget.
However, it also “means Connecticut will do about half the electric efficiency it did in 2017,” according to William Dornbos, advocacy director at Acadia Center, a New England nonprofit promoter of clean, efficient energy use.
Read the full article from Hartford Business here.
New York Must Expand Solar: How Does Its New Net Metering Process Fit in?
Since 1997, New York has allowed customers with certain types of distributed generation systems, including rooftop solar (sometimes referred to as “mass market” solar) and community solar, to participate in net metering. This simple billing method allows a customer’s consumption and generation to be “netted” at the end of every month. If a customer has consumed more energy from the grid than she has generated from her solar panels, she will pay for the net consumption. However, if a customer has generated more power than she has consumed, then that net generation will be rolled over into the next month’s bill and credited toward future consumption at the retail rate—i.e. the same amount that the customer is charged for using a kWh of electricity.
This form of compensation (sometimes referred to as “retail rate net metering”) has supported solar expansion with a simple, predictable formula. However, because this form of net metering relies only on retail rates, which tend not to vary by time or location, solar systems are not always installed in areas where they are most needed or combined with other technology like energy storage to provide additional value to the grid. Some areas of the grid need more congestion relief, some hours of the day have higher electricity demand, and some distributed energy sources are cleaner than others.
New York has decided to move away from retail rate net metering and toward a smarter and fairer pricing scheme that reflects clean energy resources’ value to the grid. The state is now grappling with creating such a system while at the same time ensuring that this transition is gradual and understandable to consumers.
What’s Next?
In 2015, the Public Service Commission (PSC) initiated the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) process, which seeks to create a new utility business model that incorporates more distributed energy while ensuring that energy remains affordable, resilient, and reliable. Recognizing the need to develop a more accurate way of valuing these clean energy resources, in March 2017 the PSC issued an order transitioning from retail rate net metering to a net metering program referred to as Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) that attempts to more accurately reflect the costs and benefits of these clean resources on the grid.
The first phase of the VDER process applies to larger solar installations including remote net metering (where the electricity produced from a solar installation at one location is credited toward electricity consumption at a different location) and community solar but not to residential rooftop solar. Phase One compensates these projects using a “Value Stack,” which identifies certain components that together represent the value of that clean energy to the grid. The values in the Phase One Value Stack include certain costs that the utility no longer has to incur, which are referred to as “avoided costs” and which are assigned a monetary value. These include:
- The cost of the energy that the utility would otherwise have to generate or purchase (referred to as “wholesale” energy);
- The amount of energy-producing resources that the utility would have to procure to meet demand (referred to as “capacity”); and
- The cost of delivering that energy to customers, as well as the higher costs of delivering the energy in certain congested areas of the grid.
In addition to these avoided costs, the Value Stack also includes a credit for the environmental attributes of certain types of clean energy, primarily the fact that they do not emit greenhouse gases.
A second phase of this transition (referred to as Phase Two Value Stack) is in process to further refine these values. After January 1, 2020, VDER will also apply to new residential rooftop projects under a new compensation method to replace traditional retail rate net metering.
New York’s Solar Gap
Because retail rate is a more straightforward, if blunt, method of net metering, developers may initially struggle to make an easy economic case for solar while transitioning to a value-based compensation structure. However, if done well, this new structure will allow solar to expand more efficiently in New York, with better outcomes for consumers and the climate. Continued expansion of solar is important, because in contrast to other Northeast states such as Massachusetts and Vermont, New York has relatively modest amounts of installed distributed solar given its population (Figure 1). It must accelerate to meet state and regional climate goals.
New York has set a goal of procuring 50% of its energy needs from renewable energy resources by 2030. As shown in Acadia Center’s EnergyVision 2030, with further strategic action New York can reduce greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030, a target that will put the state on a path to meet minimum EnergyVision 2030 recommends that, in addition to sharply increasing grid scale wind and solar generation, New York needs to add 13.7 GW of distributed solar, more than 10 times the amount that has been installed to date.
Figure 1 – Per Capita Installed PV
Paths Forward
New York’s need for more distributed solar can be addressed from multiple angles: first, by making the transition to value-based compensation as gradual and understandable as possible; and second, by supporting solar expansion through complementary programs. Acadia Center has been an active participant in the VDER proceeding since its inception. Recently, staff from the Department of Public Service approved several changes to the Phase One Value Stack to expand the types of eligible renewable energy resources and make it easier for customers to participate and receive compensation. These changes include:
- Removing certain size limits from eligible clean energy resources
- Expanding the VDER compensation structure to storage and new forms of renewable energy such as tidal energy
- Removing location-based restrictions within utility territories
Acadia Center supported these changes and submitted comments with these and other recommendations for improving various elements of the value stack to make it easier for customers to receive compensation and to ensure these resources are appropriately compensated for the value they add to the system.
Acadia Center also supports solar expansion in New York through statewide initiative and grassroots campaigns. One such state initiative is NY Sun, a program administered by NYSERDA that seeks to add 3 GW of installed solar capacity in the state by 2023. The program works by establishing cash incentives for developers that decline over time as solar installation increases in certain regions of the state. Recently, NYSERDA made improvements to the program by expanding the incentives, supporting larger projects, and encouraging solar installations in a greater variety of locations. In addition, Acadia Center is a founding member of Million Solar Strong, which seeks to double this statewide goal to 6 GW of solar capacity by installing solar on 1 million homes by 2023, including 100,000 low-income households. The campaign has been meeting with public officials and building support around the state.
New York must make the leap to close its solar gap, and both regulatory solutions and grassroots support will be necessary. Together, these efforts have the capacity to make lasting change for this key technology.
Op-ed: Merrimack Valley tragedy offers climate change opportunity
The significant investments required in the energy infrastructure of the impacted communities present an opportunity to re-think what energy options are available to best meet the needs of these communities, not only for this winter but for many years to come. Doing so can lead to practical, cost-effective actions that will provide a host of benefits for the residents and businesses in these communities: reduced energy costs for ratepayers; safer, more resilient homes and businesses; improved indoor air quality; and, meaningfully, less climate pollution.
Read the full article from CommonWealth Magazine here.