Bill Reauthorizing RGGI Becomes Law
Kathleen Meil, policy advocate with the Acadia Center, says the nine RGGI states agreed last fall to new, tighter pollution limits for 2021 to 2030. “Maine is now the first RGGI state to officially usher in the strengthened program,” she says. “It really represents a strong step forward for Maine to continue to reap the benefits of RGGI participation.”
Read the full article from Public News Service here.
Viewpoint: Need for Mass. clean transportation policy
When the world convened recently in Bonn, Germany, for the annual United Nations climate-change negotiations, there was a particular focus on the role of U.S. states, cities and businesses in reducing carbon pollution. Massachusetts, along with six other states and the District of Columbia, announced a regional pledge to work together with stakeholders to “create the clean transportation system that the region needs to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.”
Cleaning up and modernizing the transportation system will be a major undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be a painful one. Massachusetts has demonstrated the ability to address similar challenges through innovative policies and regional collaboration that reduce emissions while improving the economy. The commonwealth played a key role in launching the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation’s first multi-state program to reduce carbon pollution from power plants.
While RGGI has helped Massachusetts make great strides in reducing electric sector pollution, the transportation sector still emits around the same amount of carbon as it did in 1990. Every year, pollution from the transportation sector causes asthma attacks and leads to preventable deaths, taking a massive financial and human toll on Bay State residents. Making matters worse, low-income communities and communities of color face a disproportionate share of the impacts from this pollution.
We can’t transform our transportation system overnight, but we can do more to invest and plan for a better future. From electric vehicle infrastructure to smart growth and improved public transit, we have an array of options to reduce pollution and increase transportation access while benefiting the economy. A RGGI-like program could go a long way to accelerate the adoption of these transportation solutions.
The RGGI cap-and-invest model has helped cut emissions from power plants in the region by 40 percent since 2008, while driving $2.8 billion in regional economic growth and creating nearly 30,000 jobs. Acadia Center analysis shows that RGGI has helped the region outpace the rest of the country in both emissions reductions and economic growth. In Massachusetts alone, these RGGI-driven emissions reductions have resulted in $798 million in avoided health costs.
Recent analysis conducted for the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) shows that regional carbon policy — like a cap-and-invest program — would add billions of dollars to the regional economy, reduce harmful pollution and generate revenue for reinvestment in transportation improvements, accelerating the transition to a cleaner, more efficient, more accessible system. A recent report from Ceres and M.J. Bradley and Associates found that the benefits of investments in electric vehicle infrastructure outweigh the costs by a margin of three to one.
Expanding clean transportation options should be a top priority for our economy. Businesses want 21st century cities with transportation systems to match, and they’ve proven to invest resources and create jobs in areas that have them. To keep Massachusetts’ economy thriving, we must embrace clean transportation. Market-based solutions like the RGGI model offer a promising path forward, and we urge Governor Baker and his peers across the region to act swiftly in establishing such a program.
Mindy Lubber is president and CEO of Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit organization. Daniel L. Sosland is president and executive director of Acadia Center, a nonprofit, research and advocacy organization.
Solar is again the flashpoint in CT’s new energy strategy
“This is radically anti-consumer and, ironically, at odds with the grid modernization recommendations of the CES that want to explore integrating smart meters, efficiency and demand response, storage, solar, and other customer-sited resources for numerous grid benefits, including peak-demand management,” said Bill Dornbos, advocacy director and senior attorney for the regional environmental group Acadia Center, which in December spearheaded a statement of principles by energy and environmental activists.
Read the full article from the CT Mirror here.
Solar industry growing, but tariff sparks fears
The Acadia Center and 20 other organizations and advocates wrote to DEEP on Dec. 22 to argue the proposed changes would lead to higher metering and billing costs and imperiled “the future of smart homes with storage and energy management.”
“Everything you’re generating on-site should be credited at the retail rate,” Emily Lewis O’Brien, a policy analyst with Acadia Center, said last week.
[…]
Would also seem that the Acadia analyst quoted has a valid point relative to residential solar production in that the home owner should be credited/reimbursed at the retail rate for the power they produce. The fact that the power companies back the new reimbursement proposal should tell us something. What is a the effect on state electricity tax revenue from the new proposed formula? Would not be surprised that it would be higher?
Read the full article from The Day here.
Connecticut Solar Companies Pinched By New Tariffs On Foreign Panels
While solar businesses and advocates say the tariffs will cost jobs and renewable energy projects across the country, they may also dampen a market already shaken by a proposed update to Connecticut’s Comprehensive Energy Strategy. “The need is to grow the solar market in Connecticut and deploy solar at a faster rate,” said William Dornbos, advocacy director and senior attorney of the Acadia Center. “The draft energy strategy in combination with the federal solar tariff are almost exactly the wrong set of things for doing that. Certainly, they’re going to throw up barriers.”
Read the full article from the Hartford Courant here.
Fossil fuel burners, clean energy sector, and Democrat Setti Warren pan Eversource hydro deal for Massachusetts
Acadia Center president Daniel Sosland said he is “disappointed but not surprised” with the choice, which allowed for no wind or solar added to the mix.
The Boston-based think tank and advocacy group had argued against letting the utilities bid for the contracts while also sitting on the selection committee, Sosland said.
Acadia Center senior attorney Amy Boyd added that the selected project was supposed to provide limited risk to Massachusetts ratepayers, but that key information has been hidden from public view.
“We don’t know the relative benefit-cost ratios because the price terms are confidential, but choosing only one project from an existing importer of electricity has major risks,” said Boyd.
Read the full article from MassLive here.
Phil Murphy reverses Christie and brings Jersey back into climate change pact
With New Jersey back in, RGGI will have 10 members. Virginia is considering joining the pact, as well. If Virginia joins, the 11-member agreement would represent the world’s fourth-largest economy, according to the Acadia Center, a nonprofit group that advocates for the expansion of clean energy.
Murphy also noted that New Jersey lost $279 million in revenue by leaving the agreement and that returning to it will create jobs. According to analysis from Acadia Center, New Jersey has forgone $232 million in RGGI auction revenue since the state left the regional program.
Read the full article from nj.com here.
Murphy directs New Jersey to re-enter Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
But Murphy said Monday that Christie’s withdrawal from the compact “lacked any common sense,” left money on the table and “robbed” New Jersey of the opportunity to invest in clean energy options. In his executive order, Murphy cited a study from the Acadia Center, a clean-energy nonprofit group, that said New Jersey lost as much as $279 million by its absence from the program.
Read the full article from northjersey.com here.
NJ Senate Ushers in Revamped Nuclear Bailout Bill
Participating states use revenue from the auctions for energy efficiency and renewable projects. An analysis by Acadia Center found that New Jersey had foregone $232 million in RGGI auction revenue since Christie pulled it out of the initiative in 2011.
Read the full article from RTO Insider here.
Public Scrutiny Needed for Eversource Northern Pass Project
BOSTON—Acadia Center is calling for a public review and full transparency following yesterday’s announcement that Northern Pass Transmission’s hydro-only bid, a partnership between Eversource and Hydro Quebec, was selected as the sole winner of the Massachusetts Clean Energy RFP.
The RFP, called for by a 2016 energy law, sought clean energy for about 17% of Massachusetts’ annual electricity needs. Although more than 40 bids were submitted in the summer of 2017—including several with a blend of on-shore wind and hydroelectricity, the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and a group of Massachusetts utilities, which included Eversource, chose one controversial project, owned in large part by a subsidiary of Eversource. As the winning bid, Eversource and Hydro-Quebec will begin the process of negotiating long-term, multi-billion-dollar contracts with Eversource, National Grid and Unitil, the other distribution companies.
“Acadia Center is disappointed but not surprised that the process has resulted in the recommendation of the Northern Pass project,” said Daniel Sosland, president of Acadia Center. “Acadia Center has long asserted that clean energy bids should include the region’s wind resources and not only hydropower imports and has further been concerned that having utilities review bids in which they have a financial interest creates a clear conflict of interest that undermines public confidence in the process.”
Acadia Center supported the 2016 energy law and the Commonwealth’s pursuing a large-scale procurement of clean energy, particularly arguing for environmental protections, a preference for a blend of new renewables and hydro, and guaranteed winter energy delivery to control price spikes, all of which the statute and RFP specified. One provision that Acadia Center argued against—but was still allowed in the 2016 energy law—was allowing the utilities to bid for the contract and serve on the selection committee.
“Under the terms of the RFP, the selected project was to provide the greatest benefit with limited risk to Massachusetts ratepayers. We don’t know the relative benefit-cost ratios because the price terms are confidential, but choosing only one project from an existing importer of electricity has major risks,” said Amy Boyd, Senior Attorney at Acadia Center. “Hydro-Quebec has previously curtailed power to New England in winter months, when demand in Quebec is highest. Similarly, reliance on a single project has its own risks. Northern Pass Transmission faces serious opposition due to its land use impacts and its projected in-service date has been delayed previously.”
After the contract is negotiated it will be reviewed by the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), and the review must include a report from an independent evaluator and the participation of the Attorney General’s office. Under the statute, Eversource is also eligible for an additional incentive of up to 2.75% of the contract price for its share of the energy, as one of the contracting distribution companies. The public must be privy to any evaluation of the fairness of this and other aspects of the contract.
“Acadia Center believes that a full public report from the statutorily required independent evaluator and scrutiny by the Attorney General are important next steps. The public needs to have full confidence that this was a fair process and the benefits of other bidders were evaluated reasonably. The current ongoing procurements for offshore wind and future procurements are even more crucial to progress towards a clean energy future,” said Mark LeBel, Staff Attorney for Acadia Center. “If this contract is approved, the DPU should deny Eversource an additional incentive as a distribution company. Ratepayers don’t need to give Eversource additional money as a backstop for a contract where they are also on the other side.”
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