Rep. Cotvriend leads effort to implement Transportation and Climate Initiative Program

Portsmouth Rep. Terri Cortvriend and Sen. Alana M. DiMario are introducing legislation to implement the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) in Rhode Island.

In December, former Gov. Gina Raimondo, along with the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut and the mayor of Washington, D.C., signed a memorandum of understanding to join the bipartisan Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P), which will cut greenhouse gas pollution from motor vehicles in the region by an estimated 26% from 2022 to 2032, generate a total of more than $3 billion dollars over 10 years for the participating jurisdictions to invest in equitable, less polluting transportation options and to help energize economic recovery.

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The bill has drawn support from a host of community and environmental groups, including Acadia Center, Green Energy Consumers Alliance, Clean Water Action, Climate Action Rhode Island, Environment Council of Rhode Island and the Coalition for a Better Business Environment.

“Acadia Center applauds Rep. Cortvriend and Sen. DiMario for their leadership on the TEAM Community Act. This legislation is a critical first step to ‘Build Back Better’ in our transportation network and prepare for the future with long-term, sustainable funding of over $20 million per year. Automakers have announced a major shift towards electric vehicles; people are walking and bicycling at record levels; and, public transportation helps reduce traffic congestion and commuting costs for workers. Making strategic investments in clean mobility options will strengthen our economy, create good jobs, and deliver over $100 million in annual health benefits from cleaner air and healthier communities,” said Hank Webster, Rhode Island Director of Acadia Center, in a statement.

Read the full article in The Newport Daily News here

PUC Regulatory Reform in Maine: Putting the ‘Action’ in Climate Action Plan

Reforming Maine’s PUC is a key step to meeting the state’s climate goals

On December 1, 2020, the Maine Climate Council launched “Maine Won’t Wait, A Four-Year Plan for Climate Action,” which outlines an ambitious set of pathways for Maine to meet is climate requirements and make significant cuts in economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The legislature, governor, and state agencies are now turning the Plan’s priorities and strategies into action. A key step will be to ensure that the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is well-positioned to help the state meet its climate goals.

One significant barrier to implementing pathways laid out in the Climate Action Plan is the fact that Maine has not explicitly empowered key agencies that impact carbon emissions – including the PUC – to prioritize climate and equity in their decision-making. Today, the PUC is limited by its mandate to reduce the costs of energy, ensure reliability, and guarantee utilities the opportunity to earn a profit on their business. The PUC cannot regulate utilities in alignment with state climate targets or make decisions that prioritize reducing greenhouse gases.

The decisions that Maine’s PUC makes over the next few years will determine the type of energy infrastructure that gets built over the next few decades. Those decisions will play a significant role in determining whether the state meets its 2030, 2040, and 2050 climate targets. Maine’s PUC must prioritize climate and equity in its decision-making today and must stop making decisions that are inconsistent with Maine’s climate goals. The PUC should be more empowered to support a rapid transition to clean energy resources and to move away from default approvals for fossil fuel investments. By reforming the PUC’s enabling statute, legislators can give the PUC the tools to effectively carry out the Plan’s vision and strengthen its role as a key partner in support of Maine’s climate goals.

An Act to Require the Public Utilities Commission to Consider Climate Change and Equity in its Decision-Making

The Act to Require Consideration of Climate and Equity Impacts by the Public Utilities Commission (LD 1682) will reform the PUC’s mandate to require it to consider greenhouse gas reductions and compliance with Maine’s climate statute, alongside equity and environmental justice, in its decision-making. Aligning the PUC mandate with Maine’s push for dramatic emission reductions will enable consideration of the full costs of energy investments in all decisions and require the PUC to minimize climate impacts. This will allow utility regulators to make decisions that support greenhouse gas reductions and that appropriately value climate justice issues, societal health impacts, job creation, reliability, and other quantifiable benefits. This screen will minimize long-term costs to ratepayers from climate and other impacts that now fall outside the scope of the PUC’s responsibility in just keeping the cost of energy low. By prioritizing climate, equity, and environmental justice, Maine’s PUC will be better positioned to act on climate and meet the goals of the Climate Action Plan.

For more information:

Jeff Marks, Maine State Director, jmarks@acadiacenter.org, 207.236.6470 ext. 304

Oliver Tully, Policy Strategist, otully@acadiacenter.org, 860.246.7121 ext.202

Legislation Would Start Rhode Island Down Path to Reduced Transportation Emissions

PROVIDENCE — A pair of state lawmakers have introduced legislation that would kick-start Rhode Island’s participation in a regional agreement to reduce transportation emissions.

Rep. Terri Cortvriend, D-Portsmouth, and Sen. Alana DiMario, D-Narragansett, recently introduced matching legislation to enact the Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) in Rhode Island.

TCI is a regional cap-and-invest program designed to reduce vehicle emissions 26 percent by 2032. Former Gov. Gina Raimondo, President Joe Biden’s new commerce secretary, signed a memorandum of understanding in December to join the initiative with Connecticut, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

Titled the Transportation Emissions and Mobile (TEAM) Community Act in both houses, DiMario introduced bill S0872 on May 5 and Cortvriend introduced bill H6310 on May 7.

The TEAM Community Act would provide funding for cleaner transportation “while drastically reducing pollution that harms public health, particularly in urban, poorer neighborhoods that disproportionately bear the burden of transportation infrastructure like major highways,” the legislators wrote in a joint statement.

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The TEAM Community Act bills have support from community and environmental groups, including the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, Clean Water Action, Climate Action Rhode Island, the Environment Council of Rhode Island and the Coalition for a Better Business Environment.

The legislation is a “critical first step” for the state’s transportation network, according to Hank Webster, Rhode Island director of Acadia Center, a regional advocacy organization for renewable energy.

“Automakers have announced a major shift towards electric vehicles; people are walking and bicycling at record levels; and, public transportation helps reduce traffic congestion and commuting costs for workers,” Webster wrote in a statement. “Making strategic investments in clean mobility options will strengthen our economy, create good jobs, and deliver over $100 million in annual health benefits from cleaner air and healthier communities.”

Read the full article in EcoRI News here

Legislation Filed to Cut Vehicle Emissions

PROVIDENCE — The next debate over climate policy in the General Assembly is poised to begin with the introduction of legislation this week to implement a regional cap-and-invest pact aimed at slashing road emissions.

The bill, introduced in the Senate on Wednesday by Sen. Alana DiMario and set to be filed in the House on Thursday by Rep. Terri Cortvriend, comes after then-Governor Gina Raimondo agreed in December to make Rhode Island a founding member of the Transportation and Climate Initiative along with Massachusetts, Connecticut and the District of Columbia.

While Raimondo signed a memorandum of understanding with the other jurisdictions to join the agreement that would be the first program of its kind to cut carbon emissions from cars and trucks, legislation must get through the General Assembly and be signed into law by new Governor Daniel McKee for the program to be implemented in Rhode Island.

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State environmental groups also see Act on Climate as fundamental to the state’s efforts to slow down the warming of the planet, but organizations like the Acadia Center and Climate Action Rhode Island say that much more must be done to reach its goals. Cutting down on carbon pollution from vehicles, which makes up about 40 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the state, is key.

Read the full article in the Providence Journal here.

Eversource’s new CEO talks future of natural gas

As Joe Nolan prepares to take on the role of Eversource Energy’s chief executive on May 5, he is facing the challenge of transitioning New England’s largest utility to be carbon neutral in operations –— and potentially, carbon neutral for its customers.The plans clash with the goals of the state’s new climate law, as well as the new climate-driven mission statement for the state’s Department of Public Utilities. But new orders that specify how to wean utilities off fossil fuels are needed before agencies enforcement can happen.

He has worked for the utility for 35 years, and 25 of those years were spent growing Eversource’s renewable energy portfolio. He is leading the utility’s joint venture with Danish offshore wind company Ørsted to start building three wind farms in the Northeast. Nolan will take over the CEO position from Jim Judge.

Nolan, 58, told NetZero Insider he wants to double down on achieving carbon neutrality for Eversource’s buildings and vehicle fleets as CEO.

But Massachusetts, one of the states Eversource operates in, recently passed comprehensive climate legislation that includes a legally binding commitment to reduce the state’s carbon emissions to 50% below 1990 levels by 2030. President Biden’s proposal to cut emissions in half by 2030 only strengthens state mandates like Massachusetts’s new climate laws.

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Energy experts like Amy Boyd, director of policy at the Acadia Center, say that the money utilities put into natural gas systems is “buried money and stranded costs” that will fall on low-income and environmental justice communities without the same access to renewable energy options. As a result, those communities will experience higher utility rates.

From a physics perspective, it is “always more thermodynamically effective to just use electricity directly,” Boyd added.

Hydrogen molecules are also smaller than methane. If methane is leaking in the existing natural gas pipe system, then hydrogen will surely leak as well.

“We certainly don’t need to be wasting energy,” Boyd said.

Read the full article in RTO Insider here.

Overcoming Barriers to Home Weatherization in Connecticut: A Success Story

For over a decade, Acadia Center has been working to ensure that energy efficiency is available to the most vulnerable residents of Connecticut, and the Covid-19 pandemic has made the need for these services even more stark. One significant barrier to installing needed weatherization and efficiency services is that about 23% (almost ¼) of all homes that go through an audit in the programs are deferred and not served due to what are known as “health and safety barriers” such as mold, asbestos or vermiculite, and knob and tube wiring, which are rampant in older and neglected housing stock. What’s worse, the housing with such health and safety barriers are likely the homes most in need of weatherization and treatment by the programs to address their old and leaky spaces. Since repairs to fix these health and safety barriers are not funded through the efficiency programs, that means that no further efficiency work can be done in those homes, at least not without a major investment of funds that homeowners lack. The lack of weatherization is costing residents  of those homes at least an additional $1,000 a year in higher heating bills (and potentially more than $2,000 for homes using oil or propane).

In 2013, Acadia Center participated in a study with other stakeholders exploring the need for energy efficiency to be available to the most vulnerable residents in the state, which resulted in 7 recommendations, including providing funding and financing to resolve the health and safety barriers that would cause eligible households to be deferred from weatherization. However, this study didn’t lead to change at the time.

Through holding a position as Vice Chair of the Energy Efficiency Board (EEB) in Connecticut, Acadia Center was able to keep this issue as a top concern and over the past year, Acadia Center staff worked extensively with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)  to organize two workshops to discuss the issue of health and safety barriers. One idea that emerged from these workshops is to use federal funds from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to address health and safety remediation in targeted homes. Acadia Center asked DEEP to reach out to the Department of Social Service (DSS) to enable this policy change, and in early April, the LIHEAP board voted to allow $2M in funding to address these barriers, beginning in January 2022. This is the first time that LIHEAP funds have been allocated towards health and safety barriers, hopefully setting a precedent that can be followed for years to come.

“Have you heard the one about Maine’s electric grid?”

A regulator, an environmentalist, and a utility executive walk into a bar…and come out with an agreement “to plan, build, and operate the electric grid that is needed to meet Maine’s climate and energy requirements.”

A bad joke, but a good result! After six months of deliberations, a high-level stakeholder group of investor-owned utilities, current and former PUC Commissioners, environmental groups, renewable energy companies, municipalities, and state agency officials coalesced around a set of strategies, that if implemented, could change Maine’s electricity grid for the benefit of energy consumers.

The Maine Utility/Regulatory Reform and Decarbonization Initiative (MURRDI) was convened in the fall of 2020 by The Nature Conservancy and the Great Plains Institute and charged with developing strategies to:

1. plan, build, and operate an electricity grid, that
2. meets the State’s aggressive climate and energy requirements, while
3. maintaining a safe, reliable, secure, and affordable grid.

In the spring of 2021, the participants emerged with a verdict that could set Maine on a course to modernize the grid while achieving major climate, energy, economic, and equity benefits for everyone.

Acadia Center was honored to be chosen for a seat at this table, joining experts from Efficiency Maine Trust, Governor’s Energy Office, Public Utilities Commission, the Public Advocate, Maine’s two investor-owned utilities (CMP & Versant), representatives of the state’s biggest cities, and a handful of our environmental and renewable partners. Together, MURRDI advanced discussion and strategies designed to achieve the following outcomes:

• Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050;
• Increased renewable resources to account for 80 percent of electric sales by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050;
• Accelerated deployment of electrified transportation and buildings, distributed generation, load flexibility, and renewable electricity supply resources, including grid-scale wind and solar;
• Regional electricity market integration that harnesses innovation and emerging technologies;
• Enhanced focus on consumer needs related to climate requirements, equity and environmental justice, safety, reliability, resiliency, and other quantifiable benefits.
• Siting of distributed and grid-scale renewables and storage where they bring the greatest benefits to the grid and least adverse impacts to Maine’s natural resources; and
• Much, much more.

Acadia Center is especially excited about two of the nine recommendations it helped develop:

1. To investigate, adopt, and implement an all-encompassing, long-term, strategic grid planning process, with an eye toward phasing out fossil fuels and separating utility planning from ownership.
2. To expand the PUC’s decision-making framework to consider Maine’s climate requirements, equity implications, and impacts on environmental justice communities to enable consideration of the full costs and benefits of energy investments in all decisions.

Acadia Center supports the entire report, including the seven other recommendations to:

3. Endorse the New England States’ Vision for a Clean Affordable, and Reliable 21st Century Regional Electric Grid and extend it with regard to distributed energy resources and demand participation, comprehensive integrated system planning, and state policy objectives.
4. Move toward a more dynamic grid with more granular load flexibility capabilities in a concerted manner, including time of use rates and/or other dynamic rate structures that more accurately reflect the cost of producing and delivering power, and take into account how time-varying rate designs could help to meet the state’s climate and energy requirements.
5. Explore the opportunities, challenges, benefits, and drawbacks of establishing a market framework at the distribution level, including through pilot projects.
6. Identify and implement temporary measures to advance new EV fast charger (including DC fast charging and clustered Level 2 charging) deployment in the near term.
7. Provide useful, accessible, transparent, and dynamic hosting capacity information to developers and customers, including enabling greater understanding of the data, tools, and processes required.
8. Explore opportunities to enable using ratepayer dollars to pay for innovation investments in return for PUC oversight.
9. Support development of transmission that is carefully sited to avoid and minimize environmental impacts.

Acadia Center is deeply engaged in this topic with a wide array of allies and stakeholders and will be moving forward to help implement plans to reform rates, incentives, and resource planning to create a reliable, affordable, and clean energy system in Maine. For example, in 2021-22 Acadia Center will monitor Power Sector Transformation Stakeholder group to explore the transformation and planning of Maine’s electric sector to help achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions. Acadia Center will use, complete, and apply recommendations from its UtilityVision and Next Generation Energy Efficiency frameworks to inform policymakers and stakeholders on energy efficiency; electrification; GHG reductions; utility structure; load management; non-wires alternatives; distributed energy resources; and other solutions necessary to change existing statutes and regulations to achieve climate, energy, and equity objectives. Finally, Acadia Center will continue to push a bill in the 130^th Legislature to add climate and equity to the PUC’s responsibilities, empowering it to value emissions reductions and environmental justice in all policy, programmatic, and regulatory decisions.

The MURRDI report deserves a standing ovation clean energy, zero carbon, and equity for all. Who knew?

As Biden’s Climate Summit Approaches, Carbon Pricing Remains Uncertain

President Joe Biden is inviting world leaders to join him later this week for a virtual climate summit, where the president is expected to announce a new, lower target for U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The reduction is seen as essential for slowing climate change. Biden has also pledged to adopt new regulations for fossil fuel producers but, so far, he has not signaled support for carbon pricing, which some say ought to be part of the package.

For years, the fossil fuel industry has argued that any kind of carbon tax would be the kiss of death for the economy. Then last month the American Petroleum Institute, the leading oil and gas lobbying group, said it could support putting a price on carbon emissions as a substitute for regulating greenhouse gases.

Environmental groups called the about-face “self-serving.” Members of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby welcomed it with open arms.

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“I would say that both are necessary. Carbon pricing is not a silver bullet. We need that price and that market signal but we also need regulations,” says Jordan Stutt, the carbon programs director for the Acadia Center, a nonprofit that works on clean energy solutions across New England. “I’m glad to see some strange bedfellows starting to embrace the notion of carbon pricing. But we need to make sure that we’re doing it in a sensible, responsible and equitable way.”

Stutt says he’s encouraged to see states like Massachusetts focused on accelerating the transition to electric vehicles. Bay State Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has proposed banning the sale of new combustion engines by 2035.

Read the full article in the Maine Public here

Rhode Island Adopts Mandatory, Enforceable Climate Targets

On April 10th, Governor Daniel McKee signed the landmark Act on Climate bill into law, updating Rhode Island’s climate goals with mandatory, enforceable targets which scientists indicate are necessary to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis. The law updates the 2014 Resilient Rhode Island Act which set aspirational goals and will ensure the state takes actions necessary to reduce carbon emissions below 1990 levels by 45% by 2030, 80% by 2040, and to net-zero levels by 2050. With the strokes of 5 ceremonial pens, Governor McKee added Rhode Island to the growing number of states in the region that have committed to reducing carbon pollution.  As a result, Rhode Islanders will see benefits from cleaner air, healthier homes, increased investment in the local economy, and a more independent and resilient energy system. 

This law puts Rhode Island at the forefront of a changing regional economy that is actively reducing its dependence on polluting, imported fossil fuels by transitioning to local, clean, and renewable sources of energy.
– Hank Webster, Acadia Center’s Rhode Island Director and Staff Attorney

The Act on Climate law requires the state to update its greenhouse gas reduction plan by the end of 2022 with another update in 2025 and every five years thereafter. At the signing ceremony on historic Bowen’s Wharf in Newport, Governor McKee instructed his cabinet to “ramp up the strategic planning and outreach needed to put together plans and meet the targets under this act, and do it quickly.”

Acadia Center will continue to be a key stakeholder in those discussions and on Monday, Acadia Center’s Rhode Island Director, Hank Webster, convened leaders in the business community to discuss opportunities to work together to achieve these important environmental goals for the benefit of all Rhode Islanders. “This law is really about making sure Rhode Island prepares itself for an energy transition that we know is occurring on a global scale. It will ultimately help create and sustain jobs, improve our energy resiliency, and attract new businesses and workers. Rhode Island was the birthplace of the American industrial revolution and with this significant commitment to a clean energy economy, we can recapture that legacy of innovation.”

The Future: One Day at a Time

President Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a  time.” It’s also true that the present has often been built one day at a time through incalculable numbers of small and large actions. Acadia Center supported passage of Rhode Island’s initial climate legislation in 2014 and has been a lead organization in the annual efforts to strengthen Rhode Island’s commitment to clean energy, working in collaboration with other advocates as part of the Environment Council of Rhode Island, the Climate Crisis Campaign, the Energize Rhode Island Coalition, and Climate Jobs RI Coalition—a partnership between environmental and labor organizations. Acadia Center provided regular climate and energy briefings to legislators, demonstrating the health and economic benefits of climate action for their constituents, such as lower rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and even premature death.

Acadia Center and its partners conducted several virtual webinars throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and the transition to a new governor and House leadership in 2021. Acadia Center worked with legislative sponsors to strengthen the law and testified in support of the latest versions of the Act on Climate in 2020 and 2021. In recent weeks, Acadia Center played a key role in correcting a steady stream of disinformation coming from fossil-fuel aligned opponents to climate action.

Acknowledging the longstanding efforts of advocacy groups like Acadia Center, State Representative Lauren Carson, lead sponsor of the law in the House, said, “To the environmental advocates, I say years and years of work in the legislature have culminated in a bill that has moved a tremendous percentage of voters in the state of Rhode Island.” Attorney General Peter Neronha said, “I want to recognize the advocates that pushed elected officials—people like me—to do what is best for the people of the state of Rhode Island and around the country. The time to act is now.”

With the Act on Climate now in statute, Acadia Center is urging the state to implement key findings from numerous state-led energy studies, including the recommendation to plan a heat pump conversion effort outlined in the Heating Sector Transformation process and to implement the bipartisan, regional Transportation and Climate Initiative, as recommended by the state’s Mobility Innovation Working Group.

Climate Change Already Impacting Rhode Island

General Assembly leaders in attendance at the bill signing ceremony spoke about the importance of Rhode Island developing plans to address climate change and the ongoing energy transition away from fossil fuels. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio told the crowd, “climate change is happening more rapidly than we anticipated. We have a number of pieces of legislation in the Senate and House that we will be addressing this year to make significant changes to our policies. Obviously, we are looking to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.”

Senate Environment & Agriculture Committee Chair Dawn Euer, the lead sponsor of the legislation in her chamber, noted that Rhode Island is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, recalling that the site of the ceremony was underwater during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. “I think that we’ve seen the effects of climate change have been increasing and the reality is that the energy transition is coming.”

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi spoke about the moral imperative of climate action: “My colleagues in the House came to me and said we need to do this. We need to do this for the future of Rhode Island. We all have to do our part and we have to leave this state better than we found it.”

Indeed, Governor McKee noted that “With 400 miles of coastline, the Ocean State is on the front lines of the climate crisis.” McKee also told the crowd of supporters that climate change threatens the “tourism industry and the countless small businesses it supports. This is especially true right here in Newport.” Governor McKee also touted the economic opportunities Rhode Island could seize by taking steps to address climate change, referencing efforts at the federal level to advance a federal infrastructure plan. “Rhode Island must seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This means growing green jobs and promoting resiliency.”  

Next Steps

With the Act on Climate now in statute, Acadia Center is urging the state to implement key findings of the organization’s EnergyVision 2030 Roadmap and from numerous state-led energy studies. As part of the state’s initial climate action plan due by the end of 2022, Acadia Center will urge state policymakers to develop a heat pump conversion program as outlined in the Heating Sector Transformation process, to implement the regional Transportation and Climate Initiative recommended by the state’s Mobility Innovation Working Group, and to update the state’s Renewable Energy Standard to 100% by 2030. 

For more information:

Hank Webster
Rhode Island Director & Staff Attorney
hwebster@acadiacenter.org
401.276.0600 ext.402 

Fossil Gas, a Bridge Too Far

In a major milestone for the federal and New England electric grid, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced on March 8^th that it had completed the required final environmental impact statement for Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind (OSW) facility, to be located off the coast of Massachusetts. Slated for completion by mid-2024, this 800 MW project will power the equivalent of 400,000 homes with renewable energy, and it represents just the beginning for a burgeoning clean energy industry. The Biden administration recently announced plans to develop 30,000 MW of OSW by 2030 in the Northeast.

The emergence of a homegrown clean energy economy provides Massachusetts with an opportunity to end our long-running dependency on natural gas (more accurately called “fossil gas”), reduce the amount of money sent out-of-state, and build a strong and local engine for economic growth. Massachusetts has recognized the vital role that OSW will play in the gas-less future. The Commonwealth recently published its Energy Pathways Roadmap,  a planning and analysis process to identify cost-effective and equitable pathways to reaching the 2050 target of reducing emissions by at least 85% by 2050, a target that was recently enshrined into law. The analysis notes that “offshore wind is the backbone of decarbonized electricity generation in Massachusetts,” with all modeled pathways requiring at least 15 GW of regional offshore wind by 2050.

Due to significant land constraints and the potential for delays in siting projects and transmission that limit onshore renewable development in the region, OSW will be a crucial resource for decarbonizing Massachusetts’ electric grid. OSW will displace polluting and dangerous gas infrastructure, which is currently the dominant energy resource on the grid (over 50% of electricity was generated from gas in 2020 regionally). With increased wind at night and winter, when demand for heat is highest, OSW will be able to meet peak demand for electric home heating.

According to the Massachusetts 2050 Roadmap, in all modeled scenarios, gas demand in the electric power sector needs to decrease drastically in the next 10 to 15 years. The graph below shows that regardless of the scenario in the Commonwealth’s modeled analysis – including one where it adds new pipelines — if we wish to meet climate targets, production of electricity from in-state fossil gas power plants must fall from roughly 70% of generation today to 37% by 2025 and 15% by 2030, finally decreasing to less than 10% between 2040 and 2050. Massachusetts’ modeling indicates that now is the time to decarbonize the grid, rather than in some distant future. Acadia Center, in our recent public comments on the Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2030, made similar points that now is the time to reduce our dependence on gas and make this decade count.

To better understand the strategy behind this rapid decline in gas demand and how this will impact our chances at reaching net-zero economy-wide by 2050, it helps to think of what the Commonwealth needs to do between now and 2050 in ten-year increments.

2021 to 2030 – Use Offshore Wind to Push Out Gas Generated Electricity

Between 2021 and 2030, Massachusetts must focus on decarbonizing the electric sector through a rapid and sustained buildout of offshore wind, in addition to hydropower imports from Canada, while continuing successful utility and distributed solar, onshore wind, and energy efficiency programs. Decarbonizing the electric sector will serve as the low-carbon backbone for a broader decarbonized economy. As more OSW comes online, the less gas Massachusetts and the region will need. In the words of former Massachusetts utility regulator Paul Hibbard, “the less offshore wind there is, the more generation from gas-fired, carbon emitting power plants there will be. It’s almost a 1-to-1 offset.”

2030 to 2040 – Electrify, Electrify, Electrify

In the following decade, as the electric grid is increasingly low-carbon, it will be necessary to aggressively electrify home heating and vehicles. While there are serious and successful efforts underway right now to electrify these sectors in New England, by 2030 the region will have the low-carbon grid ready to reap the climate, public health, and consumer benefits of a decarbonized grid. According to the 2050 Roadmap’s modeling, high-efficiency electric air-source heat pumps need to overtake fossil gas heat in residential buildings by 2034 and in commercial buildings by 2036. For light-duty vehicles, the 2050 Roadmap predicts that electric vehicles could overtake fossil fuel vehicles sometime in the mid-to-late 2030s. During this time, the region will continue to add OSW and other renewable resources, as well as battery storage and flexible demand response, increasingly pushing out gas generation.

2040 to 2050 – Sustaining the Zero Carbon Economy

In the last decade before mid-century, it will be crucial to continue to build on the success of the previous decades through continued investment in renewable energy and electrification while working to fully retire the remaining gas resources in the region. Even as late as 2045, the Commonwealth projects that gas will rely on between 1% to 5% of total electric demand during periods of peak demand. Massachusetts and other New England states project that the region will infrequently run its fleet of fossil gas generation in the region through 2050 to balance the operational needs of the grid, while providing backup to renewables.

Conclusion

While the natural gas industry claims that gas is a “bridge fuel” to a cleaner future, much of Massachusetts’ planning documents rely on polluting and dangerous gas resources through 2050. It is time for policy makers to realize that for our region, gas is a bridge too far, one that the region needs to get off as soon as possible by decarbonizing the grid, shifting to all-electric homes, electric vehicles, and continuing to invest in energy efficiency and innovative demand-side technology solutions.

We know that polluting and dangerous fossil gas resources are more likely to be in environmental justice communities. It is necessary then to invest in renewables and electrification while deploying long-term energy storage, dynamic load management, and smart grid transmission technologies in order to eliminate demand for gas and to shut down polluting plants. Making full use of decarbonization technologies will help wean our state off its addiction to fossil gas and shorten the fossil gas bridge.