It’s time to talk about what decarbonization will cost
According to a 2022 poll, three-quarters of Massachusetts residents see climate change as a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” issue for the state to address. But if we’re to have any success at responding to climate change, we have to begin thinking about it as not only as a technical, behavioral, and infrastructure challenge – designing more efficient and cost-effective wind turbines and solar panels; getting more people to accept heat pumps; and building out the grid to move the power needed for all the EVs and air source heat pumps we expect to come on line – but as a major financial challenge for the state as well.
It is conservatively estimated that just converting all existing residential gas and oil heating systems to air source heat pumps will cost over $25 billion. Decarbonizing all customer sectors will require many billions more.
The challenges are so multi-dimensional that it can be hard to get all of the relevant stakeholders to focus on the many solutions we need to develop. But we believe the financial challenges have perhaps received the least attention. After all, we have the MassSAVE program to address customer behavior. We have major programs for the state to procure massive amounts of wind power. The price of solar panels is projected to decline by 40 percent between now and 2028. And the pending climate bills will squarely address the need to expedite infrastructure siting.
A relatively new coalition, the Commonwealth Coalition for Decarbonization, is pressing the Legislature to pass language that would require the administration to take a first, essential step regarding the financial challenges to reaching our mandated climate goals. Separately, but moving in a similar direction, the MassSAVE “program administrators” (the state’s electric and gas utilities, and the Cape Light Compact) are also developing an estimate of the funding that will be required to meet our climate goals. Simply put, there currently isn’t enough funding.
We know how much carbon we emit, with reasonable accuracy. We know how much carbon we need to stop emitting. We know much about the carbon-free resources we need to procure. Now we just need to know the cost to the Commonwealth.
Once we know what is available from all actual and likely sources and what the cost will be to achieve our goals, we’ll know how much more funding needs to be procured. At that point, we can begin the difficult work of figuring out how to pay for our climate plan. Without that information and funding, we will hit a dead end.
The 14-member Commonwealth Coalition for Decarbonization includes advocates from low-income non-profits, environmental groups, labor, and the utilities who participate in MassSAVE as well as others. Despite our quite diverse interests, we all work together to move the state in the direction of implementing practical policy approaches and solutions. We hope to monitor progress toward the ambitious climate goals that the Legislature has set, and especially keep banging the drum about getting more information about available and needed funding.
Much is being done to drive uptake of energy efficiency measures and decarbonization investments. But until we know where we stand on the funding need, we will be unable to sustain the efforts needed to maintain Massachusetts as a leader in the country in addressing climate change. We have decades of important and challenging work ahead of us.
Charlie Harak is a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. Kyle Murray is director of state program implementation at the Acadia Center, a nonprofit climate advocacy group.
Originally published in CommonWealth. Click here to read it there.
With latest announcement, the Healey administration eyes how to move power plants past fossil fuels
Until now, the conversation about the clean energy transformation in Massachusetts has largely revolved around building more: wind, solar, battery storage — all of it.
But it’s not enough just to build, the Healey administration acknowledged in an announcement Wednesday morning. Moving forward, there needs to be plans for how to shut down or convert existing fossil fuel power plants, such as the so-called peaker plants that run on oil or gas and fire up on the coldest and hottest days.
Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation at the clean energy advocacy group Acadia Center, said the formation of the advisory board was “exciting,” and exactly the kind of approach that’s needed to address the thorny issues the state is wrestling with. But in order to be effective, he’s hoping to see its scope broadened.
“The major question to solve, obviously, is the sprawling gas system that we have in place right now,” he said. “These priorities are parts of it, but it’s also figuring out how we get beyond all those pipes in the ground, what we do with it, and how we electrify everything.”
To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.
Environmental Advocates Say 2024 Legislative Session Produced Mixed Bag
PROVIDENCE — It’s been more than two weeks since lawmakers adjourned for the year, so how are Rhode Island’s environmental groups feeling about the state of the session?
No one in politics gets everything they want, so perhaps unsurprisingly, the results are mixed. The General Assembly passed a number of longstanding environmental priorities, including a ban on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products (with a few exceptions); mandating state environmental officials write a coastal resiliency plan; and dedicated funding for the state’s climate council.
But several other major priorities of environmental groups were left on the committee room floor.
Barker’s organization, together with the Acadia Center, were the strongest proponents of energy benchmarking legislation, aimed at reducing emissions from large buildings across the state.
The Building Decarbonization Act would have required owners of buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to begin tracking their energy use and emissions as early as next year. Data derived from the legislation would have been used to come up with emission reduction goals for large buildings, similar to an ordinance enacted last year by the city of Providence.
To read the full article from ecoRI, click here.
Solar Stabilizes Grid During Recent Heat Waves, But Duck Curve Days Complicate Grid Management
Global temperatures have broken long-standing records over the last month. Local utility companies have been in constant contact with their customers, offering small hints about energy conservation. Extreme heat generally translates into high electricity demand, and that can lead to rolling blackouts or outages that leave thousands without electricity. In the New England regional area, however, the power grid “hummed along uneventfully,” according to the Boston Globe.
Why? Thousands of solar panels on rooftops, over parking lots, and along highways have filled in energy gaps. Such small solar arrays distributed across the region create stability.
“If one of these solar arrays goes down, it’ll be immaterial,” notes Joe LaRusso, manager of the Clean Grid Initiative at the Acadia Center.
To read the full article from Clean Technica, click here.
Senate Takes Bold Action to Supercharge Clean Energy Adoption Statewide
(BOSTON—06/25/2024) Today the Massachusetts Senate passed comprehensive climate legislation to make systemic changes to the state’s clean energy infrastructure that will help the state achieve its net zero emissions by 2050 goals, expand electric vehicle (EV) use and infrastructure, and protect residents and ratepayers. The bill passed the upper chamber by a vote of 38-2.
“The Massachusetts Senate continued to display its bold leadership on climate with the passage of this ambitious bill today,” Kyle Murray, State Program Implementation and Massachusetts Program Director at the Acadia Center. “This legislation is another critical piece in the puzzle of how our Commonwealth can meet its strong greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirements.”
To read the full press release from Senate President Spilka, click here.
Is your air conditioning working? Thank a solar panel.
When the forecast calls for record-breaking temperatures, the kind that turn the weather app warnings deep red and push the limits of what a window unit air conditioner can do, those in the know brace themselves.
Extreme heat means extreme electricity demand, and that can lead to rolling blackouts or outages that leave thousands without electricity.
But even amid record high temperatures, that has not been the story this week.
But with thousands of small solar arrays distributed across the region,
“if one of these solar arrays goes down, it’ll be immaterial,” said Joe LaRusso, manager of the Clean Grid Initiative at the Acadia Center.
Beyond the solar that helped power the grid through the heat wave, traditional resources, such as natural gas and nuclear power, held up reliably.
A small amount of oil-fired electricity was also powering the grid — an increasingly rare occurrence as the region weans itself off the dirtiest sources. But because oil power plants can take longer to fire up, keeping some operating at a low level during a heat wave is a precautionary measure, LaRusso said, so they can quickly ramp up if something goes wrong at another power plant or demand suddenly spikes.
To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.
EV drivers could get a charge from proposed climate law
The Massachusetts Senate’s proposed climate law is packed with good news for current and future electric vehicle drivers.
The draft proposal would provide millions of dollars annually for rebates on EV purchases, legalize and promote lower-cost EV chargers mounted to utility poles, and make it easier to install chargers in many residential locations.
Environmental advocates welcomed the EV provisions in the bill; shifting almost 1 million drivers away from gas-powered vehicles by 2030 is a key part of the state’s plan to reduce carbon emissions. The transportation sector is responsible for 37 percent of emissions, the most of any sector in the state economy.
The bill is “another strong step forward … to comprehensively develop and implement a network of electric vehicle chargers and infrastructure that touches all parts of Massachusetts,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at the nonprofit Acadia Center in Boston.
To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.
As Mass Save program approaches record $5 billion, qualms over who foots the bill
For Kyle Murray, an energy efficiency advisor to the state, the proposed $5 billion price tag for the next three-year Mass Save plan is both too much and not enough.
Mass Save, the utility company-run energy efficiency program central to Massachusetts’ ambitious climate goals, has helped the state become a top energy saver in the country — money well spent, Murray feels.
But it’s utility ratepayers primarily footing the bill, the same ones who have stared down sky-high electricity and gas increases in recent years.
“The (Mass Save) programs need to be ambitious, they need to probably go further, but we can’t continue to put that on ratepayers,” said Murray. “If we’re going to be a leader and continue to be ambitious, we need to find other ways of financing these programs that aren’t solely on the backs of ratepayers.”
Those concerns reflect sentiments from Murray, the Massachusetts program director for the Acadia Center who serves on the state’s Energy Efficiency Advisory Council, which helps design the Mass Save plan every three years.
“There’s a lot of ways the state could get creative to help deliver on its ambitions,” Murray said.
Creativity is desperately needed, he contends, especially when some talk about pushing the budget even higher to achieve greater climate outcomes, something he’s heard during the ongoing input process for the 2025-2027 plan.
Still, Murray hailed the benefits expected to be generated by the proposal: approximately $13.8 billion, about $3 billion more than the inflation equivalent from the 2022-2024 plan.
“I think it does show that our priorities match up with our ambitions,” Murray said. “We want to be a leader on climate in the Northeast and through the U.S., and we are a leader. These programs all have to be cost-effective, at least deliver a 1-to-1 return for the state. Not only that, we’re going well beyond. We’re expected to get over $13 billion in benefits.”
To read the full article from Mass Live, click here.
Planet-warming greenhouse gases rebounded in RI in 2021. Here’s what drove the increase.
PROVIDENCE – Greenhouse gas emissions in Rhode Island from things like tailpipe pollution and generation of electricity rebounded in 2021 after two years of reductions, according to an assessment released Monday by the Department of Environmental Management.
Modeling released late last year by the Acadia Center and the Rocky Mountain Institute, clean energy groups that have been working with the state, projected that Rhode Island would fall just short of the 2030 Act on Climate target. Their projections are based on a plan for continuing emissions cuts that was approved last year by the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council.
Gray told legislators in January that the modeling done by the Acadia Center and the Rocky Mountain Institute was “very preliminary” and that a more precise assessment would be conducted as part of a climate action strategy for the state due by the end of next year.
To read the full article from the Providence Journal, click here.
RGGI 64th Auction: An Additional $337 Million Raised for Clean Energy
BOSTON, MA – On Wednesday, June 5, 2024, the ten states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) released the results of the 64th auction 2024. Emissions allowances were sold for $21.03 each, generating $337 million for clean energy investments in participating states.
“The record-setting price in the 64th RGGI auction speaks volumes, it’s a reflection of the growing value in the collective effort to reduce carbon emissions —$337 million raised brings RGGI’s cumulative total to a staggering $7.8 billion since the inception of the program, and these newly generated funds will continue to invest in sustainable solutions and support the transition to a cleaner, more equitable energy future,” stated Paola Tamayo, Policy Analyst at Acadia Center and co-author of the organization’s RGGI Third Program Review Report.
The allowance price of $21.03 is the highest price observed historically since the RGGI program’s inception. RGGI auctions stand as a crucial mechanism for curbing carbon emissions and charging power plants for their climate pollution. Among the various instruments within RGGI auctions, the Cost Containment Reserve (“CCR”) – a market mechanism that releases extra allowances beyond the cap to be sold if prices exceed predetermined levels – was triggered for the second time in 2024. Since the CCR was triggered during the 63rd auction, all the CCR allowances for the 2024 calendar year have been released, so despite the 64th auction price meeting the threshold for triggering the CCR, there were no additional allowances released.
The CCR was initially conceived to be a safeguard, only to be triggered in times of extraordinary circumstances. Recent trends have shown a worrisome pattern: in the latest auction, the CCR was triggered for the third consecutive time. This pattern highlights the importance of reassessing the CRR trigger price in this Program Review. By raising the CCR cost, more breathing room is created for auction prices to rise, ensuring the effectiveness of the RGGI cap in reducing emissions.
Furthermore, the Emissions Containment Reserve (ECR) retains allowances for additional emissions reductions if prices fall below the trigger price of $7.35 in 2024. Notably, the ECR remains well below the auction price and has historically not been triggered. That means that the auction price is almost three times higher than the trigger price, signaling a significant deviation from the original intent of this program mechanism. For the ECR to maintain its effectiveness as a market stabilizer, it should show a more dynamic response to fluctuations in auction prices. While the ECR serves as a vital safety net, its rigid structure makes the effect of this mechanism negligible in the face of rising auction prices. As stakeholders engage in discussions surrounding the third program review, there’s a pressing need to reevaluate the mechanisms governing the ECR. By introducing greater flexibility and adaptability into its design, the ECR can better fulfill its role in ensuring the stability and integrity of the RGGI market, ultimately driving progress towards a more sustainable future.
Higher RGGI allowance price is good for climate, clean energy investment
The clearing price of $21.03 for the first auction of 2024 marks a continuation of the upward trend observed in recent years. This clearing price represents a 65% increase from the clearing price in Q2 of 2023 and a 31% increase from the last auction. The positive trajectory witnessed in the 2023 and 2024 auctions holds promising implications for the RGGI program. Higher observed allowance means that the RGGI program is sending a stronger incentive to reduce fossil fuel emissions and produce electricity from carbon-free sources, like wind and solar.
Since the program launched, the vast majority of RGGI proceeds have been invested in energy efficiency and clean energy projects, as detailed in the most recent report on RGGI investments in 2021, released in June of last year. We are also hoping for a more timely and transparent reporting system on proceeds investments. As the auctions generate significant revenue, it’s crucial to ensure that these funds are allocated efficiently and effectively towards clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives.
The $337.5 million in proceeds generated in this auction brings the cumulative to-date total to $7.89 billion. The 2023 and 2024 auction results underscore RGGI’s significance as more than a regulatory framework, emphasizing its influence on the shift towards sustainable energy. RGGI states show the practicality of a collaborative, market-driven strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
RGGI Third Program Review Offers an Opportunity to Direct Proceeds Towards Clean Energy Investments that Directly Benefit Environmental Justice Communities
Since its establishment, RGGI’s priorities have centered around reducing pollution from fossil fuel power plants and achieving climate solutions for RGGI states. Every five years or so, RGGI undergoes a program review, giving the participating states the opportunity to consider the program’s performance and make various changes, including the equitable disbursement of the program’s proceeds. RGGI’s Third Program Review is happening now, and we are still waiting for more information on what to expect from them this year. Especially since it was expected to conclude at the end of last year. In 2023, RGGI held two public meetings and two public comment periods to discuss and seek feedback on various aspects of the program. Acadia Center, other stakeholders, and the public at large await any responses from the states to public input on setting the cap and improving overall program design and operation.
As discussed in more detail in Acadia Center’s most recent RGGI Report, there are many different ways in which RGGI can ensure that environmental justice communities are heard and are actively involved in the development of strategies for an equitable transition to a carbon-free economy. Regardless of how strongly the Third Program Review does or does not prioritize environmental justice, it should remain a priority for individual states to consider the recent auctions, the history of investments across the states, the need to benefit environmental justice communities directly, and other mechanisms associated with the cap-and-invest program.
Acadia Center remains closely involved in RGGI policy conversations across the RGGI states and will continue to advocate for program reforms that drive equitable investment and climate action.
Media Contacts:
Paola Moncada Tamayo, Policy Analyst
ptamayo@acadiacenter.org, 860-246-7121 x204
Ben Butterworth, Director: Climate, Energy, and Equity Analysis
bbutterworth@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 x111
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