As Rhode Island considers future of gas, advocates call for ‘realism’ on cost, availability of RNG

As a state committee studies ways to wean Rhode Island off of natural gas, several of its members want the group’s final report to dismiss one potential pathway as wholly unrealistic.

Switching to renewable natural gas or other alternative fuels appears to be neither a feasible nor a financially viable solution at this time, say multiple stakeholders who have commented on a draft outline of a report a consulting group prepared for Rhode Island regulators.

Ben Butterworth, director of climate, energy and equity analysis for the nonprofit Acadia Center, told ENN his organization would like to see Rhode Island prioritize much of what is in the Massachusetts strategy: a focus on electrification and energy efficiency, disincentivizing further expansion of the gas system, and pilot programs focused on the strategic decommissioning of the gas system.

The PUC must also consider how to fund the transition, Butterworth noted. Vermont and Massachusetts are pursuing a clean heat standard as a funding mechanism for climate goals, while New York is pursuing a cap-and-invest approach.

“Finding that mechanism is critical, and the report should include at least those options,” Butterworth said.

To read the full article from Energy News Network, click here.

GridTECH Connect Forum Northeast 2024: Connecticut State Policy Spotlight

Acadia Center was invited to participate and present at GridTECH Connect Forum Northeast in Newport, Rhode Island, on October 28 – 30. GridTECH Connect Forum is a conference focused on distributed energy resources and utility-scale interconnection, renewable energy development, clean energy policy, utility regulation, and more. The conference facilitated conversations on innovative solutions, forward-thinking policy, and clean energy programs that are helping the Northeast reach ambitious clean energy goals. Speakers and workshops during the event highlighted key challenges and obstacles on the path to phasing out fossil fuels and transforming and modernizing the grid while providing a unique opportunity to advance the critical issue of grid interconnection.

In the Northeast, obstacles remain in place on the path to meeting clean energy targets. The region must continue to work collaboratively on grid modernization and distributed energy resources, policy and regulatory processes, and bold solutions that align with an equitable clean energy economy.

Acadia Center’s Climate and Energy Justice Policy Associate, Jayson Velazquez, presented a state policy spotlight on Connecticut to a diverse array of stakeholders ranging from electric utilities and grid operators to project developers, policymakers and policy advocates from the region. Jayson shared policy progress over recent years, including present and future opportunities in Connecticut’s clean energy transition.

Here are some key takeaways from the conference and key points from the Connecticut state policy spotlight:

Energy Affordability and Equity: Connecticut residents face some of the highest costs for electricity in the country and over 400,000 households in Connecticut face unaffordable energy costs. Energy burden for households with an income 0-60% of the state median income experience an energy burden well above 6%. If the energy burden of these households were reduced to 6%, residents would be saving hundreds of millions of dollars on energy. Recent rate increases, which can be better understood here, have brought high energy costs, the Public Benefits Charge, and the affordability of the state’s clean energy transition to the forefront of media.

Energy Efficiency: The Connecticut Energy Efficiency Board approved the 2025 – 2027 Conservation and Load Management plan which has a total budget of $706M. This is a slight decrease in the available budget despite rising operation costs and increased residential and income-eligible program demand. There are opportunities with incoming federal funding to provide pathways for energy efficiency and electrification. However, it is critical to continue balancing traditional energy efficiency measures with electrification, and electrification with weatherization.

Utility Innovation and Accountability: Connecticut and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), under the leadership of Chair Marissa Gillett, have become innovative leaders in recent years on utility regulation. Many of the recent advances can be attributed to the 2019 Equitable Modern Grid Framework, which comprised almost a dozen proceedings focused on updating grid infrastructure, planning processes, communications, and data management systems to improve grid readiness for advanced energy technologies. The Equitable Modern Grid Framework also included battery storage incentive programs, plans for advanced metering infrastructure and smart meter deployment, updated low-income discount rates, and the Innovative Energy Solutions program to support pilot projects from both utilities and third parties. Recently, the focus has been largely on the Performance-Based Regulation (PBR) proceeding, which was initiated by the Take Back Our Grid Act in 2020. More on Connecticut’s PBR proceeding, which is now moving into the Integrated Distribution System Planning framework, can be found here. Other notable advancements from PURA include upstanding a Stakeholder Compensation Program that provides funding opportunities for organizations who might have had barriers to participating in PURA proceedings. Senate Bill 7 from 2023, prohibited the recovery through customer rates advertising, lobbying, charitable, investor-related, and trade association expenses used to influence public opinion.

Offshore Wind: In 2019, Connecticut authorized the procurement of up to 2,000 MW of offshore wind energy by 2030, equivalent to 30% of the state load and the largest authorization of any state in the region at the time. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) estimated an additional 3,745 to 5,710 MW of offshore wind would be needed to meet the state’s 2040 zero carbon goals. In 2023, Connecticut saw the termination of the Power Purchase Agreement from Avangrid for the Park City Wind Project. In 2024, intended multi-state offshore wind procurement efforts between Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have not yet produced the intended outcomes. There have been no new offshore wind commitments from Connecticut despite ongoing discussions across the region.

Federal Funding Awards: Connecticut, in collaboration with states in the region and on its own, has been awarded a substantial amount of federal funding for clean energy projects. In a joint effort, Connecticut and states in the Northeast received a combined $450M Department of Energy award to fund a multi-state heat pump deployment effort. Connecticut and Northeast states were also awarded a $389M Department of Energy award through the Grid Innovation Program (GRIP) to fund regional electric infrastructure through Power Up New England. On transportation, Connecticut and other states were awarded $250M to fund medium- and heavy-duty electric charging stations along a multi-state I-95 corridor. Under the leadership of DEEP, the Lamont Administration, and key clean energy stakeholders, Connecticut has also been awarded $62.45M to upstand Solar for All, and an additional $100M split across Home Energy Rebates and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate Programs.

Looking Ahead and Upcoming Priorities: As the 2025 legislative session approaches, key priorities to further Connecticut’s clean energy transition include increased energy efficiency funding, pursuing a future of gas and affordable head proceeding, grid enhancing technologies, advanced transmission technologies, and non-pipeline alternatives.

Acadia Center would like to thank GridTECH Connect Forum Northeast for the opportunity to share policy knowledge and expertise with conference attendees. A special thank you to Katie Kuzma and the conference planning team for support and assistance with logistics.

To view the full presentation, click here.

A Statement on the Impact of the Election on Clean Energy and Climate Progress

To the Acadia Center Community,

Over the past few days, myself and the Acadia Center team, alongside the nation, have begun to process the vastly different political landscape we’ll be working in for the next four years. The severe threats a changing climate poses to our economic security, quality of life, and safety are not bound by political elections. Climate is science, and as we look to the future, Acadia Center is redoubled in its determination to reduce emissions, encourage clean energy, and prioritize public health.

The work Acadia Center does advocating for multi-state efforts to accelerate progress, working with diverse partners at the regional, state, and local levels, and implementing a clean, safe and economically prosperous climate future for all, will be one of the most important bulwarks to keep progress moving and minimize possible damage. States, regions, and cities have the ability– and responsibility – to strengthen their longstanding commitment to climate leadership in the next four years.

With the likely shift in the national approach to climate and energy, several trends have emerged, presenting both challenges and critical motivators for Acadia Center’s mission.

The scale of potential damage is large. Analysts from CarbonBrief report that a shift in administration could result in an additional 4 billion tons of U.S. emissions by 2030—equivalent to the combined annual emissions of the EU and Japan. This increase could cause global climate damages worth more than $900 billion, according to the latest U.S. government valuations.

The new administration could interfere with federal agencies like the EPA and NOAA. This would leave enormous gaps in the data we rely on to understand emissions trends and weather impacts. While it’s unclear how quickly this could unfold, Acadia Center remains vigilant in tracking these developments and the potential impact on our efforts.

The role of state, regional, and municipal climate action is indispensable. These jurisdictions have significant authority over key sectors and can enact policies that move the needle on emissions reductions. From regulating utilities to enforcing renewable energy standards and advancing clean transportation solutions, state and local leadership will be crucial in filling the gaps that may arise if national support falters. Acadia Center’s long-standing focus on empowering states and localities will be more important than ever.

Let us keep in mind that the clean energy future is happening. Clean energy markets are growing rapidly, driven by technological advances, cost competitiveness, and the increasing recognition of climate-related risks by the business community. In fact, renewables now comprise over 30% of U.S. utility-scale electrical generating capacity. Clean energy is building the jobs of the future, from brand new electric vehicle manufacturing plants, to battery storage, to training electricians in home installations. The economics alone should dictate that clean energy – from solar and batteries to EVs and transmission – should be an essential centerpiece of an energy abundance and energy security agenda – offering the most affordable, scalable, and resilient energy that our evolving economy needs. These developments provide a foundation of success as we look toward the future, underscoring the need for continued collaboration between industry, government, and civil society.

In the face of these challenges and opportunities, I am reminded that meaningful progress often requires resilience and cooperation. Acadia Center is here to drive these efforts.

For 25 years, Acadia Center has crafted ambitious but practical solutions, offered credible information, and shown how clean energy and climate action are the pathways to a healthier, more stable, and resilient economic future. Thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to the work ahead with purpose and determination.

Sincerely,

Dan Sosland

President, Acadia Center

The race for clean energy is local

The U.S. power grid is at a critical crossroads. Electricity generation, like every other industry, needs to rid itself of fossil fuels if the country is to play its role in combating the climate crisis — a transition that will have to happen even as energy providers scramble to meet what they claim is an unprecedented spike in electricity demand, attributed to the rise of AI.

“There can be an extreme imbalance between the different parties who might be participating in these proceedings,” said Oliver Tully, the director of utility innovation and reform for the Acadia Center, a nonprofit advocating for clean energy across New England.

In Connecticut, one of the states where Tully works, it took a natural disaster to usher in change. Hurricane Isaias left some 750,000 people without power in August 2020, some for more than a week. The state’s utility commission, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, or PURA, ultimately issued millions of dollars in fines over utilities’ slow response or lack of preparation. The storm, Tully said, got state leaders thinking seriously about how those utilities are governed.

“That was the catalyst that got a lot of legislators talking about the need for change within the world of utility regulation,” he said.

It’s not a shift utilities are often fond of, and their powerful lobbying efforts can be a major obstacle. The resistance in Connecticut was so vehement, Tully said, that lawmakers in Maine abandoned a similar bill.

“This is a perennial risk of these kinds of proceedings,” he said. “It represents a threat to the status quo of how utilities have been operating for many, many years.”

The Connecticut commission is still working on how it will implement performance-based regulation, and the other changes are relatively new as well, so their impact is still “to be determined,” Tully said. But he and his colleagues were encouraged that the advisory councils have pushed PURA to consider equity.

While a hurricane kickstarted change for Connecticut, it also took a lot of advocacy — both “up and out,” said Jayson Velazquez, one of Tully’s colleagues based in Hartford. The group and its allies lobby “up,” working to get lawmakers and commissioners on board with passing reforms. And they also work “out,” communicating their findings and the issues before the commission to the public and engaging environmental justice groups and community members.

“A lot of the work that we’re doing is bridging that gap between environmental justice groups and our regulators,” Velazquez said. “You kind of have to raise the collective consciousness of the groups before you can really get into effecting change.”

To read the full article from Grist, click here.

In the race for clean energy, a couple hundred overlooked officials control the US power grid

The U.S. power grid is at a critical crossroads. Electricity generation, like every other industry, needs to rid itself of fossil fuels if the country is to play its role in combating the climate crisis — a transition that will have to happen even as energy providers scramble to meet what they claim is an unprecedented spike in electricity demand, attributed to the rise of AI.

“There can be an extreme imbalance between the different parties who might be participating in these proceedings,” said Oliver Tully, the director of utility innovation and reform for the Acadia Center, a nonprofit advocating for clean energy across New England.

In Connecticut, one of the states where Tully works, it took a natural disaster to usher in change. Hurricane Isaias left some 750,000 people without power in August 2020, some for more than a week. The state’s utility commission, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, or PURA, ultimately issued millions of dollars in fines over utilities’ slow response or lack of preparation. The storm, Tully said, got state leaders thinking seriously about how those utilities are governed.

“That was the catalyst that got a lot of legislators talking about the need for change within the world of utility regulation,” he said.

It’s not a shift utilities are often fond of, and their powerful lobbying efforts can be a major obstacle. The resistance in Connecticut was so vehement, Tully said, that lawmakers in Maine abandoned a similar bill.

“This is a perennial risk of these kinds of proceedings,” he said. “It represents a threat to the status quo of how utilities have been operating for many, many years.”

The Connecticut commission is still working on how it will implement performance-based regulation, and the other changes are relatively new as well, so their impact is still “to be determined,” Tully said. But he and his colleagues were encouraged that the advisory councils have pushed PURA to consider equity.

While a hurricane kickstarted change for Connecticut, it also took a lot of advocacy — both “up and out,” said Jayson Velazquez, one of Tully’s colleagues based in Hartford. The group and its allies lobby “up,” working to get lawmakers and commissioners on board with passing reforms. And they also work “out,” communicating their findings and the issues before the commission to the public and engaging environmental justice groups and community members.

“A lot of the work that we’re doing is bridging that gap between environmental justice groups and our regulators,” Velazquez said. “You kind of have to raise the collective consciousness of the groups before you can really get into effecting change.”

To read the full article from WABE, click here.

Massachusetts legislation looks to remove barriers to the state’s shift from natural gas

Nearly a year after Massachusetts regulators laid out a vision for the state’s evolution from natural gas distribution to clean energy use, lawmakers are coalescing around legislation that would start converting principles into policy.

The wide-ranging climate bill includes several provisions that would allow utilities to explore alternatives to gas and empower regulators to place more limits on the expansion and continuation of natural gas infrastructure, changes that supporters say are critical to a successful transition away from fossil fuels.

“A lot of people were skeptical we’d get a bill at all, but I’m happy with where this bill ended up,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director for climate nonprofit Acadia Center. “It shows a step toward that needed urgency.”

Another major element of the bill would reform the state’s Gas System Enhancement Plans program, which encourages utilities to repair or replace pipes in the state’s aging and leak-prone natural gas distribution system. Clean energy advocates have often argued that these plans are problematic, investing billions of ratepayer dollars into shoring up a system that is increasingly obsolete. The climate bill would allow utilities to choose to retire segments of pipe rather than fixing them.

“For the first time ever they are able to look at a pipe and say, ‘You know what, this is not worth the cost,’” Murray said. “We don’t want ratepayers shouldering the burden for a lot of stuff that’s not going to be useful in five to 10 years.”

To read the full article from Energy News Network, click here.

Coalition of 28 organizations files brief in support of continued net metering in Puerto Rico

A coalition of 28 organizations, including leading U.S. and Puerto Rican nonprofits, solar and battery companies, filed a brief in federal court to stand against changing Puerto Rico’s net metering policy.

The Amicus brief was signed by the following organizations: Acadia Center, Astrawatt Solar, Bright Ops, Bright Panel, Carpe Diem Developers PR, EarthSpark International, EDPR NR DG, Elders Climate Action, Enphase Energy Inc, FranklinWH, Freedom Forever, GRID Alternatives, IREC, Mechanical Contractors Association of PR, Para la Naturaleza, Power Solar, Pytes, SMA, Sol-Ark, Solar and Energy Storage Association (SESA), Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), SolarEdge Technologies Inc, Sunnova, and Teksol Integration Group, Inc.

To read the full article from PV Magazine, click here.

State agency wins half million dollar federal grant aimed at reducing emissions at New Bedford port

A Massachusetts economic development agency has won a half million dollar federal grant aimed at reducing emissions and measuring air pollution at the New Bedford port, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday.

The money for the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal — an offshore wind facility being developed by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center — is one of 55 grants awarded by the EPA as part of the Biden administration’s nearly $3 billion Clean Ports initiative.

Boston environmentalist Kyle Murray — a policy director at the clean energy nonprofit Acadia Center — told GBH News that he is hopeful that Massachusetts officials will do more to decarbonize aspects of marine shipping around Boston. He has been calling for local leaders to address the region’s growing shipping industry.

“I am quite disappointed with this outcome,” Murray said.

To read the full article from GBH, click here.

New Mass Save Plan Receives Support from Healey-Driscoll Administration and Stakeholders

Boston — The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced that the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC), which is chaired by the Department of Energy Resources, unanimously voted to approve a resolution to support the draft 2025-2027 Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan for Massachusetts’ nation-leading energy efficiency programs. The Three-Year Plan guides the Mass Save® program. Over the last year and a half, DOER, the EEAC, and the Mass Save Program Administrators (PAs) collaborated to develop the draft Three-Year Plan.

Kyle Murray, Director, State Program Implementation and Massachusetts Program Director, Acadia Center

“With each recent iteration of the Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan, the Commonwealth has taken significant steps forward toward a decarbonized future. This plan is no exception. It delivers upon long-requested improvements to the customers journey and provides record funding for investments in equity. I am proud to have been a part of this process.”

To read the full press release from mass.gov here.

Office of Energy Transformation Represents a Visionary Step Forward for Massachusetts

Navigating the phase-out of the sprawling natural gas system is a massive and complex undertaking, filled with thorny questions that could likely be the subject of years-long proceedings. To address this task (among other energy transition priorities), Massachusetts recently created the first-ever Office of Energy Transformation (OET), tasked with a duty “to accelerate the energy transformation, with a focus on gas-to-electric transition, electric grid readiness, and an affordable and just transition for workers, businesses, and communities.”  This office is intended to provide leadership in strategic planning, roadmap development, and stakeholder engagement to advance the transformation of the state’s energy system. Put simply, the OET is tasked with navigating those incredibly complicated questions that surround the transition, like how to decarbonize the peak and how to finance the transition. It will function as an invaluable connective tissue between the various branches of government and stakeholders.

A key component of the OET will be the Energy Transformation Advisory Board (ETAB), a board filled with a diverse cross-section of stakeholders that includes labor, environmental justice, utilities, building owners, finance, and others. This board will be crucial to guide and advise on the work of the OET. Acadia Center, which is a member of this board, recently attended the kick-off meeting for this board and was heartened by the impressive breadth of knowledge in the room and the resources that the Healey-Driscoll administration is devoting to the effort.

Work under the purview of the Office and ETAB will also be conducted in subgroups that focus on three priority issues. These issues are:

• Transitioning Away from Reliance on the Everett Marine Terminal LNG Facility,
• Decarbonizing the Peak, and
• Establishing Alternative Mechanisms to Finance the Finance/Fund EDC Distribution System Infrastructure Upgrades

Acadia Center appreciates that the OET has chosen three exceptionally complex topics that are worthy of extended consideration and debate. The Everett Marine Terminal is one of the longest-operating LNG facilities in the United States, and its supposed purpose is to provide gas system stability on the coldest few days of the year or if the energy supply is disrupted. However, Acadia Center analysis has called into question how necessary this facility is, how fully alternative solutions have been explored, and how much its continued operations should cost ratepayers. Next, peaker plants are power plant facilities that only operate when there is significant demand on the electric system that cannot be met with normal supply. These are facilities that often only run for a few days every year. Unfortunately, they are also some of the most polluting facilities, spewing emissions into already overburdened communities. Figuring out how to retire these facilities through the use of creative solutions such as demand response and battery storage would be of incredible benefit to the Commonwealth. Finally, identifying how to fully finance the electric infrastructure needed as we rapidly electrify our transportation systems and buildings and decarbonize our electric supply remains an unsolved question. Currently, much of these costs are borne by ratepayers, through electric bills. However, in the long-term, that approach simply may not be sustainable for ratepayers at least under current rate design and cost recovery paradigms.  These three workstreams, while seemingly disparate, are closely tied together by nature of the fact that they span all sectors of the economy.

Next Steps

While it is still quite early in the process, Acadia Center is optimistic that this new office and its stakeholder engagement apparatus will be able to tackle the enormous task it has before it. As other states in the region navigate the difficult questions posed by phasing out fossil gas systems, they should look to Massachusetts as a model. Acadia Center believes that other states would benefit from setting up similar infrastructure to deal with these weighty questions.

Additionally, the OET should eventually broaden its subgroups to include other pressing concerns, such as an evaluation of the potential for stranded assets, reforms to performance-based ratemaking, or a reassessment of gas utility tariffs, policies, and practices on new and existing customer connections.