The Climate Minute Podcast: Demystifying FERC, ISO-NE, NESCOE and NEPOOL
LWVMA Climate and Energy Solutions Series- Barriers to Regional Decarbonization Webinar
Regional cooperation is essential to meeting our clean energy goals. The road to decarbonization faces challenges from long-established regional rules that favor fossil fuel interests and stand in the way of clean energy.
Acadia Center’s Melissa Birchard, Senior Regulatory Attorney, delivered a webinar on behalf of the League of Women Voters- MA and Elder’s Climate Alliance-MA on the basics of regional energy issues.
Form more information about this series please visit the League of Women Voters-MA website. A recording of the webinar is available for viewing here.
Grid operator urges slower transition on renewables
THE NEW ENGLAND power grid operator filed a proposal with federal regulators on Monday seeking more time to come up with a system for incorporating clean energy into the region’s electricity markets.
The grid operator, known as ISO-New England, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to put off until 2025 plans to do away with a 2013 pricing rule intended to prevent subsidized clean energy projects from unfairly squeezing other power generators (most of whom burn fossil fuels) out of the market. ISO-New England had previously planned to do away with the pricing rule next year.
In a statement accompanying the filing, ISO-New England said a longer transition period is warranted because it “will create less risk to the region than an immediate market change could evoke.”
Environmental advocates are opposing the move. “This decision throws an unnecessary lifeline to gas generators that could otherwise be priced out of the market by cost-effective clean energy,” said Melissa Birchard, senior regulatory attorney at Acadia Center.
The arcane issue is attracting attention because it is another example of the tension between those eager to abandon fossil fuels in a bid to deal with climate change and those wary of doing so too quickly out of fear of market disruptions.
ISO-New England oversees the region’s wholesale markets for electricity. In one of those markets, the forward capacity market, ISO-New England forecasts how much electricity the region will need three years in the future and then encourages power generators to bid to supply it. Power plant operators use the promise of this future revenue to build, maintain, and operate their plants.
The forward capacity market is under stress because states like Massachusetts, operating outside the market, have ordered utilities to purchase offshore wind and hydroelectricity, with their ratepayers picking up the cost of the projects.
The challenge for ISO-New England is how to incorporate these ratepayer-subsidized renewable energy projects into the forward capacity market without undermining it. Letting the renewable energy projects into the market could squeeze out other generators needed for the system’s future reliability. Keeping the renewable energy projects out of the market could mean the market may be procuring more power than it actually needs.
Since 2013, ISO-New England has adopted what it calls a minimum offer price rule – allowing the subsidized projects to bid into the forward capacity market but at their unsubsidized cost. This approach puts all the generators on more equal footing, but it can be inefficient from a market standpoint. Many renewable resources not allowed into the market get built anyway, so consumers end up paying for capacity they don’t really need.
“While there is no evidence that this potential inefficiency has harmed consumers to date, that potential is clearly looming as state procurements ramp up,” ISO said in a statement accompanying its filing with FERC.
Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm, offers a glimpse of how the existing set of rules are working. Vineyard Wind is scheduled to go live next year with 249 megawatts of qualified capacity, but not all of that capacity has cleared the market under the existing rules. The project has been bidding into the forward capacity market for the past three years — clearing 54 megawatts for 2023-2024, 101 megawatts for 2024-2025, and 156 megawatts for 2025-2026.
The ISO-New England says it intends to come up with better pricing rules by 2025 and in the meantime will grant exemptions from the minimum price rule for 700 megawatts of renewable resources — 300 megawatts next year and 400 megawatts the year after. (The combined 700 megawatts of is a sizable commitment, the equivalent of projects with a nameplate capacity of 2,000 megawatts. Nameplate capacity is the amount of electricity a project can theoretically deliver under optimum weather conditions; the 700 megawatts is the amount of electricity projects could deliver at any given time.)
Officials at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have been pressuring ISO New England to do away with its minimum offer price rule. Their chief complaint is that the rule is too broad, applying to all new resources and not just those resources capable of manipulating market prices.
“The minimum offer price rule appears to act as a barrier to competition, insulating incumbent generators from having to compete with certain new resources that may be able to provide capacity at lower cost,” said FERC commissioners Richard Glick and Allison Clements in a filing in January.
Now FERC will have to decide whether to grant more time to ISO-New England to do away with the minimum price rule or demand swifter action.
Read the full article in CommonWealth Magazine here.
Aquidneck Island Climate Caucus to meet virtually Sunday, marking the first anniversary of Act on Climate
Sunday is the first anniversary of the signing of Rhode Island’s landmark Act on Climate, and the Aquidneck Island Climate Caucus, led by Rep. Lauren H. Carson and Rep. Terri Cortvriend, will mark the occasion with a discussion on decarbonizing buildings.
The virtual event, titled “How can Rhode Island set a path for decarbonizing our buildings?,” is scheduled for Sunday, April 10, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will feature Matt Rusteika, director of market transformation for the Building Decarbonization Coalition, and Hank Webster, senior policy analyst for the Acadia Center.
The meeting will be held remotely on Zoom and registration is required. Click here to register. Registrants will be sent the Zoom link on the day of the meeting.
According to a press release sent on behalf of the Climate Caucus, Rhode Island’s Act on Climate has made the state a national leader on climate. The law (2021-H 5445A), sponsored by Representative Carson and cosponsored by Representative Cortvriend, created an enforceable commitment by Rhode Island to reduce all climate emissions from transportation, buildings, heating and electricity in the state to net zero by 2050.
It will be impossible to meet the law’s net-zero target without attending to buildings, which represent 30% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions today, according to the press release. Rusteika and Webster will describe efforts that other states have undertaken to address this problem, including regulatory approaches to phasing out natural gas and policies that contain the cost of the transition.
“Reducing emissions from buildings is a significant challenge for Rhode Island. In the last few days, we’ve learned that emissions overall actually increased 8.2 percent from 2017 to 2018, the most recent year for which we have data, and that home heating was the sector that experienced that greatest increase – a whopping 24.4 percent that year. Some of the reason was an especially cold winter, but there will always be cold winters. What we need is to encourage the adoption of clean, sustainable heating and cooling methods in public, commercial, residential and industrial buildings, but how do we go about that? It’s not a transition that can feasibly happen overnight, particularly in the case of private homes. We expect to have a very enlightening conversation about this Sunday,” said Representative Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport).
Said Representative Cortvriend (D-Dist. 72, Portsmouth, Middletown), “While the data from 2018 shows how much progress must be made to meet our emissions goals, the technology exists to do it, and there are ways to make it affordable to switch to that technology. Besides reducing emissions, there are many economic benefits to greening our buildings that make it worthwhile to owners. We need to get to work on creating policies that incentivize and encourage this transition.”
Read the full article in What’s Up Newp here.
Report: Greenhouse Gas Emissions are Rising in R.I.
PROVIDENCE — Greenhouse gas emissions are trending the wrong way in Rhode Island, and the state may have already failed its first Act on Climate mandate.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) recently released its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, which combines federal and state data for 2018 — the most recent data available — to give a snapshot of how much carbon the state is releasing into the atmosphere.
The report shows greenhouse gas emissions increased 8.2% statewide in 2018, with almost an additional million metric tons of carbon dioxide released into the air compared to the previous year. The rise puts Rhode Island 1.8% higher than its 1990 baseline emissions. The Act on Climate mandates the state reduce emissions 10 percent below that baseline by 2020.
But reducing statewide emissions is a slow ship to turn. The data on emissions derived from federal agencies has a three-year lag, meaning if Rhode Island fails its first Act on Climate reduction goal in 2020, state officials won’t learn about it or be able to change course until 2023.
And that time delay is the rub. When the Act on Climate passed, the two most recently released reports showed the state had emissions below its 1990 levels. In fact, in 2016, the state had already exceeded its first Act on Climate goal, with emissions 11.7% below 1990 levels. But since then the state has trended in the wrong direction.
“Following the Act on Climate there was really this strong message of increased urgency, and this data reinforces that message,” said Terry Gray, DEM’s acting director.
Emissions from vehicles, electricity consumption, heating, and industry all saw increases between 2017 and 2018, according to DEM’s analysis. Officials stressed it was part of a regional trend; Connecticut reported a 2.7% increase in its 2018 emissions, and Massachusetts reported a 0.68% increase in its 2018 emissions.
While the Act on Climate sets mandates for the state, it did not provide a path forward to reduce emissions. Additional efforts to reduce emissions via legislation have since stalled. The Transportation & Climate Initiative died last year after two out of the four jurisdictional areas — Massachusetts and Connecticut — announced the compact would not be approved in their respective states. Rhode Island officials have no alternative plan to reduce transportation emissions.
In the wake of the new data, environmental groups are calling for the General Assembly to pass a number of environmental bills that have been filed.
“Passing 100% Renewable Energy Standard by 2030, offshore wind legislation and the Electric Transportation Act would reverse the trend and help us meet our Act on Climate goals,” said Kai Salem, policy coordinator for the Green Energy Consumers Alliance.
The legislature is debating potential legislation that could increase the amount of money steered toward renewable energy projects. The 100% Renewable Energy Standard would require companies to offset all electricity they sell to Rhode Island consumers by 2030. Additional bills would expand the state’s offshore wind capacity by 600 megawatts. But nothing so far has made it to Gov. Dan McKee’s desk.
“The inventory underscores the need for this year’s statewide Climate Plan to include bold and dramatic actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in every sector,” said Hank Webster, Rhode Island director at the Acadia Center.
DEM officials said they expect the impact of the pandemic to show in 2020 data when it comes out next year.
“We’re just going to have to take it year by year with the information as it comes out,” Gray said.
A detailed analysis of the state’s 2019 greenhouse gas inventory is expected to be released in December. The state is also expected to publish its 2022 update to its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan by the end of this year.
Read the full article in ecoRI News here.
401Gives Day 2022
Acadia Center is pleased to announce that it will be participating in 401Gives Day 2022. Powered by United Way of Rhode Island and presenting sponsor, Papitto Opportunity Connection, 401Gives brings people together to make a difference for local nonprofits that deliver vital services to communities throughout Rhode Island. We are excited to join for the first time and highlight some of the work we’ve been doing in Rhode Island.
Working at the intersection of government, industry, grassroots organizations, advocates, and communities, Acadia Center develops courageous solutions for our region’s systemic energy challenges. In Rhode Island specifically, Acadia Center was a lead organization supporting the landmark Act on Climate law signed in 2021 and has been a leading advocate for the Transportation Emissions and Mobile (TEAM) Community Act and 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030 bills. When signed into law, the 100% Renewable Electricity bill will put Rhode Island on track to be the first in the nation to meet all of its electricity needs with clean, renewable resources. We were also instrumental in stopping the building of a new, expensive, and unnecessary gas pipeline on Aquidneck Island and will continue to demonstrate how investments in energy efficiency, decarbonized heating, and equitable, clean mobility will better serve all Rhode Islanders for generations to come.
401Gives presents an opportunity for Rhode Islanders to magnify their efforts combatting the climate crisis and unlocking funds for Acadia Center. By giving on Friday, April 1 (4-01) starting at 6am your gift will make Acadia Center eligible for additional funds from 401Gives and it’s sponsors, and will help spread the message about Acadia Center’s work and the importance of bold climate solutions.
To participate, supporters can visit our Acadia Center 401Gives Page and support starting at 6am on 4-01, or keep an eye on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and share our posts on 4-01 to spread the word. Every bit helps, and we are so grateful for the support of our community on this special day and throughout the year.
The clean energy future has the potential to improve quality of life and human and environmental health while lowering greenhouse gas emissions that are pushing the climate towards an unstable and dangerous state. Acadia Center is working now to build the energy system of the future in Rhode Island and throughout the region, and we are grateful the 401Gives community is working with us towards this worthy goal.
A Heat Pump Might Be Right for Your Home. Here’s Everything to Know.
Heat pumps are good for your wallet—and the world.
They’re the cheapest and most efficient way to handle both heating and cooling for your home, no matter where you live. They’re also better for the environment. In fact, most experts agree they’re one of the best ways for homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint and reap the benefits of a greener future without sacrificing comfort. In other words, they’re a win-win.“We’ve come to see climate solutions like paper straws as being something worse than what we’re used to. But there are some places where everyone benefits, and I think heat pumps are a good example of that,” said Alexander Gard-Murray, PhD, a political economist at Brown University and co-author of 3H Hybrid Heat Homes: An Incentive Program to Electrify Space Heating and Reduce Energy Bills in American Homes. “They’re quieter. They offer more control. And at the same time, they’re going to reduce our energy demand and our greenhouse gas emissions. So it’s not just savings. It’s a quality-of-life improvement.”
But it can still feel daunting to pick the heat pump that’s right for you, or even to know where to start looking. We can help.
What is a heat pump, anyway?
“A heat pump is probably the biggest thing that consumers can do to help fight the climate crisis,” said Amy Boyd, director of policy for the Acadia Center, a regional research and advocacy organization focusing on clean-energy policy in the Northeast. Heat pumps also happen to rank among the quietest and most comfortable options available for home heating and cooling.
Heat pumps are essentially two-way air conditioners. In the summertime, they work like any other AC unit, removing heat from the air inside and pushing cooled air back into the room. In the cooler months, they do the opposite, drawing heat energy from the air outside and moving it into your home to warm things up. The process is especially efficient, using half as much energy on average than other electric home-heating sources. Or, as David Yuill of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln told us, “You put in a watt of electricity and get four watts out of it. It’s like magic.”
Unlike magic, however, there’s actually a very simple explanation for this result: Heat pumps have only to move heat, instead of generating it by combusting a fuel source. Even the most efficient gas-powered furnace or boiler never converts 100% of its fuel into heat; it’s always going to lose something in the conversion process. A good electric-resistance heater gives you 100% efficiency, but it still has to burn watts to produce that heat, whereas a heat pump just moves the heat. A heat pump can save you, on average, nearly $1,000 (6,200 kWh) a year compared with oil heat, or about $500 (3,000 kWh) compared with electrical heating, according to the US Department of Energy.
In states where the energy grid is increasingly reliant on renewables, electric heat pumps also emit less carbon than other heating and cooling options, all while providing two to five times more heating energy than the energy you put into it, on average. As a result, a heat pump is an environmentally friendly HVAC system that’s good for your wallet, as well. Most heat pumps also use inverter technology, which lets the compressor run at more nuanced and variable speeds, so you’re using only the exact amount of energy necessary to maintain comfort.
Who is this for?
Almost any homeowner could potentially benefit from a heat pump. Consider the case of Mike Ritter, who moved into a 100-year-old two-family home in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood with his family in 2016. Ritter knew the boiler was running on fumes even before he bought the house, and he knew they’d have to replace it soon enough. After getting a few quotes from contractors, he was left with two options: He could spend $6,000 to install a new fossil-fuel-based gas tank in the basement, or he could get a heat pump. Although the overall cost of the heat pump looked to be about five times higher on paper, the heat pump also came with a $6,000 rebate and a seven-year, zero-interest loan to cover the rest of the cost, thanks to Massachusetts’s statewide incentive program to encourage heat pump conversion.
Once he did the math—comparing the soaring costs of natural gas with those of electricity, as well as factoring in the environmental impact, alongside the monthly payments—the choice was clear.
“Honestly, we were shocked that we could do it,” said Ritter, a freelance photographer, after four years of heat pump ownership. “We don’t make doctor or lawyer money, and we wouldn’t have expected to be the kind of people with central heating and cooling in their house. But there’s a million ways you can spread out the costs and get rebates and get energy credits. It’s not much more than what you’re already spending on energy right now.”
Despite all the benefits, there are nearly twice as many Americans buying one-way ACs or other inefficient systems than there are buying heat pumps each year, according to Alexander Gard-Murray’s research. After all, when your old system fails, it’s logical to simply replace what was there before, as the Ritters might have. We hope this guide can help you plan and budget for a true upgrade. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck with another inefficient, carbon-intensive HVAC for the next decade. And that’s not good for anyone.
For more information visit Wirecutter to read the full guide.
Acadia Center Raises Concerns over Proposed Sale of Narragansett Electric
Background
In Spring 2021, National Grid petitioned regulators to approve a proposed sale of its Rhode Island electric and gas utilities to PPL, a Pennsylvania-headquartered corporation. Acadia Center intervened as a party in the regulatory proceedings case to ensure the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers (DPUC) properly evaluated the proposed transaction’s impacts on climate change, energy justice, and public safety. Throughout the hearings, Acadia Center built an evidentiary record that demonstrates the transaction could set back efforts to meet Rhode Island’s climate mandates. In particular, PPL lacks National Grid’s experience with regard to climate-forward regulatory environments, energy efficiency programs, decarbonized heating approaches, and remediation of hazardous fossil gas leaks. Click here to read Acadia Center’s full closing brief in the regulatory proceedings .
Despite this, in late February, the DPUC approved the transaction, disregarding application of Rhode Island’s Act on Climate to the regulatory proceeding. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha immediately appealed the decision, asserting the DPUC applied the incorrect legal standard in not considering climate impacts as required by the Act on Climate. Acadia Center applauds the AG’s swift action in working to ensure the Act on Climate is not overlooked, and is working to ensure that, regardless of the corporate ownership structure, the Narragansett Electric Company is on track to achieve the GHG emissions reductions mandated by the Act on Climate.
PPL Currently Lacks Experience in Climate-Focused Jurisdictions
PPL Lacks Experience in Climate-Focused Jurisdictions
Acadia Center is a lead advocate supporting Rhode Island’s 2021 Act on Climate law, championed by Senator Environment Committee Chair Dawn Euer and Representative Lauren Carson. The Act on Climate requires greenhouse gas emissions reductions across the economy, and includes new mandates that explicitly require state agencies, instrumentalities, and other state bodies to address the impacts of climate change. Utilities are also affected by these mandates insofar as they require regulatory approval for various system operation plans. . National Grid, as a corporation, has far more experience than PPL operating in jurisdictions like Rhode Island that have legally-binding climate laws and is better prepared to leverage that expertise to develop plans that ultimately strive to comply the Act on Climate.
In fact, under Acadia Center’s cross-examination at the DPUC hearings, key PPL witnesses testified they were not familiar with the specifics of PPL’s own climate strategy, updated just weeks before the start of these proceedings. Meanwhile, National Grid has established a corporate wide Net-Zero by 2050 climate commitment consistent with laws in each of its current operating jurisdictions, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, including specific commitments to decarbonize its natural gas distribution system. While Acadia Center may disagree with specific elements of National Grid’s Net-Zero strategy, having a utility with experience developing Net-Zero approaches in conjunction with state laws is a significant value to Rhode Islanders.
In thousands of pages filed in the proceeding, PPL did not offer any proposals or plans for helping Rhode Island meet its climate mandates, only promising to offer such ideas within a year of the transaction’s approval. Rhode Island needs climate action immediately to meet its 2030 requirement to reduce greenhouse gases by 45 percent below 1990 levels.
PPL Lacks Experience Administering Top Tier Efficiency Programs
Acadia Center introduced evidence demonstrating National Grid has far more experience than PPL in designing and operating nation-leading Energy Efficiency programs. The American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (ACEEE) ranks all three of National Grid’s jurisdictions—Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island in the top five nationally. Meanwhile, efficiency programs in PPL’s current jurisdictions of Pennsylvania and Kentucky rank 19th and 33rd respectively. Under Acadia Center’s cross-examination, PPL executives acknowledged that when comparing Pennsylvania efficiency investments to Rhode Island, “just the dollars invested…it appears that Rhode Island’s is pretty aggressive.” If regulators approve the transaction, PPL will face a steep learning curve with regards to energy efficiency—a cornerstone of Rhode Island’s decarbonization efforts.
PPL Has No Experience with Decarbonized Heating Approaches. National Grid is a Leader.
Acadia Center established an overwhelming weight of evidence in the record demonstrating National Grid’s experience in studying, considering, and pursuing decarbonized heating technologies would better prepare Rhode Island to decarbonize its natural gas heating network. National Grid’s geothermal networking pilot was actually approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities during the course of the Rhode Island hearings. National Grid also announced during the hearings that it will build one of the first and largest clean hydrogen blending projects in the country, to decarbonize gas heating networks in New York.
Rhode Island’s gas network has a number of distribution system challenges in Rhode Island that could be well served by similar pilots and business models. If this transaction is approved, Rhode Islanders, will lose the benefit of National Grid’s experience with this opportunity. Acadia Center’s discovery requests and cross-examination of PPL executives found PPL has no experience with geothermal networking technologies or hydrogen blending and there are no plans to pursue that in Rhode Island.
PPL Trails National Grid’s Performance on Fixing Hazardous Gas Leaks
PPL’s subsidiary gas utility in Kentucky operates a program to repair hazardous gas leaks throughout its distribution system. Based on PPL’s own data, their program has underperformed National Grid’s efforts to address these dangerous and climate damaging leaks in Rhode Island – by over 40% in some areas. Further, PPL failed to demonstrate experience coordinating addressing gas leaks with strategic electrification programs, using money that would otherwise be buried with the pipes to move away from fossil fuels entirely. Gas leaks can lead to sudden and tragic consequences for communities, including explosions and fires. Leaks also contribute significantly to climate change by venting methane, the primary component of natural gas into the atmosphere where it has a Global Warming Potential over 80 times worse than carbon dioxide. Gas leaks are prevalent in the Northeast as our region has some of the oldest gas infrastructure in the country, with portions dating back to the Civil War! Gas leaks require utilities to adopt proactive approaches of detection, categorization, remediation, and abandonment, as well as coordination with electrification.
Acadia Center Urges Conditions for Any Transaction Approval
Throughout the docket, Acadia Center established significant concerns with the proposed transfer of Rhode Island’s utility operations from the National Grid corporate family to the PPL corporate family. Acadia Center recommended the Division apply a set of additional conditions to protect Rhode Islanders, including:
- PPL must adopt and build upon National Grid’s Net Zero by 2050 Decarbonization Strategy
- Pause New Gas Connections Until Gas Decarbonization Strategy Filed and Approved
- Maintenance of Effort on Rhode Island’s Energy Efficiency Plans
- Maintenance of Effort on Rhode Island’s Hazardous Gas Leak Remediation Program
- Accelerate Updates to National Grid’s Advanced Metering and Grid Modernization Plans Stalled by the Transaction Review
- Protect Ratepayers from Increased Costs of New Advanced Metering and Grid Modernization Plans
- Honor Regulatory Process for Long-Term Aquidneck Island Energy Solution
Acadia Center looks forward to continuing its work with The Narragansett Electric Company to achieve the GHG emissions reductions mandated by the Act on Climate, regardless of corporate ownership. If the transaction’s approval is ultimately upheld, Acadia Center commits to continue this work with PPL throughout the transition period and beyond and to serve as a critical connection to the communities PPL will now serve.
For more information: Hank Webster, RI Director & Senior Policy Advocate, hwebster@acadiacenter.org, 401.276.0600 ext.402
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Media:
Providence Journal February 24, 2022
https://providencejournal-ri.newsmemory.com?selDate=20220224&goTo=A01&artid=4
Energy News Network February 24, 2022
https://energynews.us/2022/02/24/rhode-island-attorney-general-seeks-emergency-order-to-block-utility-sale/
Older coverage of case: Providence Journal February 18, 2022 https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/02/18/what-happens-ri-storm-response-if-narragansett-electric-sold-ppl/6830486001/
Providence Journal January 18, 2022
https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2022/01/18/implications-narragansett-electric-proposed-sale-ppl-corporation/6514373001/
Legislative committee splits 3 ways on utility accountability bill
The failure last week of a legislative committee to agree on the shape of utility reform leaves it to the full Legislature to find a compromise on a high-profile energy bill next month.
In early February, Gov. Janet Mills introduced a bill designed to crack down on electric utility performance issues by using the threat of steep financial penalties or even a forced sale of assets to another company or a consumer-owned entity.
The proposal emerged as an alternative to an ongoing campaign to replace Maine’s two investor-owned utilities – Central Maine Power and Versant Power – with a statewide, consumer-owned power company.
It came after the consumer campaign acknowledged that it wasn’t able to gather enough signatures for a ballot initiative in 2022 and said it would continue to collect names for a 2023 attempt.
The bill offered by Mills would require quarterly report cards that grade utilities’ ability to meet minimum standards for customer service, complaints, reliability and power restoration. It would impose a fine of $1 million or 10 percent of annual revenue for multiple failing report cards. Continued failure could trigger a forced sale to another power company or a consumer-owned utility.
The bill also would add more protection for whistleblowers who report illegal or improper behavior by a utility, authorize the Maine Public Utilities Commission to audit utilities’ financial information and require utilities to submit regular plans to address the impact of climate change on their infrastructure.
But the bill, L.D. 1959, was criticized by both utilities and their foes at a public hearing before the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee in late February. Nearly a dozen people spoke in favor of the bill, and more than 40 spoke against it.
Power companies said new standards and penalties aren’t necessary because their service and accountability have improved recently. Opponents said the bill doesn’t go far enough to rein in power companies owned by foreign conglomerates.
NO CONSENSUS FOUND
Those divisions carried over last week at a marathon work session in the legislative committee, where lawmakers sought a path to a consensus bill that would provide direction to the full Legislature. They didn’t find one.
After a late-afternoon meeting that saw lawmakers proposing scores of complex amendments, the 13-member committee ended its work with a three-way, divided report: An amended version of Mills’ bill attracted five votes; a version favored by supporters of a consumer-owned utility got four votes; and a competing version introduced by Republicans garnered two votes. Not all members were present Friday.
The amendment summaries were still being drafted Monday and were not available.
The next step is for the committee and its legislative analysts to clarify the specific language in those amendments and prepare them for consideration by the full Legislature. That’s expected to happen over the next two weeks.
Following the work session, Our Power, the interest group promoting the consumer-owned utility campaign, urged lawmakers to embrace the amendment it favors. That’s the one presented by the committee’s co-chair, Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, a longtime CMP critic and advocate of consumer-owned power. His version also won the support of one Republican.
Among other things, the amendment would require a periodic franchise renewal process for CMP and Versant, with competition for monopoly privileges, competitive bidding for utility spending to keep rates down, audits of report card data submitted by the utilities and strong penalties for a finding of utility misbehavior by state regulators.
“While it does not require the replacement of CMP and Versant by a low-cost, locally controlled utility, the bipartisan amendment does put forward actual accountability measures,” said Andrew Blunt, the interim executive director of Our Power. “We urge policymakers to support the bipartisan amendment, and we also urge Mainers to continue pushing for the consumer-owned utility referendum since no amount of regulation can fix the poor service and high costs baked into CMP and Versant’s DNA.”
‘ACCOUNTABILITY NOW’
But Berry’s amended bill stands little chance of making it through the full Legislature and would face a likely veto from Mills if it did, said Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-York. The committee’s co-chair, Lawrence is pushing for a middle-of-the-road version of the governor’s bill presented by Sen. Stacey Brenner, D-Cumberland, as amended by Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, the Senate majority leader.
Lawrence, a veteran lawmaker and former Senate president, said the so-called Vitelli amendment is the best bet to increase accountability for customers now. He said he plans to move the bill for a vote in the Senate next month, where it will first be taken up.
In Lawrence’s view, Our Power doesn’t want utilities to improve their performance because that would blunt the justification for consumer ownership. But even if their campaign is successful, he said, litigation will tie up any takeover for years.
“We need to achieve accountability now,” Lawrence said. “That’s what customers want.”
The Republican version was presented by Sen. Trey Stewart, R-Aroostook.
Democratic control of the Legislature and governor’s office suggest that final debate will revolve around some form of the Berry or Vitelli amendments. And Jeff Marks, Maine director for the environmental advocacy group Acadia Center, expects some compromise to emerge. He considers Lawrence and Vitelli to be pragmatists who will be able to move Mills’ bill through the Senate.
It would then remain to be seen how the bill fares in the House, where opinions may be more divided. But in an era of record high energy prices and public discontent, Marks said there’s pressure to do something before the legislative session ends.
“I don’t think any lawmaker wants to leave Augusta with headlines that read, ‘Legislature fails to hold utilities accountable,’ ” he said.
Read the full article in the Portland Press Herald here.
Opinion: New Jersey’s energy future must — and will be — electric
It may seem like a tall order: Make changes to your home to lower your energy bills, remove harmful pollutants from the air you breathe and help in the global fight against climate change.
But it’s not as hard as it might sound.
According to a new report commissioned by New Jersey Conservation Foundation, it’s possible for New Jersey residents to achieve all three. The report, “The Future Is Electric,” finds that consumers could see more than a 50% reduction in their energy bills by installing highly efficient electric heating and cooling systems and weatherizing their houses. That amounts to substantial savings in a household budget.
What’s more, transitioning away from burning fossil fuels inside homes would mean cleaner and healthier indoor air, and fewer outdoor emissions contributing to global warming and over 250 premature deaths annually in New Jersey.
Prepared by the Acadia Center, a New England-based climate research and advocacy nonprofit, the report also highlights the need for New Jersey and its utilities to provide more incentives for consumers to invest in efficient electric heating — similar to the popular rebates offered to consumers who buy electric vehicles.
Coincidentally, “The Future Is Electric” was released one day after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a dire warning that our rapidly warming climate is wreaking havoc across the planet, and that time is running out to stabilize it.
Unless greenhouse gas emissions are quickly and drastically reduced, the IPCC report said, climate change impacts — including floods, storms, droughts and other extreme weather events — will overwhelm the ability of nature and humanity to adapt.
New Jersey is making progress on reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity. This state we’re in requires that by 2030, 50% of the electricity we consume will come from in-state and regional solar and wind.
The state is also working to reduce the state’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions — vehicles and transportation — with generous rebates to buyers of electric vehicles.
One piece of the clean energy puzzle that has gotten considerably less attention is the building sector. Many New Jersey residents don’t realize that houses and buildings are the state’s second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
When you think about it, it makes sense: Our state has hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings. Each building heated with natural gas, heating oil or propane has its own on-site combustion system, which produces both indoor and outdoor emissions. Polluted air can cause or exacerbate many health conditions, including asthma.
What’s the alternative to fossil fuel systems? Many consumers are turning to a newer technology known as air source heat pumps.
“Heat pumps are essentially a super-efficient air conditioner that can work backwards,” explained Amy Boyd, policy director at the Acadia Center. They work by moving heat from outdoor air indoors, and are effective even in cold climates.
Air source heat pumps are far more energy efficient than fossil fuel combustion. By combining heat pump technology with weatherizing “leaky” houses, Boyd said, consumers could see their energy bills cut in half.
Heat pumps create no emissions, either indoors or outdoors, so families can breathe cleaner, healthier air. This is especially important in New Jersey’s urban areas, which have the state’s highest levels of air pollution.
So what’s stopping New Jersey consumers from reaping these benefits? Mostly money.
Heat pump systems have higher up-front costs, and New Jersey is behind other northeastern states in offering financial incentives to motivate homeowners to make the switch.
“One thing that states like Massachusetts are doing is putting their money where their climate policy is,” said Boyd.
In states that offer substantial rebates, Boyd noted, heat pump systems can be comparable in cost or even cheaper than fossil fuel combustion systems.
It’s time for New Jersey to get with the program and support a switch to clean, electrically-heated buildings.
The Murphy administration has already committed to producing more electricity with clean, renewable technology — and getting more drivers in electric vehicles. The next logical step is to make it affordable for residents to upgrade their homes to safe, efficient, non-polluting heating systems.
One advocate for stronger incentives is State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, who spoke at a briefing on the release of “The Future Is Electric” report.
“New Jersey has to be a leader here,” Zwicker said. “If we can provide financial incentives, consumers can have choices” for better health, lower energy bills and fighting climate change.
“This is a key moment, not just in New Jersey’s history or U.S. history, but globally,” Zwicker added. “The IPCC report that just came out makes it clear that global warming is outpacing our ability to cope. The oceans are rising, the forests are burning, and carbon dioxide levels continue their upward march. It’s now a question of, are we willing to take this moment and move forward?”
New Jersey’s answer needs to be yes.
Read the full article at northjersey.com.