Connecticut Explores Performance-Based Regulation for the State’s Utilities

In August 2020, Tropical Storm Isaias left more than 1 million customers in Connecticut without power. For many customers, it took nearly a week to restore power.

Partly in response to the storm, state legislators passed the “Take Back Our Grid” Act (PA 20-5). The bill required the state’s investor-owned electric utilities, Eversource and United Illuminating, to provide credits back to customers for the delayed storm response. It also required the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to open a proceeding to explore and implement a new framework for how the state should regulate its investor-owned utilities.

While Tropical Storm Isaias may have been a catalyst, adopting a new approach to utility regulation—specifically Performance-Based Regulation (PBR)—has been a nation-wide conversation for years. Performance-Based Regulation includes a broad set of policy tools that regulators can use to tie utility revenues more directly to improved performance, helping to overcome outdated financial incentives.

PURA’s PBR proceeding is a key opportunity to help make utilities work better for customers.

What would it mean to improve utility performance through PBR? Regulators could, for example, require utilities to track the number of customers enrolled in time-varying rates, which have been shown to help reduce both costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Often, tracking data in scorecards leads to improved performance based simply on the pressure of public comparisons to peer companies. But if regulators felt that there was sufficient data and experience to set specific performance targets for the metric being tracked, here enrollment in time-varying rates, they could then impose either rewards or penalties (or both) according to how performance changed over time.

PURA’s PBR proceeding began in earnest in March 2022. The process is expected to last well into 2023, and possibly 2024. While this is a long proceeding, it is critical to make sure that regulators take the time to consider all potential solutions.

Acadia Center has been working closely with other advocacy groups in Connecticut, including Vote Solar, Conservation Law Foundation, and Save the Sound, to raise awareness about the proceeding and to ensure that the proceeding incorporates a broad set of interests and perspectives.

While PURA and stakeholders will figure out many details over the coming months, PURA’s overarching goals for any PBR framework in Connecticut are to 1) enhance electric distribution company performance; 2) advance public policy; 3) improve customer empowerment and satisfaction; and 4) ensure reasonable, affordable, and equitable rates.

So far, PURA has held three stakeholder workshops, each with an accompanying working paper from PURA staff to gather specific feedback from stakeholders. While later stages of the proceeding will explore performance metrics and potential rewards and penalties in more detail, the process so far has helped stakeholders develop a better sense of which regulatory tools in Connecticut are working and which are not.

As the proceeding continues, Acadia Center will work to ensure that a broad set of voices are heard and to make sure that any new regulatory tools support key public policy goals and prioritize customers.

For more information, including Acadia Center reports and an introductory webinar on PBR that Acadia Center co-hosted with Vote Solar, Conservation Law Foundation, Save the Sound, see: https://votesolar.org/resources-for-performance-based-regulation-of-connecticut-utilities/

Moving Beyond Gas in RI

Following the success of the Massachusetts-based Beyond Gas coalition, Acadia Center has formed a similar coalition in Rhode Island. Acadia Center and its partners in the Beyond Gas-RI advocacy coalition have submitted comprehensive comments to the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC) outlining our recommendations for the forthcoming Future of Gas investigation. The proceeding, expected to unfold over the remainder of 2022 and well into 2023, will examine how the state’s overreliance on “fossil” gas must change for the state to meet the Act on Climate’s requirements of a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, 80 percent reduction by 2040, and to net-zero by 2050.

The letter, signed by Acadia Center, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the Environment Council of Rhode Island, Conservation Law Foundation, Green Energy Consumers Alliance, the Climate and Development Lab at Brown University, Sierra Club and concerned citizens, makes a series of recommendations for the scope of the proceedings.

• First, the coalition notes the General Assembly granted broad powers to state agencies to promulgate rules and regulations to achieve the GHG emissions reductions required by the Act on Climate, so the PUC has the power to make significant changes in this sector, if it finds them appropriate.
• Extensive studies have repeatedly concluded that the most favorable and realistic pathway for a decarbonized future relies primarily upon heating electrification, including thermal energy networks, rather than so-called decarbonized gases such as renewable natural gas or hydrogen.
• Beyond Gas RI urged the PUC to explore the assumptions and methodologies concerning methane leaks as a primary area of focus in light of recent utility filings that confirm repeated studies that the gas distribution system might be leaking nearly 4 percent of total “sent out” gas. Gas leaks are particularly dangerous public safety concerns and doubly problematic for the climate because methane released directly into the atmosphere has a 20-year global warming potential (GWP) that is 86 greater than carbon dioxide over the same period.
• Finally, the coalition urged the PUC to expand its usual regulatory purview to also look at health and safety implications related to gas use. Studies have repeatedly shown that gas combustion inside of buildings is linked to higher rates of respiratory illness and cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have also shown that, in addition to the pipeline leaks documented above, gas stoves routinely leak methane even while they are off — accounting for between 0.8 percent and 1.3 percent of all gas they use.

“Ultimately, the PUC’s primary focus should be to identify the most aggressive and feasible gas system decarbonization pathway that both rapidly and equitably reduces current GHG fossil gas emissions in the near-term while eliminating the potential risk of new long-lived fossil fuel connections to the network and protecting ratepayers from stranded costs.”

The PUC proceeding follows several years of Acadia Center engagement with the Public Utilities Commission, Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB), Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, Rhode Island Attorney General, and other stakeholders across a series of dockets that highlight the imprudence of continuous gas system expansion. In 2021, Acadia Center urged the EFSB to impose a moratorium on new gas connections on infrastructure constrained Aquidneck Island while awaiting a determination on utility proposals to build new gas facilities to enable future growth. While that moratorium was not granted, the case is still pending and the EFSB did order a first ever comparative analysis of the GHG impacts of the utility’s preferred solution and all rejected alternatives. Acadia Center’s work on the Massachusetts Future of Gas proceeding, as well as Infrastructure, Safety, and Reliability (ISR) dockets, energy efficiency plans, non-pipes alternative frameworks, and intervention in the sale of the utility to PPL have all led to this critical Future of Gas investigation in Rhode Island.

For more information:
Hank Webster, Senior Advocate and Rhode Island Program Director, hwebster@acadiacenter.org, 401.276.0600 ext.402

Winter (Energy Price Spike) is Coming

You  may have seen the headlines recently warning of massive electricity price spikes this winter, with National Grid announcing a 64% increase in Massachusetts. What you may have missed is the anticipated jump in residential natural gas heating costs as well, an expected 22% hike. Ratepayers in other utility jurisdictions will face similar price increases.  Two questions probably jump to mind: 1) why is this happening and 2) what can I do about it? 

Why is this happening? 

Why prices are spiking so swiftly is a complex question, but the answer to each component comes back to two words: Natural Gas. New England is heavily reliant upon natural gas for both electricity and home heating. About two-thirds of Massachusetts’ in-state generation is natural gas and more than half of homes are heated with the fuel. Over the years, the region has “cleaned up” the grid by replacing generation fed by other fossil fuels like coal and oil with even more natural gas. Given the leakage rates in the natural gas system, it’s debatable how much this has lowered GHG emissions, but the fuel has, at times, been relatively inexpensive. This is no longer the case.

Unfortunately, single-mindedly pursuing natural gas has led to an overdependence on the fuel source. As Acadia Center has previously highlighted, this has left the region vulnerable to price spikes when there are shifts in the commodity markets, which are international and therefore not subject to state regulation or controls. This is exactly what is occurring now. Natural gas prices have risen over the past few years thanks to the global pandemic and climate change disrupting production and causing unexpected shifts in demand. Those issues have continued, but the Russian war against Ukraine has greatly exacerbated the problem. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, causing upheaval in the natural gas markets. As a result of Russia’s aggression and global instability, international commodity prices are spiking. This combination of factors has led to massive hikes in prices for both electricity and heating in New England.

Overreliance on a single fuel source, specifically a fossil fuel commodity, is never a wise decision. New England needs to double down on expanding investment into many locally based renewable electricity options, buoyed by a flexible grid and flexible demand to provide ratepayers with safe, reliable, and affordable energy.

What can you do about it? 

Given that the underlying problem is structural, there are no easy or instant solutions to address it. But that does not mean that consumers are helpless.  New England residents need to contact their legislators, executive branch, and local officials to advocate for long-term solutions, like more investment in demand response, weatherization, other energy efficiency options, and a diversified and decarbonized grid powered by renewable energy. Acadia Center is also advocating for these changes with ISO-NE, the region’s power operator, and state decision-makers.

In the meantime, there are a number of short-term options for consumers heading into this winter that can help blunt the current or upcoming pain in your pocket. Renters should speak with their landlords about these options as well, as some may require authorization from a landlord.

• Shop Around: Cities and towns often run community choice aggregation programs. These programs allow local governments to procure power for constituents, often at lower costs to consumers. Boston, for example, runs a community choice program that provides power to residents at rates that are lower than Eversource’s current rates, and much less than the expected winter rates. It is important to distinguish these from Competitive Electric Supply programs, which are run by private entities. These programs will often actually lead to higher rates for consumers, according to an investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General, and are not recommended by Acadia Center. If you have questions about community choice aggregation programs, reach out to your local officials or search for state.
• Energy Efficiency Programs: Your state’s energy efficiency programs will often offer low cost or free upgrades for your home such as weatherization, which can save you money from day one. Contact them as soon as possible because there may be a long waitlist! You can find more information for MA, RI, CT, and ME.
• Community Shared Solar Programs: Community shared solar programs allow residents to take advantage of solar power without having solar panels on their own roof. They allow consumers to purchase power from solar farms that are located away from their residence or business. Search for community shared solar programs in your area for more resources, or your state may be able to offer direction.
• Fuel Assistance Programs: The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a federally funding program administered by states that provides assistance to low-income households seeking help with their energy bills. Your state may have additional resources as well. You can find more information for MA, RI, CT, and ME.
• Legislative Rate Relief: In addition to contacting your legislators to push for long term solutions, residents should reach out to their legislators to ask for short-term economic relief spending packages to help all residents.
• Utility Payment Plans: Utilities often will work with customers to offer payment plans to help residents struggling to pay their bills. It is important to note that this relief is only temporary, and you will still ultimately owe the full amount of the bill. Some states, like Massachusetts also offer protection from utility shutoffs during the winter. Your utility may have additional programs to help. For example, National Grid has launched this website for Massachusetts residents.
• Local Charities and Programs: Charities near your municipality may offer programs that can provide assistance on your energy bills. Contract your local officials to see if they are aware of these resources.

For more information: 

Kyle Murray
Senior Advocate and Massachusetts Program Director
kmurray@acadiacenter.org
Phone: 617-742-0054 x106 

Will the Inflation Reduction Act Meet Environmental Justice Goals?

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. This act makes provisions for healthcare, job opportunities, and climate and energy security. The law contains clean energy infrastructure for transportation, housing, solar, and wind facilities, prioritizing low-income and environmental justice communities. Through the IRA, around $60 billion will be allocated toward environmental justice communities and low-income communities with investments made towards infrastructure and improved funding. 

The Biden administration has been forward in its response to meeting demands of climate and clean energy transition. Early on, the administration demonstrated its commitment to mitigating climate impacts and consideration to environmental justice by issuing Executive Order 14008 titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. While that order quickly set the pace in putting climate and environmental justice discourse forefront, the recent Inflation Reduction Act builds on previous efforts including climate bills, Build Back Better Act (BBBA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) (IIJA), placing the nation at an advantageous position to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach climate targets in the near decade.  

The IRA provides an opportunity to establish clean energy infrastructure in low-income and environmental justice communities. Such infrastructure can provide energy credit for solar and wind facilities situated in the communities, thus ensuring increased clean energy deployment and economic benefit to those overburdened and disadvantaged communities. The dividends for environmental and climate justice were expanded to include grants and financial incentives provided through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Transport (DOT), Department of Housing and Urban Development, and a few other federal agencies. This will provide federal intervention that reaches environmental justice communities, low-income communities, and tribal communities to reduce pollution and environmental injustice across the country.  

The Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for pollution monitoring equipment and cleanups needed to address environmental injustice—a key provision for which Acadia Center advocated as a companion policy to the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI).  While the law is particularly aimed to provide infrastructure on clean technologies that get situated in already disadvantaged communities, it is essential that implementation of these programs, grants, and financial incentives are administered with clarity through a transparent approach that is led by the voices and participation of communities across the country. 

Though the Inflation Reduction Act may be the biggest and most ambitious climate legislation enacted to provide climate solutions and support low-income communities, environmental justice communities, and tribal communities, continued climate leadership and stewardship is needed for climate solutions and environmental justice. The White House Interagency on Environmental Justice and White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, both created through Executive Order 14008, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), are examples of equity and environmental justice stewardship at the federal level. With more state and municipality-level engagement from communities of color, tribal communities, and low-income communities, equity and environmental justice in climate action becomes foreseeable. 

For more information: 

Joy Yakie, Manager, Environmental Justice and Outreach, jyakie@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 x110  

The Inflation Reduction Act Makes Climate Change History

The Inflation Reduction Act has passed in the Senate, the House of Representatives, and has been signed into law by President Joe Biden. Alongside desperately needed funding for healthcare, this bill is the first major clean energy investment ever passed in the U.S. The IRA will invest $386 billion dollars into climate related initiatives. Prior to the adoption of the IRA, the U.S. was estimated to be on track to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 25% below 2005 levels by 2030. With the IRA, 2030 emissions are estimated to be about 40% below 2005 levels – demonstrating the magnitude of the bill in reducing emissions. The figure below demonstrates how U.S. “business as usual” (BAU) GHG emissions without the IRA compared to the “low,” “moderate,” and “high” emissions scenario trajectories associated with the IRA.  

According to analysis conducted by Energy Innovation, the IRA also has the potential to deliver significant public health and economic benefits, preventing up to 4,500 premature deaths in 2030 and creating up to 1.3 million jobs in 2030. Let us break down where the $386 billion in the bill is going:

• $161 billion for clean electricity tax credits
• $40 billion for air pollution, hazardous materials, transportation, and infrastructure
• $37 billion for individual clean energy incentives
• $37 billion for clean manufacturing tax credits
• $36 billion for clean fuel and vehicle tax credits
• $35 billion for conservation, rural development, and forestry
• $27 billion in building efficiency, electrification, transmission, industrial, DOE, grants, and loans
• $14 billion in other energy and climate spending

The total cost of the bill, including the healthcare components, comes out to $485 billion spent over the next ten years. However, the investment is predicted to bring in roughly $790 billion in that same period, meaning this bill is projected to have a net profit of $305 billion over the next decade. That profit will go towards reducing the deficit and controlling inflation.

The IRA represents the most significant federal action to fight climate change in our nation’s history, taking specific steps to address greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, transportation, and power generation. Here are how the investments align with Acadia Center’s longstanding mission to “Advance the Clean Energy Future” throughout the Northeast.

Buildings
First and foremost, the IRA offers significant federal resources to advance a package of actions Acadia Center calls “Next Generation Energy Efficiency.” Acadia Center has been working throughout the northeast to urge utility companies and regulators to prioritize making our region’s homes and businesses more thermally comfortable and energy efficient through simple actions like better insulation and air sealing of building envelopes as well as replacing inefficient fossil fuel appliances like furnaces, boilers, water heaters, and cooktops with superior all-electric appliances. The combination of these steps significantly reduces the overall amount of fossil fuels used in these buildings, reduces energy bills, and improves overall quality of life by making our living and working spaces healthier, safer, and more versatile.

By focusing these coordinated activities on especially high emitting buildings in our region, we can amplify these multi-faceted benefits even further. For instance, in the residential sector, the leakiest 25% of housing units in New England produce more than half of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to housing. Statistically, these households are far more likely to be low-income and occupied by renters. Nearly all (96%) of high emitting housing units are heated by fossil fuels, which are several times less energy efficient than all-electric heat pumps. Tens of billions for investments in building retrofits and energy efficiency will yield a significant reduction in local air pollution and global greenhouse gas emissions.

What it means for you:

The IRA introduces a slew of new tax credits and upfront discounts for clean building technologies for both homeowners and renters alike. All homeowners, regardless of income, will have access to tax credits to support the purchase and installation technologies including geothermal heat pumps, air source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and electrical panel upgrades that are sometimes necessary to support the installation of these technologies. As an example, tax credits for heat pumps will be as high as $2,000.

Low-income (defined as less than 80% of median area income) and moderate-income (80%-150% of median area income) homeowners will have access to several upfront discounts for technologies including heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, electric induction stoves, heat pump clothes dryers, electric panel upgrades, and electric wiring upgrades. As an example, upfront discounts for heat pumps will be as high as $8,000. Upfront discounts for moderate-income households will cover up to 50% of the project cost, while discounts for low-income households will cover up to 100% of the project cost. Low-income and moderate-income renters have access to upfront discounts for clean building technologies that could be relocated in the event of a move, including heat pump window units, electric stoves, and heat pump clothes dryers. A combination of tax credits, upfront discounts and performance rebates will also be available to improve the efficiency of homes – ranging from basic weatherization to more comprehensive retrofits.

Additional measures in the IRA will work to address rampant levels of methane leakage occurring throughout the country related to the production of “fossil gas” also known as “natural gas.” This gas is primarily methane, which has a global warming potential of over 80 times that of carbon dioxide in its first 20 years in the atmosphere. Leaking methane is also a significant safety hazard as leaks in the distribution pipes and inside of households are responsible for fires and sudden catastrophic explosions. Specifically, the IRA calls for the implementation of a “methane emissions charge” for oil and natural gas production facilities that are not in compliance with EPA methane emissions regulations.

Acadia Center’s Beyond Gas initiative works to reduce the combustion and leaking of methane by transitioning both power generation and buildings away from today’s overreliance on fossil gas and by prioritizing the strategic repair of leaking pipe sections that are not immediately ready for decommissioning.

Transportation
Acadia Center has long worked on a multi-pronged Clean Transportation strategy to reduce tailpipe emissions through electrification of vehicles, expanding transit access and improving networks, and connecting communities through investments in safe, dedicated pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. The IRA falls short of taking significant actions to modernize transit and personal mobility infrastructure networks[1], but does prioritize historic measures to accelerate vehicle electrification, ranging from personal vehicles to heavy-duty vehicles like buses and garbage trucks.

What it means for you:

The IRA includes a first-ever $4,000 consumer tax credit for lower/middle income individuals to buy used electric vehicles and up to $7,500 in tax credits to buy new electric vehicles—these programs will effectively extend and expand the current federal electric vehicle incentives that have started to expire under existing law. The tax credits for new vehicles are available to those with an adjusted gross income (AGI) below $150,000 (filing taxes as single) or $300,000 (filing taxes jointly), while the tax credits for used vehicles are available to those with an AGI below $75,000 (filing taxes as single) or $150,000 (filing taxes jointly). Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which use both electricity and gas, will still qualify for the tax credit if they have a battery of at least 7 kWh in size, a threshold that nearly all models meet.

However, the EV tax credits will not necessarily be easy to navigate for consumers in the short term. To be eligible for the full tax credit, vehicles must both be 1) Assembled in North America and 2) Source the critical minerals need to make the batteries from a U.S. free trade partner. This policy has created some near-term uncertainty for which specific makes and models will qualify. For example, Hyundai and Kia do not currently produce any EVs in North America despite having several EVs available to U.S. consumers. For those seeking more information, electrek is maintaining a detailed list of which vehicles do and do not qualify for the tax incentive under these new requirements.

The law also includes tax credits and grants for clean fuels and clean commercial vehicles to reduce emissions and $3 billion for the U.S. Postal Service to purchase zero-emission vehicles to replace its aging fleet of vehicles that travel throughout our communities every day.

Additionally, the IRA provides $3 billion in Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants that can support neighborhood equity, safety, and affordable transportation access via competitive grants to reconnect communities long divided by redlining practices that developed transportation infrastructure in a manner that intentionally split apart neighborhoods, many of which were primarily inhabited by people of color. These grants can also be used to mitigate the negative impacts of transportation facilities on disadvantaged or underserved communities, as well as to support equitable transportation planning and community engagement activities that should be at the heart of all community-led decision-making processes.

The IRA also provides $3 billion in grants to reduce air pollution at ports, including for the purchase and installation of zero-emission equipment and technology. This will reduce the amount of fossil fuels burned by idling ships and local port machinery and trucking operations. These strategic investments to reduce the amount of heavy-duty vehicle and machinery emissions directly aligns with work Acadia Center has led in the past to address particulate matter emissions generated by diesel engines in overburdened and underserved communities, particularly school buses which expose communities and school children directly to health impacts from poor air quality.

Power Generation
To sustainably power today’s economy and support the transition from fossil fuel burning appliances and vehicles, the IRA makes critical investments to accelerate the expansion of responsibly sited renewable energy resources, including in rural communities. About two thirds of the estimated greenhouse gas emission reductions resulting from the IRA in 2030 are expected to come from the electricity sector. Two of the key provisions driving this reduction are the 10-year extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC) which have been critical financial carrots driving the rapid deployment of wind and solar. Solar projects will be able to access the PTC for the first time and battery storage, which is critical for accessing the full benefits of renewable electricity, will have access to the ITC for the first time. Combined, the extension and expansion of these tax credits, along with other clean energy provisions in the IRA, will be critical in continuing to drive down the costs of renewable electricity and accelerating the shift away from fossil fuel electricity generation in favor of renewable electricity generation in the northeast.

What it means for you:

The IRA provides a 30% tax credit to all homeowners, regardless of income, to support the purchase and installation of residential rooftop solar and/or battery storage. Both tax credits are in effect for the next 10 years. The battery storage tax credit is brand new, and the solar tax credit represents a long-term extension of the existing solar tax credit that was previously set to decrease and fade away over the next couple of years.

However, these projected declines in electricity sector emissions will not be realized without addressing existing policy barriers hampering the deployment of cheap renewable energy. The challenges currently facing the construction of transmission lines and the interconnection of renewable electricity to the grid continue to persist. That is why Acadia Center remains focused on tackling these complex and technical issues that arise in the transition to a clean energy future.

Acadia Center’s Clean Power and Utility Innovation programs have tirelessly worked to push regulators and the incumbent fossil fuel-utility industrial complex to update business models to prioritize investments in clean energy and dynamic energy systems that provide greater economic and societal benefits to end users. The IRA buttresses that work by incentivizing investments to develop and deploy historic levels of clean energy and to provide support for more robust local participation in permitting and regulatory processes that are key to developing those resources responsibly and with community input.

The IRA also includes more than $20 billion to support climate-smart agriculture practices. Acadia Center partnered with the American Farmland Trust and other organizations to develop the Smart Solar Siting Project for New England that seeks to co-locate renewable energy resources on parcels that also host agricultural activities—a winning strategy that keeps the Northeast’s precious farmland in agricultural use and provides farmers a source of clean, renewable energy and diversified revenue stream to maintain their farm operations for generations to come.

Overall, the IRA represents a great step forward in U.S. climate policy but there is still much work to be done – much of which will need to occur at the state and local levels – to actualize the full potential of the IRA. Acadia Center’s work across its core initiatives will be crucial in ensuring that the IRA delivers the maximum amount of emissions, economic, health and equity benefits to northeastern states.

[1] While the IRA itself may fall short on transit and personal mobility network investments, other large federal legislation of the past few years, such as the American Rescue Plan Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, have provided some direction to those priorities.

Woe is T

An Orange Line that shut down after a train caught fire in July. 

Power problems on the Green and Blue Lines. 

Delays and derailments on the Red Line, with rumors of a shut down as well. 

A driver shortage on the bus lines causing headaches. 

And a commuter rail system subject to occasional shutdowns in both directions. 

Residents of Massachusetts have become frustrated with a public transit system plagued by disruptions and uncertainty. Transportation that many rely upon for daily life has become one that cannot be trusted to safely get you where you need to go when you need to. While the MBTA has struggled with issues for quite some time, a question remains: how did it get this bad so quickly? Harder yet, how do we fix it? And, in the meantime, what does it mean for our air quality as more and more commuters abandon transit and pile into individual vehicles? Our fight against climate does not work unless our transit system does as well. Our political leaders in Massachusetts cannot claim to be fighting for climate as our public transit system struggles. 

In April, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a safety inspection of the MBTA, and in June they ordered several immediate safety fixes. Unfortunately, as a result of the frequent safety problems and disruptions, the Federal Transit Administration announced an “immediate safety standdown” in July, requiring workers to attend a special safety briefing. This announcement led to the complete shutdown of the Orange Line for immediate emergency repairs, with rumors of a complete takeover of the system circulating. 

In August, the FTA issued its Safety Management Inspection report, a scathing report that highlighted chronic deficiencies. While the MBTA managed to avoid a complete takeover by the FTA, the FTA identified several crucial areas in which the agency has been mismanaged over the years. Some of these 24-identified findings included: 

• Chronic understaffing at the agency 
• Underprioritized safety management information
• Prioritization of the capital budget at the expense of the operations and maintenance budget 
• Deficient oversight from the Department of Public Utilities 

The FTA then ordered fixes to these problems immediately. The issuance of this report also led to the announcement of an oversight hearing by the legislature, to conduct their own investigation. 

The report from the FTA highlights what transit advocates have long known: public transit in Massachusetts has been given the short shrift over the years, resulting in a system that is underinvested in, unreliable, and unsafe. However, the system does not have to remain that way. Unfortunately, while many may look to federal grants for a solution, the Federal Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act did not meaningfully address public transit, making our state leaders’ action even more important. The state legislature, incoming and current executive branch, advocates, and the general public need to come together to find a sustainable funding mechanism that does not heavily rely upon fares and promotes long-term growth, safety, and reliability. Parallel to this funding work, decisionmakers should work to advance other policies, such as fare-free ridership for low-income individuals, and other ways to grow ridership and restore trust in the system. Additionally, beyond public transit, decisionmakers need to embrace mobility shifting and enhance better opportunities for biking and walkable communities. The answers to these ongoing issues are not magic, but they do require dedication, vision, and ingenuity from our elected officials. 

For more information:
Kyle Murray, Senior Policy Advocate-Massachusetts, kmurray@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054, ext. 106 

Advancing DEIJ through Partnerships

Acadia Center recently became a founding member of Browning the Green Space (BGS), a membership-based non-profit organization seeking to advance diversity and inclusion in the clean energy industry. BGS, founded by Kerry Bowie who currently serves as the Executive Director of the organization, was borne out of the overwhelming need to diversify the climate and clean energy workforce with voices that are often excluded in climate solutions while making efforts to promote the inclusion of communities that suffer the impact of climate change.  

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are underrepresented in the clean energy sector and in the decision-making process for climate solutions. Communities of color and low-income communities have continually shouldered unequal environmental pollution and harm and, as climate change impact intensifies, these communities in addition to other frontline communities will suffer extreme climate-related events associated with climate change. BGS understands the implications of the climate impacts on frontline communities and the need to ensure that their lived experiences not only form solutions for the future but that they are also included in the workforce and rewarded for their contributions.  

Acadia Center supports the mission and vision of Browning the Green Space. Across our initiatives and programs, we consistently observe that increased participation of minority voices can produce better outcomes for people and communities. While working to ensure our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice values are prioritized, we hope that through BGS and other coalition opportunities, we can collaborate on best practices and resources that push the vision of an equitable, climate-safe future for all communities.    

Acadia Center Summer Internships

Acadia Center is pleased to have provided three internship opportunities this summer.  The work of these exceptional students has proven beneficial to their learning and to our organization as a whole. We are grateful for their time and talent.

Sarah Smith is a rising junior at Brown University studying political science. She is from Yarmouth, Maine and, as a Mainer, has a deep personal connection to and investment in the New England environment. Sarah has been researching the potential of mass timber as a substitute for concrete and steel in construction, and the subsequent environmental benefits. Using engineered wood in place of conventional construction materials can decrease the embodied carbon of the building as well as sequester carbon from the harvested trees. There are several high-rise mass timber projects in the works in the United States, and many more globally. Sarah has been distilling existing research and compiling next steps into a memo for the Acadia Center to have as a future resource.

Joseph Wapelhorst is a second-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center, where he is a member of the Journal of Law and Public Policy. As a legal intern at the Acadia Center, he has supported senior regulatory attorneys by conducting research on the Supreme Court’s recent changes to the EPA and federal administrative state’s authority as well as the power of New England states to phase out gas utilities. His work has focused on whether New England states possess the authority to shift away from gas utilities to more renewable energy sources, their obligations to serve their citizens in doing so, and the cost allocation methods that would be used in such efforts.

Meenakshi Jani is a rising senior at Amherst College, where she is majoring in environmental studies and history. At Amherst, she has been involved in organizations such as the Environmental Justice Alliance, where she helped to lead the campaign for divesting the college’s endowment from fossil fuels and the prison-industrial complex. As a DEIJ/legislative intern at Acadia Center, she has been researching transportation advocacy in the region. Specifically, she has been analyzing the story of the Transportation and Climate Initiative and its implications for future clean transportation advocacy in the Northeast. She has also been reading the transportation policy proposals of organizations in and beyond the Northeast, such as in the Midwest, West Coast, Canada, and the EU, to examine how those can be incorporated into Acadia Center’s clean energy advocacy. In addition, she is compiling a database of environmental advocacy organizations in the region.

West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency

Last week, the Supreme Court decided a case that will have substantial impact on how greenhouse gas emissions and other public safety issues are regulated at the federal level.  The case, West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, – US –, (2022), struck down a regulation that was never implemented and therefore does not immediately change any current EPA program to regulate climate change. However, the Court’s reliance for the first time on a new doctrine called the Major Questions Doctrine has potential to significantly impact future agency decisions where Congress has not explicitly outlined how to regulate – making it harder for EPA, and all other federal agencies, to advance their missions. In light of this decision, it is even more crucial for states, regions and communities to respond to the climate crisis and work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Striking Down CPP’s Methods

The decision struck down the Clean Power Plan (CPP)’s approach restrict greenhouse gas emissions by incentivizing movement to clean energy but did not strike the goals of the CPP itself. The CPP is a 2015 Obama Administration approach to reduce climate pollution from the nation’s powerplants.  The court ruled that the EPA was not authorized by the Clean Air Act (CAA) to make such a major change to the nationwide grid. To make such a major policy decision, an agency like the EPA would need clear Congressional authorization, which the Court found Congress did not provide.

Historically, the EPA utilized the power given to it by Congress to regulate individual powerplant site emissions through pollution standards set by the agency. The Court found that the CPP was different because it marked a shift from using the EPA’s authority to require individual generators to reduce emissions to a program changing all generators’ methods for producing energy – namely, limiting their use of coal. While the EPA may have been right that climate change required more drastic action than requiring emission efficiency from “dirty” generators, the court found that Congress had not explicitly given the EPA the authority to make that decision.

This does present an obstacle to the goal the CPP was trying to achieve since the EPA now needs further authorization from Congress to take such a broad step. States, however, are not blocked from taking up the torch. Additionally, since the CPP never went into effect, the Biden administration may still craft a plan which takes more aggressive steps to curtail emissions while acting within the traditionally understood authority of the EPA, as defined by the Supreme Court. It would be a delicate balance, but the court’s opinion hints that the answer would lie in traditional regulation of individual sources rather than the restructuring of the national grid’s generators.

Major Questions Doctrine

The Court elevates a relatively new doctrine, previously cited only in one case’s dissent, to form the heart of its decision. See Gundy v. U.S., 139 S. Ct. 2116 (2019) (dissent)

This major questions doctrine (MQD) is a new way of approaching the Non-Delegation Doctrine (NDD). NDD is the principle that Congress may not delegate its legislative power to administrative agencies without violating the separation of powers in the Constitution. For almost a century, when Congress delegated its legislative power, it had to provide an “intelligible principle” to guide the agency’s exercise of discretion. See Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan, 293 U.S. 388 (1935), In other words, Congress could only delegate if it made clear “the general policy” and the “boundaries of authority.”

But starting in the late 20^th Century, the Court applied a standard that was very deferential to the agencies’ own interpretation of whether Congress supplied the “intelligible principle” required. This is popularly known as Chevron deference, named for the case in which the court first made clear this deferential standard that allowed agencies to interpret statutes they administer. See Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Resources Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). Since broad delegations were necessary in the complex world of administrative agencies, and the judiciary is ill equipped to draw meaningful lines, the agency’s expertise usually won the day.

The MQD turns Chevron deference on its head. As a matter of interpretation, if Congress gives an agency responsibility or “powers of vast executive and political significance” they must be explicit on intent to delegate that authority and what the delegation entails or else the court will read it as not delegating. In other words, the more politically significant the issue is, the more likely the Court is to require an explicit statement from Congress. The MQD was first discussed in a dissent by Justice Gorsuch (and two others) in 2019 as a way to more strictly restrain the administrative agencies. It now has been adopted by the majority for the first time in West Virginia v. EPA.

A shift to the MQD to resolve cases involving agency regulation would bind agencies’ hands and require explicit Congressional approval for them to act. This would slow down the agency’s work and make the executive agencies more dependent on the legislative majority rather than the White House. This is especially troublesome for an EPA looking to take big steps to combat climate change since they would need more explicit authority to take measures that are not outlined in the statutes that give the EPA its power. It is not impossible to pursue progressive policies, but it will make the process more difficult.

The Importance of States and Regions

With federal agencies’ powers potentially curtailed, actions at the state and regional level are even more important. Thankfully, organizations like Acadia Center that focus on state, regional and local action are on the job.

One example of a successful regional effort to reduce GHG emissions is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Acadia Center was actively involved in its beginnings back in 2008 and 2009. In 2022, RGGI is predicted to deliver around $1B in allowance revenues for the eleven member states (including all of New England and New York). Because much of this money is invested in clean energy and energy efficiency within the member states, it returns significant economic and environmental benefits and CO2 reductions within the states. RGGI Inc. released a report in May that estimates that the $196M invested in 2020 will return $1.9B in lifetime energy bill savings and 6.6 million short tons of CO2 emissions avoided.

This fall, RGGI is undergoing the Third RGGI Program Review, and Acadia Center is seizing this opportunity to tailor the program to ensure that the priorities called for by environmental justice communities are fully addressed in the next phase of RGGI.  Historically, these communities have faced a disproportionate burden energy system pollution. During the program review, it is essential that each RGGI state critically consider equitable investment in communities that face the worst effects of polluting power plants. This ongoing program review provides a chance for states to consider the recent auctions, history of investments across the states, the need to directly address environmental justice communities, 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.

Maine PUC Has the Tools for Real Utility Reform But Needs Time and Will To Use Them!

Few state agencies have more impact on Mainers’ daily lives than the Public Utilities Commission (Commission). The Commission regulates electric, gas, and water utilities’ rates and services and provides oversight to the state’s utility monopolies, Central Maine Power and Versant Power, who collectively serve more than 795,000 electricity customers over 22,000 square miles from Fort Kent to Kittery. For most of its existence, the Commission was charged with keeping rates low, ensuring reliable supply of electricity, and allowing utilities to earn a profit on their businesses. Recent action authorizes Commissioners to do more.

The 130th Maine Legislature, which wrapped up its two-year session in May 2022, enacted reforms that strengthen the Commission’s regulatory hand when it comes to electric utilities. First LD 1682 – An Act To Require Consideration of Climate Impacts by the Public Utilities Commission and To Incorporate Equity Considerations in Decision Making by State Agencies empowers the agency to make decisions that prioritize greenhouse gas emission reductions as part of its primary mission, in addition to affordability, reliability, and utility profit. Second, LD 1959 – An Act Regarding Utility Accountability and Grid Planning for Maine’s Clean Energy Future, strengthens the agency’s ability to hold utilities accountable for their performance and impacts on ratepayers. LD 1959 also requires the Commission to initiate comprehensive, integrated grid planning with robust stakeholder input, review, and transparency. A third law, LD 2018  An Act to Implement Recommendations Regarding the Incorporation of Equity Considerations in Regulatory Decision Making, opens the door for more inclusive and accessible Commission proceedings for environmental justice and frontline communities. These new laws will hopefully lead Maine to a more reliable, clean, and affordable electricity grid that benefits all Mainers.

Regulatory reforms of this magnitude take time; CMP, however, is wasting no time at all. Before the ink was dry on Governor Janet Mills’ signature on LD 1959, Maine’s largest utility-owned investor announced its intent to file a three-year plan that hikes electricity delivery rates before the Commission can flex its new regulatory muscles around utility reliability and affordability performance metrics, grid planning, and climate and equity considerations. The utility also seeks a 10-10.5 percent return on equity, which determines its expected profitability while passing expenses through to ratepayers. CMP’s preemptive move comes at a time of sky-high electricity rates driven by the Northeast’s dependence on natural gas, volatility in global energy markets, and continuing supply chain issues from the pandemic and war in Ukraine. Governor Mills also wasted no time in criticizing CMP’s move, describing it as “outrageous” and adding “insult to injury” to Maine people, while declaring she will “fight this” by directing her Energy Office to oppose it and urging the Commission to reject it. Acadia Center also condemned the announcement in the Portland Press Herald:

Approving a rate increase before the PUC adopts those new standards for the state’s utilities and starts the grid planning process would be putting the cart before the horse, said Jeff Marks, Maine director and senior policy advocate for the Acadia Center, an organization pushing for policies to protect the environment and transition to clean energy sources. Marks said the new law will require the utilities to meet new standards to ensure they are using customer revenue wisely, and it also calls for a wide-ranging plan to enhance the state’s power grid. Deciding on a rate increase before either measure is in place doesn’t make sense, he said. “These rate hikes show we can’t start too soon,” Marks said. “With this type of rate hike at this point, we need to start the accountability process.” Marks also said that a comprehensive plan to modernize Maine’s electric grid could help keep rates low, and that giving CMP a rate hike to make some changes before the overall plan is even underway would be premature. The new grid plan, along with new accountability measures, “will shine a spotlight” on how well the utilities are providing electric service to Mainers, Marks said, adding that analysis should be done before CMP seeks a rate hike, not after.

Because of the reforms enacted by the Maine Legislature and signed by the Governor, Maine has the opportunity to design a clean, affordable, reliable grid in a cost-effective manner that considers the state’s goals and targets to decarbonize the grid and electrify buildings and transportation and do so in a way that supports equity and minimizes impacts on underserved, overburdened, and vulnerable communities. The Commission will launch the grid planning process later this year with significant stakeholder engagement and outreach. Utilities will have eighteen months to develop and submit plans. Stakeholders again will have the opportunity to weigh in. This integrated grid planning process, along with requirements to consider climate pollution strategies and reductions, could provide hundreds of millions of dollars in ratepayer benefits and savings while appropriately assessing environmental, climate, and equity impacts of electric policies, programs, and projects. This, in turn, will help Maine lead the way in reducing dependence on out-of-state natural gas, fighting climate change, and enabling the grid to make way for cost-effective heat pumps in our living rooms, efficiency improvements in our attics and basements, electric vehicles in our garages and driveways, and the capacity to store excess energy for when we need it most.

Acadia Center is pleased to see that CMP wants to invest in smarter technology, more robust infrastructure, better rate design, and renewable energy interconnection. However, Acadia Center urges restraint on increased utility rates and profits until the Commission, in partnership with utilities and Maine people, evaluates the investments truly needed to benefit Maine people with lower, less volatile long-term rates, cleaner air, a stronger, more reliable grid, and better access to clean energy resources.

Jeff Marks
Maine Director

Oliver Tully
Director, Utility Innovation and Reform