Winter grid concerns bringing federal energy agency to Portland

The independent agency that regulates America’s interstate electricity and natural gas transmission systems is holding a special forum in Portland on June 20 to discuss potential solutions to the winter supply bottlenecks that have sent New England’s power prices soaring and threatened reliability.

Roughly half of the region’s generating capacity is fueled by natural gas. But New England doesn’t have enough pipeline capacity now to serve both power plants and heating needs on the coldest winter days, a direct result of opposition by environmental activists who have fought building new lines in southern New England.

Groups such as Acadia Center favor strategies such as greater efficiency, and encouraging people and businesses to shift energy use to off-peak times, as ways to bolster winter reliability in the short term without expanding climate-changing fossil fuel use. More solar, wind and battery storage could displace gas over time, they’ve said.

To read the full article from the Portland Press Herald, click here.

The country’s first gas utility-run networked geothermal heating and cooling system breaks ground in Mass.

New England’s largest energy utility, Eversource, is on its way to becoming the first gas utility in the country to build and run a “networked geothermal system.” The pilot project, which broke ground this week in Framingham, will use a network of deep wells and pipes to provide climate-friendly heating and cooling for 37 buildings.

If successful, advocates say they hope the model can be scaled to help the state meet its clean energy goals and provide a new business opportunity for gas utilities as the country weans itself off of fossil fuels.

“We are really excited about this pilot project and want to see the results that come from it, [but] I think we really do need to think about all options here. We can’t just think, ‘oh, this is our solution,’ ” said Kyle Murray, the Massachusetts program director of Acadia Center, a clean energy advocacy group.

“We need to be thinking creatively about all potential solutions and that, that does include the potential decommissioning of gas utilities in the future as well.”

To read the full article from wbur, click here.

Wildfire smoke ‘significantly’ reduced solar power production in New England this week

The smoke from Canadian wildfires didn’t just block the sun and make the air unhealthy to breathe in much of New England this week. It also blunted solar power production and made it harder to forecast electricity demand in the region, according to the regional grid operator.

“Climate change is going to cause more and more of these kinds of issues,” said Kyle Murray, the Massachusetts program director of Acadia Center, a clean energy advocacy group.

At this point, it’s hard to say that human-induced climate change is directly causing the wildfires in Eastern Canada, but it certainly makes the sort of drought and hotter-than-average temperatures that lead to wildfires more likely.

As the smoke from the Canadian wildfires continues to dissipate over New England, Murray said he sees two big takeaways: First, New England needs to stop making the climate problem worse by burning fossil fuels. And second, it needs to build a more modern and flexible grid that relies on multiple sources of renewable energy.

“We need to learn strategies for how to mitigate [impacts] and how to think creatively going forward because the problem isn’t going away,” Murray said.

To read the full article from wbur, click here.

Also featured on NHPR.

Mass. Stakeholders Debate the Scope of Clean Heat Standard

Massachusetts energy providers, consumers and climate advocates presented contrasting visions of what solutions should be included in a clean heat standard (CHS) that is currently being developed by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), as shown by public comments published last week.

“Our top priorities for a CHS for Massachusetts are ensuring adequate equity protections and an electrification-only compliance program, particularly for gas utilities,” wrote a coalition of 37 environmental groups, led by the Conservation Law Foundation, Acadia Center, Green Energy Consumers Alliance and Pipe Line Awareness Network for the Northeast. “Alternative gases are not a long-term solution for the buildings sector, so incentives should not encourage buildout of these wasteful processes in the near term.”

The coalition said that the greenhouse gas emission reductions associated with replacing natural gas with hydrogen and RNG would be marginal, and that a dependence on these fuels would increase the overall costs associated with reaching net-zero emissions.

To read the full article from RTO Insider, click here.

Op-Ed: Listen to NJ businesses on heat pump benefits

Gov. Phil Murphy’s recent executive orders set modest 2030 goals for building electrification, goals that will be easier to meet if more homes and businesses install heat pumps for heating and cooling. Some opponents of these goals are now positioning themselves in the public eye as protectors of consumers and the business community. 

Will heat pumps drive up consumers’ monthly energy bills? For many New Jersey households, the answer is a resounding no! A 2021 study from the Acadia Center found that the typical NJ household switching from a gas furnace to an air-source heat pump could save anywhere from $325 to $1,812 per year. Adopters who weatherize their homes and switch from an expensive fuel such as heating oil or propane achieve the most dramatic savings. 

To read the full article, click here.

NE Stakeholders Support Developing Time-varying Rates

STOWE, Vt. — As New England plans how to cope with peak winter electricity demand with a growing reliance on renewables, energy leaders in the region are calling on the states to look at developing time-varying rates to reduce costs and environmental burdens.

Speakers at the 75th New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners Symposium generally agreed on the need to develop rate structures that would better allow customers to respond to market signals, incentivizing them to reduce energy consumption during periods of limited energy supply. The vast majority of customers in the region currently pay flat rates, regardless of the amount of stress on the grid.

In order to accommodate customers with special needs or limited energy-use flexibility, the speakers agreed that if time-varying rates do become the default, customers need to have other options.

“We absolutely have to have an opt-out program where people can opt out if the rates are not working for them,” said Amy Boyd, vice president of climate and clean energy policy at Acadia Center.

To read the full article, click here.

Utility Bills: New Proposal To ‘Eliminate Price Surging’ Gains Momentum — How Much Could You Save?

Utility bills could soon be easier to pay for many New Yorkers. State lawmakers pushed a package of bills through the Senate to address increased costs for ratepayers. Spectrum News NY1 reported that this new measure came from a legislative review by the Senate Investigations Committee into utility price increases over the last year.

State legislatures also want to create minimum standards for payment plans for eligible customers and lower fixed charges from utility companies in New York. According to a report by Acadia Center, New Yorkers pay three times as much in fixed charges as they charge residents in nearby states, per Senate Bill S1303. Fixed charges are flat monthly fees that people pay on their utility bills regardless of the energy they use.

To read the full article, read here.

Lawmakers Eye Raising Offshore Wind Target to Achieve Climate Goals

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MAY 18, 2023…..With the ball starting to roll on offshore wind development, lawmakers are looking this session to accelerate additional renewable energy capacity and environmental advocates warn they’ll need to pick up the pace to meet the state’s ambitious climate goals.

A handful of bills before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy would allow the state to increase its capacity to bring thousands of megawatts of offshore wind energy onto the grid, coming at a time when Gov. Maura Healey has shown an appetite for significant new development.

The Healey administration announced earlier this month that they want to add up to 3,600 more megawatts to the collection of in-development or under-contract offshore wind projects in the pipeline. That maximum amount would be more than twice as large as the 1,600 megawatts selected in the last procurement round two years ago, according to the Healey administration, on its own would meet about a quarter of the state’s annual electricity demand. However, the upcoming round might backfill some prior wind capacity if some previously approved projects fall through now that developers are warning about changing economic conditions.

“If all goes according to plan with our current set of procurement commitments, which is an open question, Massachusetts will have 3.2 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by around 2030. That means we will have around 20 years to develop and bring online 19.8 gigawatts of offshore wind power,” said Kyle Murray, senior advocate and Massachusetts program director at environmental nonprofit Acadia Center, during a Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy public hearing on Thursday.

“Therefore, it is crucial for our commonwealth to display a commitment to large and long-term clean energy requirements to continue to send a signal to developers that Massachusetts will be a leader in offshore wind,” Murray said.

The offshore wind bill would also remove remuneration to utility companies such as National Grid, which receive up to 2.25 percent of an offshore wind project bid. The payments are intended to offset the risk that utility companies take working with a nascent industry.

“Offshore wind is no longer a far-off proposition here in Massachusetts. Our first wind farm should be operational by the end of this year. Offshore wind will be a large reality in our energy mix going forward,” Murray said. “Therefore, the utilities no longer need this incentive, which is around $168 million for the Vineyard Wind project, simply to bring these contracts onto the books.”

To read the full article from the State House News Service, click here.

Massachusetts prepares to launch new electric vehicle rebates early this summer

New electric vehicle rebates are expected to become available in Massachusetts in early summer, some nine months after lawmakers passed a bill calling for the incentives’ immediate implementation.

The state has said funding and logistical obstacles have delayed the launch of the new provisions, which will add higher incentives for low-income car buyers, create a rebate for the purchase of used electric vehicles, and establish a system for providing rebates at the point of sale, lowering the upfront cost of the vehicle.

Advocates have been understanding of the complications with rolling out these provisions but are eager for the new components to take effect.

“I am sympathetic, but if we want to hit not our climate goals — our climate requirements — we really need these coming online as soon as possible,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at climate nonprofit the Acadia Center.

Though the law authorizing the program was passed in August 2022, the legislature didn’t provide any additional funding until November.

“The administration was a bit handcuffed in that they couldn’t set up a program they weren’t sure they’d have the money for,” Murray said.

Still, Murray is confident that the combination of public sentiment, state incentives, and federal tax credits will soon make a measurable difference.

“We’re definitely going to see it really start to tick up,” he said.

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

OP-ED | We Don’t Talk About E-Bikes

April, when the world emerges from hibernation, is the top month for bike sales, according to BiCi Co., a bicycle shop in Hartford. May is National Bike Month. We are approaching the one-year anniversary of Gov. Ned Lamont signing the Connecticut Clean Air Act. Our state’s e-bike rebate program has yet to roll out.

Last week, DEEP published its 1990-2021 Connecticut Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, with Commissioner Dykes saying how the “transportation sector continues to be by far the largest source of our emissions.”

If only DEEP, the agency tasked with creating and administering the program providing rebates to state residents who buy e-bikes could do something about that.

The program could have begun as early as last July, but we have seen a series of adjusted deadlines. I had questions about this; DEEP did not respond ahead of a generous deadline for comment.

“Targeting rebates to people in more urban settings who don’t have a car, don’t want a car, don’t have a place to put a car,” is a strategic approach to ensuring that green transportation is equitable says the Acadia Center’s Amy Boyd, Vice President, Climate and Clean Energy Policy.

We are in a time to rethink how we want our world to be, how we want our society to operate. Boyd explains that “in decarbonizing transportation we’re hoping to not just shift vehicles from being fossil fuel-powered to being electrified, but also shift how people move around.”

To read the full op-ed, click here.