No juice on the Mass. Pike: Charging stations out of order; what does it mean for drivers?

Range anxiety is alive and well in Central Massachusetts.

What is range anxiety? It’s nervous energy a driver of a fully electric vehicle feels when the dashboard signals a dangerously low power level and there are few, if any, charging stations nearby.

Panic can set it because the thought of running out of juice and being stuck along a busy highway or in the middle of nowhere can grate on the nerves.

There is a workaround for the charging station challenge on the Pike, said Joseph LaRusso, senior advocate and manager of clean grid initiative at Acadia Center, a Boston-based nonprofit that develops clean-energy solutions.

That workaround is good planning.

LaRusso drives his EV on the Pike on the way to visiting in-laws in Utica, New York, and plugs in at home by way of a home-based charger to make sure he departs with a full charge.

“I’ve never relied on chargers on the Pike. There are too few of them,” said LaRusso.

Using his mobile application, LaRusso said he’s located plenty of fast chargers just minutes off the Pike, including in Auburn and Chicopee. With a quick stop to power boost, LaRusso has the confidence to reach his destination.

LaRusso is a savvy EV owner, with good planning skills. But what about the inexperienced EV owner who doesn’t think ahead and relies on chargers in places like the Pike to reach a destination? Or those, like Mills, who are planning especially long trips?

“If people hear in the news that a major artery in the commonwealth is without chargers, they might say, ‘Oh, gosh.’ They likely will pause about purchasing an EV. They might go with a hybrid instead.”

To read the full article in the Telegram & Gazette, click here.

New England solar is already displacing vast quantities of methane gas or fuel oil

Joe LaRusso, the manager of the Clean Grid Initiative at Acadia Center, pointed out what he called the most interesting fact presented as the recent FERC New England Gas-Electric Forum:

“Every 700 MW of solar offsets 7-10 million gals. of fuel oil or 1-1.5 billion cubic feet of methane gas. There’s about 5,500 MW of solar in New England today, & about 700 MW is being added *every year.*

And most of that comes from “rooftop” – behind-the-meter – solar, not big utility farms. And most of that is in Massachusetts and Connecticut, with Vermont punching well above its weight. New Hampshire and Maine are real laggards.

To read the article from Granite Geek, click here.

NJ gas customers can save thousands with electric appliances, new study finds

Report: New Jersey gas customers can save up to thousands of dollars annually by weatherizing, converting to electric appliances like heat pumps

Acadia Center Report finds that some residents who upgrade to electric appliances can save up to 69% on energy bills when paired with weatherization, find relief from volatile fossil fuel prices

TRENTON, NJ, June 22, 2023 — New Jerseyans in an average insulated gas-heated home can save anywhere from 4% to 41% on their annual energy bills by adopting highly efficient electric appliances such as heat pumps depending on utility service territory, and up to 69% in a typical drafty home if paired with weatherization, according to a new report out today by Acadia Center.

Based on winter 2022-2023 utility rates, Acadia Center analysts found that New Jerseyans who live in poorly insulated gas homes can save $1,550 to $3,240 each year, a range of 47% to 69% savings on annual energy bills depending on service territory, by investing in electrification and weatherization.

“This report makes clear that switching from fossil fuels can save New Jerseyans money,” said Ben Butterworth, Director of Climate, Energy & Equity Analysis at Acadia Center. “With volatile natural gas prices driving energy bill spikes, it’s vital New Jerseyans understand they can save money by upgrading their homes to utilize clean electric appliances like heat pumps. For many customers, this can free up thousands of dollars each year to spend on groceries, prescriptions, childcare, and other daily necessities.”

This report, “The Future is Electric: How the Average New Jersey Household Can Save by Electrifying,” updates a 2022 analysis that calculated savings using low gas rates from winter 2021-2022, which demonstrated that the average household in New Jersey would see annual bill savings of about 20% by pairing electrification with weatherization. The 2022 report demonstrated that those savings jump to more than 50% for a typical drafty home electrifying and improving weatherization. Because utility gas rates for New Jersey households increased 51% on average in the past two years, even more dramatic savings are now available for gas customers who adopt weatherization and highly efficient all-electric alternatives like heat pumps.

Swapping fossil fuel burning appliances with electric alternatives would also eliminate a significant source of indoor and outdoor air pollution, the impacts of which are disproportionately borne by low-income households and communities of color. Gas appliances emit harmful pollutants such nitrogen dioxide (NO2) that can exacerbate respiratory illnesses when burned indoors. Children are particularly at risk, as children who live in homes with gas stoves have a 42% higher risk of developing asthma symptoms and a peer-reviewed study found that nationwide, gas stove use can be attributed to 12.7% of childhood asthma cases.

“Electrifying and weatherizing low-income homes can deliver equitable economic benefits and close health disparities for millions of Black and brown New Jerseyans who are more likely to be exposed to air pollution from our buildings, heavy industry and transportation emissions,” said Nicole Miller, Vice Chair of the New Jersey Progressive Equitable Energy Coalition. “These families should not be overlooked or left behind. New Jersey leaders must create pathways to increase affordability and ensure those vulnerable households who can benefit most from all-electric, comfortable homes are the first in line.”

Thanks to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, New Jersey residents will soon be able to take advantage of rebates and incentives to lower the upfront cost of weatherization and highly efficient electric appliances such as heat pumps, including up to $1,600 for weatherization and up to $8,000for air-source heat pumps. While New Jersey offers anywhere from $390 to $1,000 for cold climate heat pumps depending on utility service territory, more needs to be done to increase access to programs to help low- and moderate-income households weatherize their homes and adopt highly efficient electric alternatives.

“New Jersey has ambitious goals to deliver the economic, health, and climate benefits of all-electric homes but no programs to achieve those goals,” said Barbara Blumenthal, Research Director at the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. “This report shows that the longer state regulators at the Board of Public Utilities and legislative leaders delay in creating programs to accelerate the adoption of highly efficient electric appliances like heat pumps, the more it will cost New Jersey gas customers stuck with higher bills and less comfortable homes,” she concluded.

In New Jersey, 73% of homes rely on natural gas for heating. Governor Phil Murphy has set ambitious goals to deploy heat pumps in 400,000 New Jersey homes and 20,000 commercial properties by 2030. Rapidly transitioning New Jersey’s homes and buildings, which make up 26% of the state’s total emissions, is essential to meeting the state’s goal to reduce emissions 80% by 2050.

To see the original article in Insider NJ, click here.

MassDOT removing six unreliable Turnpike EV chargers

After years of unreliable electric charging service on the Massachusetts Turnpike, the Department of Transportation is looking for a total reboot.

The six charging stations at rest stops on the Pike have been permanently taken out of service, the agency said. Now MassDOT is in the early stages of selecting a vendor to remove the non-functional terminals and install new ones.

The replacement process will take time, given state procurement rules, said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at the nonprofit Acadia Center who is following the EV transition. The administration of Gov. Maura Healey should move more quickly than the prior Baker administration, he said.

“I’m confident that we will see the pace pick up a bit with the new administration in place,” Murray said. “Obviously they’re still getting their legs under them, and any new policies they put in place are going to have some lag time until implementation.”

Read the full article from the Boston Globe here.

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.