State OKs new heat pump rate for Eversource customers. Here’s how much you could save

The state’s utility agency recently approved a heat pump rate for Eversource customers that could save them hundreds of dollars, state officials said this week.

On Tuesday, the Department of Public Utilities approved a way for customers of Eversource to enroll in seasonal electric rates, which could save them — on average — $540 throughout the winter season.

Heat pumps help reduce the cost of electricity while the state works to achieve its climate goals, a report from Switchbox, a New York climate policy think tank, said last week.

“This is a good first step,” said Kyle Murray, director of implementation in Massachusetts for the clean-energy advocate Acadia Center, which is based in Maine. Murray’s work focuses on advocacy efforts in the commonwealth, including coalition building and outreach.

If that new rate is adopted, 8 out of 10 Massachusetts homes with heat pumps will save on their winter energy bills, with median savings of $687 per heating season, the Switchbox report said.

“That would be a universal, increased, heat pump rate reduction,” Murray said Tuesday, meaning all heat pump users would benefit.

To read the full article from Mass Live, click here.

Save RIPTA Coalition addresses devastating bus service cuts; Proposes alternatives

A coalition of community organizations, transit riders, bus drivers, and legislators gathered outside the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 618 Hall in Providence to speak out against the proposed cuts to RIPTA Service and how this “devastating” loss of service will affect all Rhode Islanders.

“I’m here to remind our state leaders that a robust public transit system is necessary to reach our climate mandates and mitigate the climate crisis’s harm for generations to come,” said Emily Koo, policy advocate for the climate and energy nonprofit Acadia Center. “As a mom, I’m worried about the heat, flooding, and air quality that my son will face 15 years from now when he’ll be about driving age. But maybe he’ll take the bus instead. Fifteen years beyond that, he may consider starting a family. If these cuts stand, it will only become harder to rebuild our beleaguered transit system and reduce emissions from how we get around our state. I urge our leaders to fund RIPTA to have a safe, healthy, and livable climate for our children.”

To read the full article from RI Future News, click here.

As rooftop solar gets hammered, virtual power plants offer a way forward

The rooftop solar industry is facing an unprecedented crisis. Utilities are cutting incentives. Major residential solar installers and financiers have gone bankrupt. And sweeping legislation just passed by Republicans in Congress will soon cut off federal tax credits that have supported the sector for 20 years.

But the fact remains that solar panels — and the lithium-ion batteries that increasingly accompany them — remain the cheapest and most easily deployable technologies available to serve the ever-hungry U.S. power grid.

During last month’s heat wave across New England, as power prices spiked and grid operators sought to import energy from neighboring regions, distributed solar and batteries reduced stress on the grid. Nonprofit group Acadia Center estimated that rooftop solar helped avoid about $20 million in costs by driving down energy consumption and suppressing power prices.

To read the full article from Canary Media, click here.

Familiar Claims About Offshore Wind Aired at Portsmouth Forum on SouthCoast Wind Cable Project

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — While polling shows they have wide public support, southern New England’s offshore wind projects continue to be dogged by vocal opposition — and at times, misinformation — from a minority of local residents and property owners, as evidenced by a public forum Wednesday evening.

The project itself, and the substation where the electricity generated by the turbines will connect into the grid, is outside Rhode Island’s lands and waters. The turbines will sit in a lease area in federal waters, and the substation sits at Brayton Point in Somerset, Mass.

Other groups supporting the project include the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, the Rhode Island office of the Acadia Center, the Conservation Law Foundation, Climate Action Rhode Island, and 24 state representatives and 11 state senators.

To read the full article from ecoRI, click here.

Electricity demand is on the rise in Maine. Should nuclear power be a part of the energy mix?

The remains of the Maine Yankee nuclear plant in Wiscasset are protected by a tall chain link fence topped with razor wire and a checkpoint manned by armed guards.

About a quarter of New England’s electricity comes from nuclear reactors in New Hampshire and Connecticut.

But Jamie Dickerson, senior director of climate and clean energy programs at the Acadia Center, doubts nuclear will make significant inroads in the region.

“Most of the modeling that we have reviewed largely suggests a future where solar, wind and batteries are really dominating the generating resource mix well into the future,” Dickerson said.

Even as New England states see prospects to rapidly build out offshore wind resources in the face of market forces and political obstruction, Dickerson still thinks nuclear will complement, not displace, renewable generation.

To read the full article from Maine Public, click here.

Massachusetts could give heat pump owners a huge discount on electricity

Massachusetts regulators are considering a plan to make heat pumps an obvious financial choice for most residents.

The state Department of Public Utilities is mulling a proposal to heavily discount electricity rates in the winter months for households with heat pumps, a move that could cut energy bills for more than 80% of residents who switch over to the efficient, electric appliance from fossil-fueled or electric resistance heating. For many of those households, the savings would amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars each winter.

Supporters of seasonal heat pump rates stress that the lower prices do not mean that heat pump users are being subsidized by everyone else. In fact, they say, the proposed rate structure is far more fair than the status quo.

“This is not a handout to heat pump owners,” said Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation for clean-energy nonprofit Acadia Center. ​“This is a fundamental issue of fairness.”

Here’s why: The delivery portion of an electricity bill pays for the construction and upkeep of the poles, wires, and other infrastructure needed to get power where it’s going. To determine how much to charge customers — and this is a bit of a simplification — the utility divides the total cost by the number of kilowatt-hours it expects customers to use. That number becomes the delivery rate.

To read the article from Canary Media, click here.

Report: Adopting heat pumps in Mass. is an issue of fairness

SPRINGFIELD — There’s a way for Massachusetts residents to reduce the costs of electricity while the state works to achieve its climate goals: widespread adoption of air-source heat pumps.

 That’s according to a new report from Switchbox, a New York climate policy think tank.

The fund was one of a few organizations that commissioned Switchbox’s report. The others include Green Energy Consumers Alliance in Boston; Acadia Center in Hartford, Connecticut; ZeroCarbonMA, a statewide coalition; and Rewiring America, a national group.

“They actually aren’t incurring any more stress upon the grid or the system than than their non-heat pump counterparts,” said Kyle Murray, state program implementation director at Acadia Center in Connecticut. Despite this, heat pump customers are charged more than double for the delivery of electricity, the report said.

Murray, of Acadia Center, said ratepayers should only be charged for the amount of energy they incur.

“This is a fundamental issue of fairness at the end of the day,” he said.

To read the full article from Mass Live, click here.

New Report: Massachusetts households poised for more than $600 in median savings with heat pump upgrades under proposed rates

BOSTON – A new report shows that 82% of MA households can save an average of $687 each winter by upgrading to high-efficiency heat pumps if the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) adopts proposed rate changes from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER). The findings show that the proposed rates would help correct an existing imbalance in which current heat pump users are unfairly subsidizing other electric ratepayers.

The report, Heat Pump Rates in Massachusetts, was developed by Switchbox and sponsored by Environmental Defense Fund, Acadia Center, Rewiring America, Green Energy Consumers Alliance, and ZeroCarbonMA. The analysis highlights how Under DOER’s proposed rates, most electric customers of National Grid, Eversource, and Unitil would save money by switching to heat pumps, including single-family homeowners and customers who heat with methane gas.

“This report makes clear that fairer electric rates are key to unlocking the full potential of clean heating,” said Kyle Murray, Director, State Program Implementation and Massachusetts Program Director for Acadia Center. “The proposed heat pump rates level the playing field, correcting outdated price structures and delivering real savings for households. This isn’t just about savings for individual households, smarter rates strengthen the grid, support a cleaner economy and move us closer to our climate goals.”

To read the full press release from Environmental Defense Fund, click here.

Report Details Cost Savings of Heat Pump Rates for Mass. Consumers

Strong winter discounts on electricity delivery rates are needed to more fairly charge Massachusetts homes with heat pumps for their share of grid costs, according to a new report commissioned by a coalition of environmental groups.

In December, an interagency working group recommended that the DPU require the utilities to establish more aggressive winter heat pump discounts. (See Mass. Electricity Rates Working Group Issues Recommendations.) 

Under this updated discount, houses with heat pumps would pay roughly the same delivery costs as those heated by gas during the heating season. Supply costs would not be affected by the discount, and heat pumps would still pay for their full supply costs throughout the year. 

Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation at the Acadia Center, emphasized that heat pump rates do not represent a “handout to heat pump owners.” 

“Even though heat pump owners are using more energy than their non-heat pump counterparts, they’re not actually causing more stress on the system,” Murray said. “Heat pump rates just simply represent fairness in ratemaking.” 

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

Renewables Helped Prevent Blackouts on New England’s Hottest Day This Summer

Renewable energy sources, such as solar power and battery storage, have helped keep power on in New England, even during peak demand on the hottest day of summer.

According to a recent report from the nonprofit Acadia Center, more than 5 gigawatts of behind-the-meter solar provided additional support during peak demand times, despite the temperature in New England exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit on June 24.

ISO New England, a grid operator, issued a Power Caution on June 24 due to the heat, and that evening, peak energy demand reached 26,024 MWh, the highest peak since 2013.

Based on Acadia Center’s findings, as much as 22% of power usage in New England on June 24 came from behind-the-meter solar.

Thanks to residential solar, customers did not have to face energy blackouts and even saved money on skyrocketing electricity prices during the heat wave. The report from Acadia Center noted that while wholesale electricity prices reached more than $1,000 per megawatt-hour (MWh), customers with behind-the-meter solar saved more than $8.2 million collectively. This estimate may even be much lower than reality, with Acadia Center explaining that behind-the-meter solar may have saved customers $19.4 million in energy costs on June 24 alone.

“Solar was helping not just deliver megawatt-hours but also suppressing demand for the entire region,” Jamie Dickerson, senior director of clean energy and climate programs at Acadia Center, said in a statement. “Basically helping ensure that the grid could keep the lights on, could keep the air conditioning running.”

But total energy and cost savings were likely even higher thanks to other clean energy improvements, such as battery storage and higher energy efficiency. According to Acadia Center, energy efficiency helped reduce peak demand by about 2 gigawatts.

As Canary Media reported, extensive battery storage in Vermont further reduced grid strain during peak demand. Green Mountain Power, a utility provider in Vermont, was able to reduce strain on the grid via residential and EV batteries, saving customers around $3 million.

“Green Mountain Power has proven that by making these upfront investments in batteries, you can save ratepayers money,” Peter Sterling, executive director of the trade association Renewable Energy Vermont, told Canary Media. ​“It’s something I think is replicable by other utilities in the country.”

Acadia Center warned that recent cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act for clean energy investments will likely limit states’ and utility providers’ abilities to quickly, efficiently respond in similar peak energy demand scenarios, which would increase risk of power disruptions to consumers.

“Those resources are susceptible to equipment failure and to outages, and there is correlated outage risk across the very large fleet of natural gas generation in the region,” Dickerson said. “All the more reason why we need to diversify the region’s portfolio.”

Relying solely on fossil fuel energy sources alone will not be enough to meet demand, especially during heat waves like the one observed in New England on June 24.

“Taken together, the June 24 heat wave event was a clear example of a successful portfolio-based approach, using multiple complementary clean energy resources — solar, energy efficiency, energy storage, transmission imports, and beyond — to help ensure resource adequacy for the grid and relieve extreme prices for the region’s consumers,” the Acadia Center report concluded. “Unless further thwarted by counterproductive federal proposals, the northeast will see an increasingly diversified clean energy portfolio called upon to meet similar peak demand events in the years ahead, minimizing the reliance on aging, inefficient fossil fuel power plants to serve peak demand.”

To read the full article from EcoWatch, click here.