Northeast could trade gas for hydro. Here’s the problem

Such answers have provoked unease, even among those who believe more Canadian hydro is needed to help meet the region’s climate goals. The Acadia Center is one of several environmental groups that have advocated for injecting more electricity from Hydro-Québec’s existing dams into the Northeast’s power grid. In Maine, the group even offered qualified support of the New England Clean Energy Connect.

At the same time, the Acadia Center has argued that Massachusetts regulators should amend Hydro-Québec’s contracts with the state’s power companies, echoing the concerns of the attorney general and arguing for better tracking that would enable Massachusetts to verify that the energy is coming from the utility’s dams. That would ensure the power is actually carbon-free, the group says.

“The combination of this sort of lax contract language around the baseline in combination with lack of actual tracking that every other eligible bidder to this contract would have had to undergo, it’s just not a level playing field,” said Deborah Donovan, Massachusetts director at the Acadia Center. “It is the price of entry for any other generation in [a regional portfolio standard] market.”

She added: “We don’t have 20 years to miss the boat here. We literally do not.”

Read the full article from E&E News here.

Katie Dykes takes helm at DEEP in era of escalating climate change

“It is incredibly concerning to me,” said Amy McLean Salls, Connecticut director of Acadia Center. In the last few years Acadia has tangled with DEEP and PURA over solar policy that environmental advocates say threatens to sacrifice Connecticut’s solar industry in favor of low electric rates. “Anyone who wants to create a business has to put money down in the beginning so you can thrive,” Salls said.

Read the full article from Connecticut Mirror here.

No guarantee $1 billion CMP line will deliver new energy, Massachusetts AG warns

Both the Conservation Law Foundation and Acadia Center, two environmental groups that signed onto an agreement endorsing the construction of the line during Maine regulatory proceedings, also called for the contracts to be changed to ensure Hydro-Quebec would deliver more clean power to New England than it currently does. The Acadia Center wrote in a brief that the current contracts are “plainly inconsistent with the intent of the statute.” The Sierra Club, an environmental group that opposes the line, voiced similar concerns.

Deborah Donovan, senior policy advocate and Massachusetts director of the Acadia Center, said that the current contracts would allow Hydro-Quebec to decrease its total exports to New England without financial penalty.

“If they did decide to do that, and the total energy deliveries would be less than they’re delivering now, why would we build the line?” Donovan asked. She called the missing provision “essential” to the project.

“We wouldn’t want to see a commitment made to these contracts, or to the line for that matter, without these safeguards,” Donovan said.

Read the full article from Bangor Daily News here.

Hydro Quebec says CMP transmission line will help fight climate change

The Conservation Law Foundation and the Acadia Center are both supporting the project as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the Maine PUC said it agreed with a consultant’s determination that the project would reduce carbon emissions by over 3-million metric tons per year.

Read the full article from News Center Maine here.

N’east States May ‘Cap and Trade’ Transport Emissions

A new coalition of environmental, business and community groups that launched this week to help support the plan. The plan will be modeled on an earlier effort, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, that created a cap-and-trade system for power plant emissions in those states. Since that program’s launch, emissions rates in the participating states fell 16 percent more than the national average. Electricity prices also went down for consumers, declining 3.5 percent in the first seven years compared to 7-percent price growth nationwide, according to an analysis [PDF] by the Acadia Center, a clean energy think tank.

 

Read the full article by Streets Blog USA here.

In A Win For CMP, Maine Utility Regulators Approve 145-Mile Transmission Line

Two environmental groups, the Conservation Law Foundation and the Acadia Center, did support the project, attracted by CMP’s offer to finance efforts to “decarbonize” the state’s economy through direct dollar donations to such efforts and by supporting policies to promote renewable energy in Maine. But other conservation groups, including the state’s largest, the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), have been steadfastly opposed.

Read the full article from New Hampshire Public Radio here.

Under Mills, Maine is watching a regional effort to curb transportation emissions

A Massachusetts report released earlier this year said a similar mechanism for vehicle emissions could cost the average driver $2 per month and  the Acadia Center has said it could generate $1.38 billion in revenue for Maine between 2019 and 2030.

Read the full article from Bangor Daily News here.

Maine PUC Staff Recommends Approval Of CMP’s Transmission Project

Supporters include Gov. Janet Mills, large electricity users such as paper mills or chip-makers in the Industrial Energy Consumers Group, Public Advocate Barry Hobbins, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Snowmobile Association, the City of Lewiston and two environmental groups, the Conservation Law Foundation and the Acadia Center.

Read the full article from New Hampshire Public Radio here.

Mainers deserve facts, not fear, on NECEC project

As a result, the stipulation I authorized the Governor’s Energy Office to sign onto is markedly different from where things stood at the end of last year. Many parties, including the Conservation Law Foundation, the Acadia Center, electrical union IBEW, the Maine Public Advocate, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the nonprofit Western Mountains & Rivers Corp., the city of Lewiston, the Industrial Energy Consumers Group and the Union of Concerned Scientists all agree that this project should go through. The editorial boards of the Portland Press Herald, the Bangor Daily News and The Ellsworth American have all said the same.

Read the full article from The Ellsworth American here.

 

Herding cats: Controversy over the solar siting bill in Rhode Island

This approach appears to give a lot of leeway to towns and cities to make their own decisions about how to regulate the siting of solar, and would also steer developers to previously disturbed sites. As such it was endorsed by many of the main non-profits active in the environmental and energy space, including Conservation Law Foundation, Audubon Society, Acadia Center, Save the Bay and Green Energy Consumers Alliance.

Read the full article from PV Magazine here.