Trump signed a slew of executive orders on Day 1. What are they, and how might they affect New England?

President Donald Trump began his promised flurry of executive action on Day 1. With his first batch of memoranda and orders, Trump repealed dozens of former president Joe Biden’s actions, withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accords, put a temporary freeze on new federal regulations, and commanded federal law enforcement to end all cases and investigations of any Trump supporters, among other actions.

He said during his inauguration speech that the US will, “drill, baby, drill,” a phrase first used in 2008 to mean increasing domestic oil production.

Kyle Murray, director of the State Program Implementation at the Acadia Center, a clean energy research nonprofit in Boston, said that Trump’s plan to cut off new federal leases for wind energy will have a big impact on Massachusetts’ plans to reach net zero.

“The inability to secure those leases will make things incredibly difficult for the Commonwealth to meet its clean energy goals in the long term,” Murray said.

The president has repeatedly and falsely blamed the offshore wind industry for whale deaths and said during his inauguration speech that his administration would “end the ‘Green New Deal,’” referring to policies to accelerate the energy transition.

Still, Murray said that Massachusetts can respond to the slow-down in offshore wind development by ramping up solar development and accelerating the state’s energy efficiency goals.

“Offshore wind, while it was the centerpiece of our strategy, is not the only source of clean energy,” Murray said.

To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.

In reliably-blue Massachusetts, leaders and advocates prepare to fight Trump on transgender rights, climate efforts

Hours after returning to the presidency, President Trump began signing a suite of executive orders Monday aimed at fulfilling campaign promises and jolting US policy rightward on issues from the economy to the environment.

“The inflation crisis was caused by lots of overspending and escalating energy prices,” Trump said at his swearing-in ceremony, adding, “We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have — the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth — and we are going to use it.”

“We are not going to do the wind thing,” Trump said.

Kyle Murray, the director of the state program implementation at the Acadia Center, a clean energy research nonprofit in Boston, said Trump’s plan to not issue federal leases for wind energy will have a big impact on Massachusetts’ plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“The inability to secure those leases will make things incredibly difficult for the Commonwealth to meet its clean energy goals in the long term,” Murray said.

Still, Murray said that Massachusetts can respond to the slowdown in offshore wind development by ramping up solar development and accelerating the state’s energy efficiency goals.

To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.

Heat pumps are designed to operate when it’s still cold out. Really cold out.

Two years ago, the mercury dipped well below zero, significantly colder than this week. The Globe reached out to heat pump owners to see how their systems fared in the bitter cold in February 2023. Here’s what we found.

Greenhouse gases produced by heating buildings, including homes, account for about a third of Massachusetts’ climate-warming emissions.

Ben Butterworth, the director of climate, energy, and equity analysis at the clean energy advocacy organization Acadia Center, said he wasn’t surprised that heat pumps performed well. “After years of falsely being told that heat pumps weren’t suitable for extreme cold, I do think this moment was critical for instilling confidence in heat pump users,” he said. “Continued reliance on fossil fuels to heat our buildings is simply incompatible with the state’s climate targets.”

To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.

FERC Sides with New England Developers on Interconnection Complaint

New England transmission owners no longer can require interconnection customers to pay operations and maintenance (O&M) costs for required system upgrades.

Joe LaRusso, manager of the Clean Grid Program at the Acadia Center, wrote on social media that “FERC has broomed away a significant obstacle to interconnection that was unique to New England.”

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

More heat pumps and help for renters: What’s in the new Mass Save plan

In a new plan, leaders of Mass Save pledged big changes to the statewide program that provides rebates to residents to make their homes and businesses more energy efficient.

Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at the Acadia Center, a climate advocacy and research group, called the plan “innovative.”

“The plan includes record-breaking numbers all around that will keep Massachusetts a leader in progress on climate,” he wrote in an email.

Murray added it would help many residents — including renters and those with lower incomes — save money and reduce their homes’ climate footprints.

While the Healey administration is not expecting Mass Save alone to shoulder the 2030 goal, it did ask the utilities to estimate what it would cost to cut 2.2 million metric tons, or half the total state goal, by 2027.

The answer: at least $16.3 billion.

Murray of the Acadia Center said that’s too much to put on the backs of ratepayers.

“We have likely hit close to the maximum output of the current funding model,” he said in an email. “It is of the utmost importance that the Commonwealth make finding outside funding for the programs a top priority.”

To read the full article from wbur, click here.

State lawmakers pass bill that could change the way millions of Americans heat and cool their homes: ‘The gas system is not here forever’

Massachusetts lawmakers just approved a bill that will make it easier and quicker to build renewable energy projects across the state, while putting new limits on natural gas growth, reported Canary Media.

The new law creates a one-stop approval process for clean energy projects through the Energy Facilities Siting Board, removing red tape that often slows construction. It also sets time limits on legal challenges to renewable projects, capping them at 15 months to prevent lengthy delays.

Kyle Murray, director at the Acadia Center, added:

“I think this DPU takes that mission seriously. And so I’m confident they will take these updated provisions seriously.”

To read the full article from The Cool Down, click here.

Massachusetts shifts gears: New Mass Save plan targets rental units for green upgrades

A few months back, Frank Hays found himself in what he calls a “landlord’s plumbing nightmare.” At both of the rental properties he owns in Worcester, and even at his own home in Framingham, things just kept going wrong. Water heaters? Busted. Heating system? Down. Appliances? Shot.

Kyle Murray, of the Acadia Center, said there are some efforts underway by advocacy groups and the utilities to identify other funding, but that largely, the shortfall isn’t being addressed.

“We’re pushing these programs as far as they can go on current budgets,” he said. “We really need to be finding alternative sources of significant funding for the program that doesn’t put it again on the back of ratepayers.”

To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.

Clean energy experts warn new Trump tariffs could produce ‘chilling effect’ on green jobs

SOMERSET — The now-defunct Brayton Point power station looks like a relic from another time, a collection of aging industrial warehouses ringed by parking lots with cracked pavement and rusty chain-link fences.

Yet here is where the future of energy in Massachusetts is poised to take its next big step, as SouthCoast Wind’s offshore wind project gears up to make landfall on nearby shores, and the Prysmian manufacturing company prepares to launch a new facility for the undersea power cables that will pipe in electricity from the new wind farm off the state’s southern coast.

But under Trump, the costs of imported equipment could spike, dealing a “fairly significant hit” to the clean energy industry, said Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation at the climate nonprofit Acadia Center — and to the state’s goal of adding 34,000 clean energy jobs to the workforce by 2030.

“If you’re driving up prices … energy would not be spared,” Murray said. “There’s a lot of things the state can do regarding incentives and tax breaks, but we’re gonna have to think creatively and work quickly to try and mitigate any potential harms.”

To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.

David vs. Goliath: Mass. tries to even the playing field for decisions about energy infrastructure

Decisions about where to locate energy facilities like power plants and substations can have a major impact on a community’s health and well-being. But in Massachusetts, those communities have rarely had a seat at the table.

The problem: It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to hire lawyers and expert witnesses to influence the process, and unlike energy utilities, community groups can’t recoup those funds from ratepayers.

Looking ahead, Kyle Murray of the Acadia Center said the new program is critical for addressing historic hardships for average people and small cities and towns.

“This funding is critical to put these participants on an even playing field and ensure that their voices are heard.”

To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.

ISO-NE Stakeholders Respond to Potential Long-term Transmission RFP

Regional stakeholders widely support the New England States Committee on Electricity’s (NESCOE’s) proposed procurement of transmission solutions in Maine and New Hampshire but have differing views on the scope and format of the solicitation, according to public comments published Dec. 2

The Acadia Center submitted additional comments advocating for flexibility in potential solutions, a priority for using existing rights of way, and consideration of benefits related to increased interregional transmission capacity and offshore wind compatibility.

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