How Trump could stall Massachusetts’ electric vehicle transition

Trump has offered contradictory statements about EVs during the campaign and may not be able to make all of the changes he seeks, experts said.

“Sometimes with the president-elect, there is a gap between rhetoric and action,” said Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation at the Acadia Center in Boston. “It can be difficult to judge what is actually going to occur.”

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

New Report Outlines New England’s Renewable Energy Needs

A new report from the Acadia Center and the Clean Air Task Force examines the critical role that community engagement will play in meeting New England’s 2050 decarbonization goals. The report highlights the opportunity to accelerate the region’s renewable energy progress by addressing local concerns and better equipping communities to meaningfully participate in the siting and approval processes.

The laws and policies of most New England states generally target 80% to 100% greenhouse gas emissions reductions below 1990 levels by 2050.

Drawing from prominent case studies from around the region, the report also identifies promising options for developers, communities, and policymakers to improve project planning and engagement, helping reduce the risk of failures, legal challenges, and delays.

Without comprehensive reforms to improve community engagement processes and modernize siting and permitting policies, the region’s renewable energy transition risks significant delays and setbacks, according to report’s authors.

Part 1 of the report examines New England’s renewable energy infrastructure needs. Part 2 examines how to build a supportive community and policy environment for renewable energy development, while considering several case studies in the region.

The two-part report summarizes the findings of a yearlong assessment, offering options and opportunities for both state and local governments, as well as for community stakeholders and project developers.

As New England transitions from fossil fuels to a decarbonized, renewable grid, the success of this transformation will depend on active and meaningful community engagement, according to the authors. Without local buy-in, critical energy projects will continue to face significant headwinds and delays, putting the region’s climate goals at risk, they added.

To read the full article from ecoRI, click here.

Massport to invest $60 million to create electric shore power for growing cruise ship industry

Massport announced plans on Friday to spend $60 million to build an electric power system allowing some specially-equipped cruise ships to plug in and switch off diesel engines while docked.

Kyle Murray, who directs state policy at the Acadia Center, a New England environmental and clean energy nonprofit, says the support marks a shift in statements from policymakers — who once generally only praised the economic boons of shipping in the region.

“(Shipping) has flown under a lot of groups’ radar because it’s so complicated to decarbonize these sectors,” he said.

An ambitious climate bill, passed last week by the Legislature, revised Massport’s charter to require the agency focus on greenhouse gas emissions and impact on local communities.

“That’s a part of their mission going forward,” Murray said. “I think we’re going to see a lot more attention drawn to this this going forward.”

To read the full article from GBH, click here.

New England states’ renewable energy push blasted as too costly by free-market advocates

Conservative think tanks in New England are taking aim at state energy policies that promote zero-carbon energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Staggering Costs of New England’s Green Energy Policies,” a report released Tuesday by the Denver-based organization Always On Energy Research, and signed onto by free-market advocacy groups in New England, says ratepayers’ bills will double, to $4,610 by 2050, as a result of state policies, or “mandates,” to promote green energy.

Environmental advocates blasted the report, calling it inaccurate and misleading. The Acadia Center, a climate and clean energy advocacy group, said the report “overlooks enormous costs borne by ratepayers under today’s fossil grid.”

The Acadia Center acknowledged the costs of shifting to zero-carbon energy. “Let’s be candid: There will be significant costs from the energy transition (and significant benefits as well),” it said.

But economic growth as carbon emissions decline “belies the canard that New England state climate policies spell doom for the regional economy,” the Acadia Center said.

The report “ignores the impossibly high cost of business-as-usual,” it said. New Englanders withdraw billions of dollars from the region’s economy each year to purchase fossil fuels sourced outside New England. Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine spend $8.2 billion annually importing fossil fuels, the Acadia Center said.

In addition, the cost of ignoring climate-driven storms, heat waves, flooding and other disasters is the loss of human life and billions of dollars in property damage, it said.

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

New report claims New England emissions goals may mean higher electricity costs

MANCHESTER, N.H. — A report from a group of conservative and free market New England think tanks warns that increased use of wind and solar energy could lead to increased electricity costs and rolling blackouts in the region.

The nonprofit Acadia Center, which is focused on clean energy solutions, is rebutting the report, saying it fails to withstand “basic analytical scrutiny.”

To read the full article from WMUR, click here.

Report warns of huge costs from green energy mandates in New England, but critics cry foul

A new report commissioned by seven conservative-leaning organizations and free-market think tanks paints Massachusetts’ and New England’s devotion to renewable energy as failed policy that will cost residents more than $815 billion, won’t meet electricity demand, and result in rolling blackouts.

The nonprofit Acadia Center, which is focused on cutting carbon emissions, said the report presents a “deeply flawed analysis” and a “distorted view of the region’s future energy outlook.”

Job growth from renewable projects that end the region’s reliance on spending billions to import fossil fuels, along with the steep cost of rebuilding areas after natural disasters due to climate change, are reasons cited by the Acadia Center to support a renewable-energy path.

The transition will be expensive, said Acadia, but “using intentionally misleading information to fearmonger on behalf of the fossil fuel industry and advance its interests does not serve the best interests of New England ratepayers.”

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

Report On Costs Stirs Clean Energy Debate

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, NOV. 19, 2024…..New Englanders may experience yearly spikes in their electricity bills compounded by rolling blackouts during the winter as the region continues to embrace renewable energy sources, according to a new report from conservative-leaning think tanks.

The Acadia Center, a Boston-based nonprofit focused on clean energy solutions, rebuked the report, alleging it offers an “inaccurate picture” of infrastructure investments, and overlooks the “enormous” cost ratepayers are currently facing “under today’s fossil grid.”

While the AOER report claims electricity rates will double for New England residents and businesses, the Acadia Center says forecasts produced by Massachusetts energy officials show rates will increase through 2030 and then decrease. The expanded use of electrified transportation and heating systems is also supposed to save Bay State households money, according to the state’s clean energy and climate plan.

“Let’s be candid: there will be significant costs from the energy transition (and significant benefits as well) – Acadia Center has been clear-eyed about this reality and what it means for our public policymaking,” the center said. “However, using intentionally misleading information to fearmonger on behalf of the fossil fuel industry and advance its interests does not serve the best interests of New England ratepayers.”

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

Energy battles intensifying ahead of Trump swearing-in

BOSTON (SHNS) – There is a clean energy bill sitting on Gov. Maura Healey’s desk and Beacon Hill’s calendar for this week includes an array of energy-related events and reports. But there are also mounting indications that the federal government could change course on energy policy under the administration that President-elect Donald Trump is assembling.

“The most difficult thing is going to be continuing to try and meet emissions targets. We know this incoming administration is going to press heavily on oil and natural gas and the expansion of those, so that does obviously present a major challenge going forward as we try to curtail those,” Kyle Murray, senior advocate and Massachusetts program director at the Acadia Center, said. “Massachusetts is taking some fairly nascent first steps towards limiting the expansion of the gas system in the state, and there are fed efforts that could potentially undermine that work.”

Murray said the incoming Trump administration “could put up some major roadblocks and make life difficult” for renewable energy industries, including offshore wind. But he also noted that many of the large oil and gas companies have already begun to diversify and invest in renewables.

“There’s a world you could envision where those companies are pressing for investment in all of the above — oil, natural gas, offshore wind, solar, all of those things. There is a potential opportunity there,” Murray said. He added, “The energy transition is big business and there’s a lot of money involved in it. So there’s some hope that that train has left the station too much. That being said, there’s always the caveat that you never know.”

To read the full article from WWLP, click here.

Compromise Climate Bill Finally Approved by Mass. Legislature

After nearly two years of debates, negotiations, and last-minute stalling by Republicans in the state House of Representatives, the Massachusetts Legislature has sent a wide-ranging climate bill to the desk of Gov. Maura Healey, who has indicated she will sign the legislation.

Kyle Murray of the Acadia Center said the bill is a “major win for the Commonwealth, for ratepayers, public health, climate resiliency and for our clean energy future,” adding that the gas reforms “will provide the Department of Public Utilities with the needed tools to save ratepayers money on imprudent investments, stranded assets and leaky pipes.”

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

Massachusetts passes bill to speed clean energy and slow gas expansion

Yesterday, Massachusetts lawmakers made major moves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition the state to clean energy. Legislators approved a long-awaited climate bill that will limit gas pipeline expansion, make it easier to site and build renewables, and allow utilities to use geothermal energy — instead of fossil fuels — to heat and cool homes. Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat, is expected to sign it into law in the coming days.

“The Legislature and the Healey-Driscoll Administration are taking tangible steps to drive the Commonwealth’s clean energy future forward in the wake of the federal Election outcome,” the Acadia Center said in a press release following the vote. Massachusetts is the first state to take action on climate since Trump’s re-election; the new federal landscape could spur more state lawmakers to try and advance climate legislation.

In 2021, the DPU updated its mission to include promoting equity and greenhouse gas emission reductions, in addition to safety, security, reliability, and affordability. ​

“I think this DPU takes that mission seriously. And so I’m confident they will take these updated provisions seriously,” said Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation at the Acadia Center.

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