Why Massachusetts Needs a Clean Heat Standard

Ben Butterworth, Director of Climate, Energy, and Equity Analysis, spoke at the Building Decarbonization Coalition’s National Policy Call for Massachusetts about the Clean Heat Standard (CHS) and gas system planning. A Clean Heat Standard (CHS) is a performance standard requiring heating energy providers to replace fossil fuel heating with clean heat over time. They can do this by implementing clean heat measures, such as high-efficiency electric heat pumps or purchasing credits. A CHS requires either a gradually increasing percentage of low-emission heating services to customers over time or credits that are allocated based on the number of tons of greenhouse gas reduced. Heating energy providers include natural gas utilities, delivered fuel providers like heating oil and propane, and potentially electric utilities.

How Could Massachusetts Benefit from a CHS?

The MA Global Warming Solutions Act requires economy-wide net zero emissions by 2050 and 50% below 1990 levels by 2030. The building heat and cooling sector itself has a goal of a 49% reduction by 2030. The state’s energy efficiency program has been one of the critical drivers of building decarbonization, but more is needed. Spreading the cost of the building energy transition to natural gas, propane, and heating oil customers rather than only electric heating customers is the only sustainable way forward. A Clean Heat Standard can provide a solid boost to other efforts to decarbonize buildings, such as energy efficiency incentives, public funding and taxes, updated building codes, and fossil gas bans that take time to work.

One core challenge Massachusetts faces is not having a comprehensive plan for the future of gas systems over the next three decades. Coordination with gas system planning is vital because it allows for long-term planning that supports the least-cost pathway to net zero instead of only permitting short-term strategies that produce marginal reductions in emissions. The Future of Gas docket (DPU 20-80) attempted to create that vision, and Acadia Center was heavily involved throughout that process. The DPU has failed to rule on this issue as of September 2023. The CHS would complement strategic, geographically targeted decommissioning of the gas distribution system in a least-cost, equitable manner.

So, how does the state create an equitable CHS?

Disadvantaged communities disproportionately live in older, less efficiently heated households. These communities must be involved in the design of the CHS program. To ensure equitable design of the CHS, a “just transition fee” can be imposed on projects that don’t support equitable outcomes, “carve out” requirements for disadvantaged communities, and generate higher program incentives for equitable projects. Additionally, coordination with policy solutions outside the scope of CHS, such as rate reform, is also essential.

A Clean Heat Standard must ensure that the right clean energy technologies are promoted and that there is a straightforward way to measure the emissions impacts of the program. For example, the CHS promotes biomass heating in some states, which is a high-emitting energy choice. To meet its goals, the MA CHS must advance those new heating measures to meet the state’s climate goals.

You can watch the full webinar below.

RGGI 61st Auction, 2023 in Review and the Consequence for Climate and Clean Energy Transition

BOSTON, MA- On Wednesday, September 6^th, the eleven states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) released the results of the 61^st auction for 2023. Emissions allowances were sold for $13.85 each, generating $303 million for clean energy investments in participating states. The allowance price for the RGGI program is the highest in 2023 and remains above the historical average. The Cost Containment Reserve (“CCR”) Trigger Price of $14.88 per ton of CO₂ was avoided, so no CCR allowances were sold in the auction. Both the proceeds from sales of allowances and the clearing price for this 61^st auction ranked among the top five highest in the history of RGGI.

Higher RGGI allowance price is good for climate, clean energy investment

The clearing price represents the price that power plant operators must pay for each ton of CO₂ emitted by their fossil-fuel-fired plants. The auction clearing price of $13.85 represents a 9% increase from the previous auction in June, and, in total, the average 2023 auction price is 3% lower than the average 2022 auction price. Having higher allowance prices seen in 2022 and 2023 means that the RGGI program is sending a stronger incentive to produce electricity from carbon-free sources, like wind and solar. Recent auctions have demonstrated the growing significance of the CCR – the auctions in 2022 and 2023 have all narrowly avoided the CCR trigger price, while the 54^th auction in December 2021 represented the first time since 2015 that additional allowances were released because of triggering the CCR.

Since the program launched, the vast majority of RGGI proceeds have been invested in energy efficiency and clean energy projects, as detailed in the most recent report on RGGI investments in 2021, released in June of this year. The $303 million in proceeds generated in this auction brings the annual to-date total to $6.1 billion, already 71.5% of the previous year’s record-setting total proceeds, with one more remaining auction in 2023, showing that auction proceeds have been trending upward in recent years. For example, the auction proceeds in 2023 so far are 22% higher than the total proceeds generated in all 2019 and 2020 auctions combined. This is great news for climate action, the economy, and the growing energy efficiency and clean energy workforce.

RGGI Third Program Review Offers an Opportunity to Direct Proceeds Towards Clean Energy Investments that Directly Benefit Environmental Justice Communities

Since its establishment, RGGI’s priorities have centered around reducing pollution from fossil fuel power plants and achieving climate solutions for RGGI states. Every five years or so, RGGI undergoes a program review, giving the participating states the opportunity to consider the program’s performance and make various changes, including the equitable disbursement of the program’s proceeds. RGGI’s Third Program Review is happening now. On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, as part of the Third Program Review, the RGGI states are holding a public meeting to discuss and seek feedback on different aspects of the program. After this meeting, RGGI Inc. will be soliciting written comments.

As discussed in more detail in Acadia Center’s most recent RGGI Report, the Third Program review offers an excellent opportunity to ensure that environmental justice communities are heard and are actively involved in the development of strategies to ensure a smooth, equitable transition to a carbon-free economy. This ongoing program review provides a chance for states to consider the recent auctions, the history of investments across the states, the need to address environmental justice communities directly, and other mechanisms associated with the cap-and-invest program.

Acadia Center remains closely involved in RGGI policy conversations across the RGGI states and will continue to advocate for program reforms that drive equitable investment and climate action.

Media Contacts:

Ben Butterworth, Director: Climate, Energy, and Equity Analysis
bbutterworth@acadiacenter.org, 617-742-0054 x111

Paola Moncada Tamayo, Policy Analyst
ptamayo@acadiacenter.org, 860-246-7121 x204

Mass. Utilities Submit Grid Modernization Drafts

Eversource and National Grid expect their annual peak electricity load in Massachusetts to more than double by 2050, the utilities told the state’s Department of Energy Resources (DOER) last week.

The projections are part of the draft electric sector modernization plans (ESMPs) submitted to DOER by Massachusetts’ investor-owned electric utilities, which detail the electric distribution companies’ plans to meet the massive increase in electricity demand associated with the electrification transportation and heating in the state.

The Grid Modernization Advisory Council (GMAC), a stakeholder committee created by the state’s 2022 Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind and convened by DOER, will review the filings, solicit public feedback and provide comments on the utilities’ drafts.

“It’s really taking a forward-looking approach for the first time in Massachusetts’ history,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director for the Acadia Center and GMAC voting member. Murray said grid planning in the state historically has happened in an “ad hoc manner.”

Murray added that one of the council’s goals is to engage the public in the grid modernization process and include voices that historically have been absent from these proceedings.

Murray said one of his main hopes for the process is to help clear out the interconnection backlog of renewable energy projects.

“We know we need as many renewables on the market as possible, and yet they’re coming on at a pace that’s kind of like a trickle,” Murray said.

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

Too hot to handle: As schools reopen in a heat wave, a warning of the climate future

By the end of the day on Wednesday, students in Ralph Saint-Louis’s class at Lowell High School had had it. One put her head down, complaining of a migraine. Another asked for water, grateful for the mini-fridge that Saint-Louis, a science and ESL teacher, keeps stocked for moments like this.

As the temperature outside rose into the low 90s, classroom temperatures soared nearly as high. In Saint-Louis’s room, a standalone air conditioner he had raised money to buy himself was set to 61 degrees and still managed only to keep the temperature in the high 70s.

Window units may take the edge off the heat, but they don’t come close to solving the problem, climate advocates say.

Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at the clean energy advocacy group Acadia Center, called them “a piecemeal approach” that “is bad for the environment and incredibly wasteful, both from a climate perspective and an energy burden perspective.”

“Schools are in an incredibly difficult position as they have very limited budgets and have to make remarkably tough calls on priorities,” said Murray, of Acadia Center.

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

4 things to know about the state-led push for underwater transmission

North Atlantic states are weighing an offshore transmission “backbone” that would support a massive boom of wind farms critical to the nation’s climate goals.

The upsides could be huge — both in efficiency and cost. An ocean corridor of high-voltage power lines would smooth the way for wind turbines to connect to the electric grid, allowing states from Maine to New Jersey to more easily add new clean energy.

A coordinated grid for offshore wind could also jump-start the “macro grid,” a high-voltage spider web of electricity lines that advocates say is needed as the country shifts away from fossil fuels.

Daniel Sosland, president of the Acadia Center, an environmental group in New England, said the federal government could help relieve friction between states and developers over cost and ownership of power lines.

“There’s a kind of parochialism that sets in,” he said. “Whereas if the government starts a planning process, the states get organized to get resources, [and] it’s more of a government-oriented public interest.”

Offshore wind transmission is certainly in the public interest, he added. It could also alleviate the congested interconnections among the three regional grids that provide power in the eight North Atlantic states.

By 2035, for example, New England and New York may need to double their interregional transfer capacity, or how much power can flow from one region to another, according to a recent draft report from DOE.

“I think we’re on the verge of seeing all the pieces come together,” Sosland said.

To read the full article on E&E News, click here.

Environmental Groups File Lawsuit to Keep VA in RGGI

Several environmental groups have filed a lawsuit to keep Virginia in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

In June, Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board voted to remove the state from the initiative, for which Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Republicans in the General Assembly have striven.

The lawsuit alleges the board did not have the authority to remove Virginia since lawmakers voted to put the state in the initiative in 2020. Activists rallied across the state on Monday to keep Virginia in.

An Acadia Center report found initiative auctions generated more than $523 million for Virginia, since March 2021, a yearly average of around $262 million. The funds have supported state level flood resilience efforts and funding low-income energy efficiency programs.

To read the full article from Public News Service, click here.

Heat Pump Program Receives $25M Boost

PROVIDENCE — There’s good news for folks seeking to electrify their homes and adopt heat pumps this winter: state officials this week are expected to announce the last of a new incentive program to tackle home heating emissions.

The program, dubbed Clean Heat RI by the Office of Energy Resources (OER), provides an additional $25 million to the state’s existing suite of heat pump incentives to spur early adoption of the climate-friendly technology in homes and businesses around the state. At least 40% of the funds, which are allocated from federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars, are earmarked for incentives for underserved communities in compliance with federal guidelines set by the federal Department of Energy.

A 2020 report from Acadia Center, an environmental nonprofit dedicated to climate and renewable energy solutions, estimates switching a home from heating oil to a heat pump reduces the equivalent emissions of taking dozens of cars off the road for a year. Over the lifespan of the equipment, a home can reduce its emissions by 58 metric equivalent tons.

To read the full article from EcoRI, click here.

The legal battle over whether Virginia can withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative begins

As promised, the Southern Environmental Law Center this week sued Virginia to stop it from withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Virginia joined that 11-state partnership in 2021, during the Northam administration. The initiative’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capping the amount of carbon pollution that electric companies can emit. Basically, power companies have to buy permits for every ton of carbon they emit, and if they exceed their permitted amounts they are fined.

RGGI was around for more than a decade before Virginia joined. And during that decade, a study by the environmental advocacy group Acadia Center showed that power plants in the nine states initially involved cut their emissions nearly in half. And according to the Southern Environmental Law Center’s suit, emissions from Virginia’s power plants dropped 16.8% in the two years we’ve been involved.

To read the full article from Charlottesville Tomorrow, click here.

Businesses charting more active course in combating climate change

Business action to meet climate goals is essential to mitigation and adaptation solutions, whether by investing in their operations, producing clean and sustainable products and services, or supporting climate policies. Yet businesses still face barriers to action because of capacity constraints on financial, human, information, or other resources. Small businesses in particular need specialized attention and support. They don’t have the resources to focus on climate change, even though many potential strategies could save them time and money.

New England plays an impressive role on the world climate stage, with an increasingly engaged business community collaborating with others to resolve conflicts at the intersection of climate and the economy (“Utilities, businesses changing their tune: Shift appears in approach to climate concerns,” Page A1, Aug. 24). An Acadia Center official’s attempt to be “blunt” in saying that “the business community will go where they see an opportunity to make money” is outdated. It returns us to the environment vs. economy adversarial roles prevalent in past environmental and business groups’ relationships.

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

Gas Car Showdown: The People vs Special Interest Groups

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) held a public hearing on Tuesday (Aug. 22) about Gov. Ned Lamont’s announcement: that Connecticut will join fifteen other states that conform to California’s emission standards rather than federal emission standards set by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). 

Last year, California unveiled plans to discontinue the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, after which all new vehicle sales will be zero-emission vehicles, with a focus on electric vehicles (EV). According to a Connecticut law passed in 2004, DEEP’s commissioner shall adopt and amend emission regulations implemented by the Golden State. 

During the four-hour meeting, DEEP heard from various special interest groups — including those that will profit from the ban — argue that these regulations are needed to save the planet. 

Advocates from environmental groups such as Acadia Center, Citizens Climate Lobby and Save the Sound spoke in support promising a cleaner atmosphere, lower asthma rates and job creation. 

To read the full article from Yankee Institute, click here.