Senator Markey blasts “minimizing our potential for renewables” or MOPR rule in New England

“We cannot simply accept the promise of a future with clean energy, we need a plan for clean energy today,” said US Senator Ed Markey at a press conference in Holyoke, Massachusetts, outside the headquarters of grid operator ISO-New England.

Senator Markey challenged ISO-NE for proposing to delay the elimination of a rule that “puts fossil fuel generation ahead of cleaner, cheaper alternatives.” The rule is called the minimum offer price rule, or MOPR, but it “actually stands for something else,” Markey said. “It stands for minimizing our potential for renewables, in Massachusetts and all across New England.”

Senator Markey joined with Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to send a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, asking the commission to use its existing regulatory authority to reject ISO-NE’s proposal to extend the MOPR rule.

Senator Markey said MOPR sets an “artificially high price” to participate in wholesale electricity auctions “that prevents lower cost providers” of renewables and storage from “out-competing the more expensive fossil fuel power generators.”

The Senator noted that the International Panel on Climate Change has called for peak global emissions no later than 2025, followed by rapid reductions. “Current policies put our warming trends closer to three degrees Celsius. In Fahrenheit, that’s the difference between a 95 degree day and a 101 degree day. But ISO New England says we have to go slow. The difference is this: you have to think about manageable oceans, or 11 feet of sea level rise by the end of this century.”

The letter by the three Senators says that “three New England natural gas plant operators” developed the proposal to keep the MOPR rule for another two years.

“Our energy system is not is not an old boys club and shouldn’t be run like one,” said Amy Boyd, policy director at the nonprofit Acadia Center, speaking after Senator Markey. “We need a modern approach to regional energy management that at a bare minimum gives new clean energy the same access to the capacity market that fossil fuels receive.”

The Alliance of Business Leadership’s president Jen Benson also spoke at the press conference, saying “When you lower the cost of energy, families have more dollars to put into the economy and so do businesses.”

Senator Markey appealed to state pride in his speech, saying “We’re not just the Bay State, we’re the brain state. We have to be leading on these issues, not a laggard.”  He noted that Massachusetts now gets 20% of its electricity from solar.

Read the full article in PV Magazine here. 

Opinion: Only one way for RI to get off fossil fuel roller coaster

As Alex Kuffner reported on April 1 (“Spike in RI electric prices expected,” News), Rhode Islanders will likely pay more for fossil fuel-dominated electricity next winter. We’ve long been at risk for these types of pricing fluctuations because we are far too dependent on a finite and increasingly scarce supply of fossil fuels which our region cannot produce.

That means we are among the most vulnerable to pricing volatility for an energy resource that is extremely sensitive to geopolitical events, natural and man-made disasters, cyberattacks, and even decisions from fossil fuel producers to cut production as occurred during the pandemic to artificially increase commodity prices for oil and natural gas.

But as Rhode Island transitions away from fossil fuels, we will become less vulnerable to pressures well beyond our control.

One way for Rhode Island to get off this fossil fuel roller coaster is to become energy independent by supporting companion bills S2274 and H7277, sponsored by Senate President Dominick Ruggerio and Rep. Deborah Ruggiero, to put our state on a path to 100% renewable electricity.

Environmental advocates have long worried about the intrinsic pricing volatility and air pollution from fossil fuels. And while many skeptics claim renewable energy is more expensive, long-term renewable electricity contracts regularly tell a different story.

For instance, in March 2020, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission approved a 20-year power purchase agreement from Gravel Pit Solar at 5.3 cents per kilowatt hour — far below average current and projected electric supply rates. Similarly, the 400-megawatt procurement of electricity from the offshore Revolution Wind project came in at a levelized price of just over 7 cents per kilowatt hour for supply. Clean resources like these have zero fuel costs – the sun and wind are free, if we just capture them.

Meanwhile, fossil fuel prices have and always will be volatile. Locking into long-term low-cost renewable energy contracts is the best strategy to protect Rhode Islanders against future spikes. Senate Environment and Agriculture Chairperson Dawn Euer has also introduced bill S2583, which would help meet the 100% renewable goal by requiring Rhode Island to procure up to 600 additional megawatts of offshore wind, which will likely also help lower our average supply prices.

Finally, the lowest-cost way to control energy prices is to invest more in energy efficiency measures that lock in long-term energy savings, both by improving the quality and comfort of individual buildings but also by reducing the aggregate amount of energy required across the state.

Efficiency is simply the most cost-effective fuel we have. That’s why we must remove current state budget proposals that would divert critical energy efficiency funds away from these nation-leading programs. Energy efficiency has long been and will continue to be the lowest-cost and simplest way to reduce our energy insecurity and keep electric rates in check.

Rhode Island proudly proclaims itself as the first state to declare independence from the British crown and celebrates its own Independence Day each May 4. This year, let’s set a goal to also celebrate our independence from polluting fossil fuels by signing these important bills into law.

Read the full OpEd, published in The Providence Journal here.

With Financial Incentives the Future Is Electric

It may seem like a tall order: Make changes to your home to lower your energy bills, remove harmful pollutants from the air you breathe, and help in the global fight against climate change.

But it’s not as hard as it might sound. According to a new report commissioned by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, it’s possible for New Jerseyans to achieve all three.

The report, “The Future Is Electric,” finds consumers could see more than a 50% reduction in their energy bills by installing highly efficient electric heating and cooling systems and weatherizing their houses. That amounts to substantial savings in a household budget. What’s more, transitioning away from burning fossil fuels inside homes would mean cleaner and healthier indoor air, and fewer outdoor emissions contributing to global warming and over 250 premature deaths annually in New Jersey.

Prepared by the Acadia Center, a New England-based climate research and advocacy nonprofit, the report also highlights the need for New Jersey and its utilities to provide more incentives for consumers to invest in efficient electric heating – similar to the popular rebates offered to consumers who buy electric vehicles.

Coincidentally, “The Future Is Electric” was released one day after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a dire warning that our rapidly warming climate is wreaking havoc across the planet, and that time is running out to stabilize it. Unless greenhouse gas emissions are quickly and drastically reduced, the panel report said, climate change impacts – including floods, storms, droughts and other extreme weather events – will overwhelm the ability of nature and humanity to adapt.

New Jersey is making progress on reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity. The state requires that by 2030, 50% of the electricity we consume will come from in-state and regional solar and wind. The state is also working to reduce the state’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions – vehicles and transportation – with generous rebates to buyers of electric vehicles.

One piece of the clean energy puzzle that has gotten considerably less attention is the building sector. Many New Jerseyans don’t realize that houses and buildings are the state’s second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. When you think about it, it makes sense: Our state has hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings. Each building heated with natural gas, heating oil or propane has its own on-site combustion system, which produces both indoor and outdoor emissions. Polluted air can cause or exacerbate many health conditions, including asthma.

What’s the alternative to fossil fuel systems? Many consumers are turning to a newer technology known as air source heat pumps. “Heat pumps are essentially a super-efficient air conditioner that can work backwards,” explained Amy Boyd, policy director at the Acadia Center. They work by moving heat from outdoor air indoors, and are effective even in cold climates.

Air source heat pumps are far more energy efficient than fossil fuel combustion. By combining heat pump technology with weatherizing “leaky” houses, Boyd said, consumers could see their energy bills cut in half. Heat pumps create no emissions, either indoors or outdoors, so families can breathe cleaner, healthier air. This is especially important in New Jersey’s urban areas, which have the state’s highest levels of air pollution.

So what’s stopping New Jersey consumers from reaping these benefits? Mostly money. Heat pump systems have higher up-front costs, and New Jersey is behind other northeastern states in offering financial incentives to motivate homeowners to make the switch.

“One thing that states like Massachusetts are doing is putting their money where their climate policy is,” said Boyd. In states that offer substantial rebates, she noted, heat pump systems can be comparable in cost or even cheaper than fossil fuel combustion systems. It’s time for New Jersey to get with the program and support a switch to clean, electrically heated buildings.

The Murphy administration has already committed to producing more electricity with clean, renewable technology and getting more drivers into electric vehicles. The next logical step is to make it affordable for residents to upgrade their homes to safe, efficient, non-polluting heating systems.

One advocate for stronger incentives is state Sen. Andrew Zwicker, who spoke at a briefing on the release of “The Future Is Electric” report.

“New Jersey has to be a leader here,” he said. “If we can provide financial incentives, consumers can have choices” for better health, lower energy bills and fighting climate change.

“This is a key moment, not just in New Jersey’s history or U.S. history, but globally,” Zwicker added. “The IPCC report that just came out makes it clear that global warming is outpacing our ability to cope. The oceans are rising, the forests are burning, and carbon dioxide levels continue their upward march. It’s now a question of are we willing to take this moment and move forward?”

New Jersey’s answer needs to be yes!

Read the full article in The SandPaper here.

RI Attorney General files emergency appeal against sale of Narragansett Electric Company

On Feb. 23, the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers approved the sale of Narragansett Electric Company — National Grid’s electric and gas supplier in Rhode Island — to Pennsylvania-based electric company PPL Electric Utilities. One day later, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha filed an emergency appeal of the decision in the Rhode Island Superior Court  “on the grounds that it does not sufficiently provide assurances that the sale is in the best interests of Rhode Islanders,” according to a Feb. 24 statement.

Following concerns raised by community organizations during the sale’s review process that PPL lacks sufficient experience to further National Grid’s advancements toward green energy and meet state climate goals outlined by the 2021 Act on Climate bill, DPUC approved the $5.3 billion transaction.

Now, as Neronha’s appeal process moves forward, the case has come to represent “one of the first opportunities to uphold the Act on Climate and send some guidance to other state agencies that it is a legal standard that they need to follow,” said Hank Webster, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island director at Acadia Center, a clean energy research and advocacy organization that voiced concerns regarding the sale during the review process.

State climate organizations raise concerns

While upon review DPUC guaranteed that the sale was made in “public interest” — a requirement for the purchase to pass — some environmental groups cited different interpretations of public interest given ongoing climate concerns.

According to Kai Salem ’18, policy coordinator at Green Energy Consumers Alliance, utility companies are essential to the state’s commitment to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030 through the Act on Climate.

Many community advocates who partook in the review process cited PPL’s lack of experience in green energy as a concern with the sale, given that the company currently only operates in states which lack green energy goals comparable to those outlined by the Act on Climate, Salem said.

“The vast majority of electricity and natural gas in our state goes through the utility systems,” Salem said. These companies “are charged by law with administering most of the green energy plans” in the state. If a company fails to meet these policies, it “could really hamper our ability to meet our climate goals.”

National Grid currently operates in Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts, “three of the top five states nationally for energy efficiency,” Webster said. National Grid’s experience in Rhode Island as well as other states with green energy pathways means that the company has already “lived in that ecosystem” of green energy, he added. Should they maintain control of the state’s power supply, “they can leverage that expertise” to help “decarbonize the utility based systems” in a way PPL cannot.

During the review process, Salem also questioned the company’s ability to meet climate goals without impacting Rhode Island ratepayers. “PPL could gain that experience and expertise,” she explained, but the money necessary to provide it “is going to be charged to Rhode Islanders.”

During the review process, National Grid refuted the claim that the transaction could negatively impact the state’s ratepayers. In its rebuttal, the company stated that, after analyzing the information supplied by PPL, it is “confident that customers of Narragansett will continue to receive safe, reliable and cost-effective electric and gas distribution service.”

In an email to The Herald, Mark Miller, director of communications for PPL, wrote that the company has maintained rates in its present localities that are “31% lower than the average rates in the Mid-Atlantic region” as of the most recent comparison in summer 2021.

Miller also noted that, by investing in the automation of the electrical grid, PPL reduced outages by 30% and incorporated “over 14,600 customer-owned and third party-owned distributed energy resources,” he wrote.

Currently, National Grid is piloting a geothermal network — a project that, according to Webster, would be deeply beneficial to Rhode Island. PPL indicated during the review process that “they have no intention of pursuing that pathway, at least not right now,” which led to concern from local climate activists, he said.

Additionally, PPL would have to continue National Grid’s project of developing technology to blend green hydrogen into distribution heating to help displace natural gas within the Ocean State, Webster said.

Salem also highlighted that Rhode Island has focused on offshore wind power as the main way to reduce carbon emissions, but PPL has no experience with such infrastructure. None of the states in which it currently operates have wind power installations.

In their testimonies during the review process, National Grid and PPL pointed to ongoing collaboration between the two companies as a way PPL will negate concerns regarding its overall experience with green energy. PPL noted that it will leverage the experience “managing energy efficiency programs and programs similar to least-cost procurement in its existing utilities” while taking advantage of the knowledge provided by National Grid employees that will be transferring to PPL.

Miller did not comment on PPL’s ability to meet climate goals.

Bringing the sale to court

Margaret Curran, senior attorney at the Clean Energy and Climate Change Program at the Conservation Law Foundation in Rhode Island, noted that because “utilities are a regulated industry, they come under a number of regulatory requirements” that independent businesses do not, necessitating that the state DPUC approve the sale as within public interest.

Curran, who voiced environmental concerns in the review process on behalf of CLF, said that DPUC had a “much more lenient” approach to the case than she anticipated.

“It didn’t want to ask a lot of the questions that the Attorney General’s office was arguing were necessary,” she said, including certain financial information and storm response plans.

For Curran, DPUC’s decision to uphold the sale despite widespread public criticism only further demonstrated the current division’s hands-off approach, which she said does not meet the expectations of community stakeholders. “The Hearing Officer seemed to view the Division’s role in overseeing this interaction as very light-touch,” she said, suggesting that the DPUC only worried about the utility being in “good financial order.”

The Climate and Development Lab at Brown University also raised concerns regarding PPL’s knowledge of offshore wind supply, according to J. Timmons Roberts, professor of environmental studies. Roberts alleged that DPUC’s “historical focus is about low rates and reliability above all else.”

In Neronha’s March 23 opening brief to the Superior Court, he alleged that DPUC “expressly denied the statutory command to consider climate impacts of the transaction, as it must in all its decisions, enacted by the legislature in its adoption of the 2021 Act on Climate.”

While we are “confident the Division’s decision will be upheld, we also understand that this is a complex transaction and recognize the Attorney General’s commitment to ensuring Rhode Island customers will not be impacted by it,” wrote Ted Kresse, director of strategic communications at National Grid, in an email to The Herald.

Thomas Kogut, DPUC associate administrator, wrote in an email to The Herald that DPUC is unable to comment on the review process as it falls within its current legal proceedings at the Superior Court.

Setting a precedent for the Act on Climate 

The Act on Climate set legally enforceable emission reduction requirements for state energy companies. But, according to climate activists, even though DPUC’s approval of the purchase came on the condition that PPL would eventually meet these goals, it did not satisfactorily outline steps to do so. That represents a potential limitation of the bill in ensuring that businesses uphold state climate goals prior to gaining control of state energy resources.

According to Webster, the focus on “the company’s willingness to commit to meeting targets without any specifics around how they plan to do that” could set a dangerous precedent for companies entering the review process with promises they might be unable or unwilling to act on later.

During the review process, PPL released a list of seventeen methods to meet state climate goals. The document promises that PPL will “submit a report to the Division within 12 months of the transaction closing on its specific decarbonization goals for Narragansett to support the goals of Rhode Island’s 2021 Act on Climate.” But Webster said their language was too abstract to verify with confidence.

In its rebuttal testimony, National Grid said the Act on Climate does not place any immediate requirements on public utilities and that “compliance with future rules or regulations implementing the 2021 Act should be addressed in a separate forum and not as a condition of approval of the transaction.”

Amid these disagreements on the implementation of the Act on Climate, Curran suggested that businesses within the state might look to the result of the ongoing hearing when interpreting how they will meet the requirements of the bill moving forward. The resistance toward incorporating the Act on Climate in decisions “comes from entrenched economic interests that are fighting pretty hard not to have those changes put into place, because it means they will have to substantially change much of the business that they have been doing,” she said.

“Although it is frustrating that this is happening, it demonstrates the power of the Act on Climate and how important it is to have legally binding climate mandates because it allows us to use the court system to enforce it,” Salem said.

On April 1, the Superior Court ruled in favor of Neronha’s appeal and scheduled a subsequent oral argument held Tuesday, suggesting DPUC failed to “adequately consider the environmental impacts of the transaction in accordance with the 2021 Act on Climate” in its initial approval.

After the oral argument, the Court will provide a final decision and community members will have one more opportunity to contest the sale. According to Curran, both the Attorney General and PPL could decide to take the matter to the Supreme Court.

If the sale moves forward, Curran thinks there is still room for optimism about PPL’s ability to meet climate goals.

“Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised by PPL. They actually have done some interesting work in Pennsylvania and have actually done more work than National Grid in putting up advanced metering functionalities,” she said. “Maybe this is a utility we can work with.”

According to Miller, PPL is “excited about the prospect of serving the energy needs of Rhode Islanders as well as partnering with the State to achieve its decarbonization goals.”

While Webster is less confident about PPL’s ability to meet state climate needs, he noted that the Acadia Center is “committed to help PPL advance the clean energy future.” But first, he added, the organization wants “the state to conduct a thorough review of all the elements of that clean future that we need to address.”

Read the full article in The Brown Daily Herald here.

The Climate Minute Podcast: Demystifying FERC, ISO-NE, NESCOE and NEPOOL

LWVMA Climate and Energy Solutions Series- Barriers to Regional Decarbonization Webinar

Regional cooperation is essential to meeting our clean energy goals. The road to decarbonization faces challenges from long-established regional rules that favor fossil fuel interests and stand in the way of clean energy.

Acadia Center’s Melissa Birchard, Senior Regulatory Attorney, delivered a webinar on behalf of the League of Women Voters- MA and Elder’s Climate Alliance-MA on the basics of regional energy issues.

Form more information about this series please visit the League of Women Voters-MA website. A recording of the webinar is available for viewing here.

Grid operator urges slower transition on renewables

THE NEW ENGLAND power grid operator filed a proposal with federal regulators on Monday seeking more time to come up with a system for incorporating clean energy into the region’s electricity markets.

The grid operator, known as ISO-New England, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to put off until 2025 plans to do away with a 2013 pricing rule intended to prevent subsidized clean energy projects from unfairly squeezing other power generators (most of whom burn fossil fuels) out of the market. ISO-New England had previously planned to do away with the pricing rule next year.

In a statement accompanying the filing, ISO-New England said a longer transition period is warranted because it “will create less risk to the region than an immediate market change could evoke.”

Environmental advocates are opposing the move. “This decision throws an unnecessary lifeline to gas generators that could otherwise be priced out of the market by cost-effective clean energy,” said Melissa Birchard, senior regulatory attorney at Acadia Center.

The arcane issue is attracting attention because it is another example of the tension between those eager to abandon fossil fuels in a bid to deal with climate change and those wary of doing so too quickly out of fear of market disruptions.

ISO-New England oversees the region’s wholesale markets for electricity. In one of those markets, the forward capacity market, ISO-New England forecasts how much electricity the region will need three years in the future and then encourages power generators to bid to supply it. Power plant operators use the promise of this future revenue to build, maintain, and operate their plants.

The forward capacity market is under stress because states like Massachusetts, operating outside the market, have ordered utilities to purchase offshore wind and hydroelectricity, with their ratepayers picking up the cost of the projects.

The challenge for ISO-New England is how to incorporate these ratepayer-subsidized renewable energy projects into the forward capacity market without undermining it. Letting the renewable energy projects into the market could squeeze out other generators needed for the system’s future reliability. Keeping the renewable energy projects out of the market could mean the market may be procuring more power than it actually needs.

Since 2013, ISO-New England has adopted what it calls a minimum offer price rule – allowing the subsidized projects to bid into the forward capacity market but at their unsubsidized cost. This approach puts all the generators on more equal footing, but it can be inefficient from a market standpoint. Many renewable resources not allowed into the market get built anyway, so consumers end up paying for capacity they don’t really need.

“While there is no evidence that this potential inefficiency has harmed consumers to date, that potential is clearly looming as state procurements ramp up,” ISO said in a statement accompanying its filing with FERC.

Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm, offers a glimpse of how the existing set of rules are working. Vineyard Wind is scheduled to go live next year with 249 megawatts of qualified capacity, but not all of that capacity has cleared the market under the existing rules. The project has been bidding into the forward capacity market for the past three years — clearing 54 megawatts for 2023-2024, 101 megawatts for 2024-2025, and 156 megawatts for 2025-2026.

The ISO-New England says it intends to come up with better pricing rules by 2025 and in the meantime will grant exemptions from the minimum price rule for 700 megawatts of renewable resources — 300 megawatts next year and 400 megawatts the year after. (The combined 700 megawatts of is a sizable commitment, the equivalent of projects with a nameplate capacity of 2,000 megawatts. Nameplate capacity is the amount of electricity a project can theoretically deliver under optimum weather conditions; the 700 megawatts is the amount of electricity projects could deliver at any given time.)

Officials at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have been pressuring ISO New England to do away with its minimum offer price rule. Their chief complaint is that the rule is too broad, applying to all new resources and not just those resources capable of manipulating market prices.

“The minimum offer price rule appears to act as a barrier to competition, insulating incumbent generators from having to compete with certain new resources that may be able to provide capacity at lower cost,” said FERC commissioners Richard Glick and Allison Clements in a filing in January.

Now FERC will have to decide whether to grant more time to ISO-New England to do away with the minimum price rule or demand swifter action.

Read the full article in CommonWealth Magazine here.

Aquidneck Island Climate Caucus to meet virtually Sunday, marking the first anniversary of Act on Climate

Sunday is the first anniversary of the signing of Rhode Island’s landmark Act on Climate, and the Aquidneck Island Climate Caucus, led by Rep. Lauren H. Carson and Rep. Terri Cortvriend, will mark the occasion with a discussion on decarbonizing buildings.

The virtual event, titled “How can Rhode Island set a path for decarbonizing our buildings?,” is scheduled for Sunday, April 10, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will feature Matt Rusteika, director of market transformation for the Building Decarbonization Coalition, and Hank Webster, senior policy analyst for the Acadia Center.

The meeting will be held remotely on Zoom and registration is required. Click here to register. Registrants will be sent the Zoom link on the day of the meeting.

According to a press release sent on behalf of the Climate Caucus, Rhode Island’s Act on Climate has made the state a national leader on climate. The law (2021-H 5445A), sponsored by Representative Carson and cosponsored by Representative Cortvriend, created an enforceable commitment by Rhode Island to reduce all climate emissions from transportation, buildings, heating and electricity in the state to net zero by 2050.

It will be impossible to meet the law’s net-zero target without attending to buildings, which represent 30% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions today, according to the press release. Rusteika and Webster will describe efforts that other states have undertaken to address this problem, including regulatory approaches to phasing out natural gas and policies that contain the cost of the transition.

“Reducing emissions from buildings is a significant challenge for Rhode Island. In the last few days, we’ve learned that emissions overall actually increased 8.2 percent from 2017 to 2018, the most recent year for which we have data, and that home heating was the sector that experienced that greatest increase – a whopping 24.4 percent that year. Some of the reason was an especially cold winter, but there will always be cold winters. What we need is to encourage the adoption of clean, sustainable heating and cooling methods in public, commercial, residential and industrial buildings, but how do we go about that? It’s not a transition that can feasibly happen overnight, particularly in the case of private homes. We expect to have a very enlightening conversation about this Sunday,” said Representative Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport).

Said Representative Cortvriend (D-Dist. 72, Portsmouth, Middletown), “While the data from 2018 shows how much progress must be made to meet our emissions goals, the technology exists to do it, and there are ways to make it affordable to switch to that technology. Besides reducing emissions, there are many economic benefits to greening our buildings that make it worthwhile to owners. We need to get to work on creating policies that incentivize and encourage this transition.”

Read the full article in What’s Up Newp here.

Report: Greenhouse Gas Emissions are Rising in R.I.

PROVIDENCE — Greenhouse gas emissions are trending the wrong way in Rhode Island, and the state may have already failed its first Act on Climate mandate.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) recently released its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, which combines federal and state data for 2018 — the most recent data available — to give a snapshot of how much carbon the state is releasing into the atmosphere.

The report shows greenhouse gas emissions increased 8.2% statewide in 2018, with almost an additional million metric tons of carbon dioxide released into the air compared to the previous year. The rise puts Rhode Island 1.8% higher than its 1990 baseline emissions. The Act on Climate mandates the state reduce emissions 10 percent below that baseline by 2020.

But reducing statewide emissions is a slow ship to turn. The data on emissions derived from federal agencies has a three-year lag, meaning if Rhode Island fails its first Act on Climate reduction goal in 2020, state officials won’t learn about it or be able to change course until 2023.

And that time delay is the rub. When the Act on Climate passed, the two most recently released reports showed the state had emissions below its 1990 levels. In fact, in 2016, the state had already exceeded its first Act on Climate goal, with emissions 11.7% below 1990 levels. But since then the state has trended in the wrong direction.

“Following the Act on Climate there was really this strong message of increased urgency, and this data reinforces that message,” said Terry Gray, DEM’s acting director.

Emissions from vehicles, electricity consumption, heating, and industry all saw increases between 2017 and 2018, according to DEM’s analysis. Officials stressed it was part of a regional trend; Connecticut reported a 2.7% increase in its 2018 emissions, and Massachusetts reported a 0.68% increase in its 2018 emissions.

While the Act on Climate sets mandates for the state, it did not provide a path forward to reduce emissions. Additional efforts to reduce emissions via legislation have since stalled. The Transportation & Climate Initiative died last year after two out of the four jurisdictional areas — Massachusetts and Connecticut — announced the compact would not be approved in their respective states. Rhode Island officials have no alternative plan to reduce transportation emissions.

In the wake of the new data, environmental groups are calling for the General Assembly to pass a number of environmental bills that have been filed.

“Passing 100% Renewable Energy Standard by 2030, offshore wind legislation and the Electric Transportation Act would reverse the trend and help us meet our Act on Climate goals,” said Kai Salem, policy coordinator for the Green Energy Consumers Alliance.

The legislature is debating potential legislation that could increase the amount of money steered toward renewable energy projects. The 100% Renewable Energy Standard would require companies to offset all electricity they sell to Rhode Island consumers by 2030. Additional bills would expand the state’s offshore wind capacity by 600 megawatts. But nothing so far has made it to Gov. Dan McKee’s desk.

“The inventory underscores the need for this year’s statewide Climate Plan to include bold and dramatic actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in every sector,” said Hank Webster, Rhode Island director at the Acadia Center.

DEM officials said they expect the impact of the pandemic to show in 2020 data when it comes out next year.

“We’re just going to have to take it year by year with the information as it comes out,” Gray said.

A detailed analysis of the state’s 2019 greenhouse gas inventory is expected to be released in December. The state is also expected to publish its 2022 update to its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan by the end of this year.

Read the full article in ecoRI News here.

401Gives Day 2022

Acadia Center is pleased to announce that it will be participating in 401Gives Day 2022. Powered by United Way of Rhode Island and presenting sponsor, Papitto Opportunity Connection, 401Gives brings people together to make a difference for local nonprofits that deliver vital services to communities throughout Rhode Island. We are excited to join for the first time and highlight some of the work we’ve been doing in Rhode Island.  

Working at the intersection of government, industry, grassroots organizations, advocates, and communities, Acadia Center develops courageous solutions for our region’s systemic energy challenges. In Rhode Island specifically, Acadia Center was a lead organization supporting the landmark Act on Climate law signed in 2021 and has been a leading advocate for the Transportation Emissions and Mobile (TEAM) Community Act and 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030 bills. When signed into law, the 100% Renewable Electricity bill will put Rhode Island on track to be the first in the nation to meet all of its electricity needs with clean, renewable resources. We were also instrumental in stopping the building of a new, expensive, and unnecessary gas pipeline on Aquidneck Island and will continue to demonstrate how investments in energy efficiency, decarbonized heating, and equitable, clean mobility will better serve all Rhode Islanders for generations to come.  

401Gives presents an opportunity for Rhode Islanders to magnify their efforts combatting the climate crisis and unlocking funds for Acadia Center. By giving on Friday, April 1 (4-01) starting at 6am your gift will make Acadia Center eligible for additional funds from 401Gives and it’s sponsors, and will help spread the message about Acadia Center’s work and the importance of bold climate solutions. 

To participate, supporters can visit our Acadia Center 401Gives Page and support starting at 6am on 4-01, or keep an eye on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and share our posts on 4-01 to spread the word. Every bit helps, and we are so grateful for the support of our community on this special day and throughout the year.  

The clean energy future has the potential to improve quality of life and human and environmental health while lowering greenhouse gas emissions that are pushing the climate towards an unstable and dangerous state. Acadia Center is working now to build the energy system of the future in Rhode Island and throughout the region, and we are grateful the 401Gives community is working with us towards this worthy goal.