The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed into law by President Biden in August 2022 fundamentally changed the structure of the federal tax credit for electric vehicles (EVs). Now, we’ve learned that the U.S. Treasury is delaying implementation of one key piece of the IRA, which means more vehicle models than expected may be eligible for incentives for a short time at the beginning of 2023.
Rhode Island has led the nation in the electric sector, with the first offshore wind farm in the country off of Block Island and the groundbreaking law to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2033. Unfortunately, concerning the transportation sector, the state is lagging behind several states. This year, we are advocating for Rhode Island to adopt a key set of regulations coming out of California: the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) standards.
On November 15, the Mass. Department of Energy Resources published a revised Municipal Aggregation Manual & Best Practices Guide and asked for public comments by December 7. For information, visit here.
The following are our comments.
On November 30, the Massachusetts Clean Heat Commission released its long-awaited report with recommendations for “strategies and policies to achieve deep emissions reductions from heating fuels in the state.” We’ve been waiting for this report for a long time (see our open letter to the Commission from January 2022 here), but it’s important to note that the report does not set policy itself. We expect the report to be well-read by Governor-Elect Maura Healey and the legislature – the ultimate deciders for what happens now.
A few weeks ago, we wrote a blog explaining why renewable natural gas (RNG) and hydrogen should not be mixed in with natural gas (methane) and sent through pipes to heat buildings. That blog focused on RNG – how there’s not enough to go around, that we don’t really know how much it will cost, and that getting to net-zero carbon emissions means phasing out combustion in all its forms. This blog will focus on the other fuel some stakeholders are pushing: hydrogen.
A note from Green Energy Consumers Alliance: We are big fans of electric school buses. You might've read our recent blogpost about the electric school buses coming to Massachusetts and Rhode Island thanks to new grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Today, we're excited to share a guest blogpost from Block Island about their new electric school bus, which was donated by the Solar Initiative (not funded by the EPA). Many thanks to Cindy Davis of the Solar Initiative for this post!
Earlier this summer, we wrote about applications being open for the Clean School Bus Program. Now, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced who got awarded – and school districts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island are on the list!
GECA staff and partners with an electric school bus in Beverly, MA.
The Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric Vehicles Program (MOR-EV Program) has increased electric vehicle rebates from $2,500 to $3,500 for battery electric vehicles. This is the first of several changes to the state rebate program that will help make the car buying/leasing process more manageable for Massachusetts residents.
Late on Friday afternoon, November 18, Eversource filed its Basic Service power supply rate (excluding delivery rates) for its eastern Massachusetts territory for the period of January 1 through June 30, 2023, with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU). That supply rate came in at 26 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), up from 15.8 cents/kWh for the same period in 2022 and 11.8 cents/kWh in 2021.
If you’re shopping for a new electric vehicle (EV), there may be several key features you’re looking for: trunk space, driving range, and other attractive styling options that may sway your decision for you. As more EV models come out and the technology improves, it’s possible that you’ll have a hard time comparing EVs on what’s probably a very important spec to you: charging speed. Truth be told, technical information about charging speed can be hard to understand.
In this blog, we'll tell you all you need to know to compare EV charging speeds - information that will come in handy for your next road trip!
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