The Energy Consumer's Bulletin- a New England energy news blog

Feds Forecast a Less Expensive Heating Oil Winter: What does that mean for state policies?

On October 6, the Federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that heating your home with oil will cost 25 percent less than last year and heating your home with natural gas will cost 10 percent less due to a nice combination of lower prices and a forecast for warmer weather.  Temperatures for each month from October through March are expected to be higher than the 10-year average.  For heating oil customers, this winter could cost $500 or $1000 less than last winter.

June electricity prices lowest in 12 years: So why more gas pipelines?

What’s Happening with Electricity Rates and What Can Be Done About it?

Consumers have been on an electric rates rollercoaster ride this past year. Many have been left reeling from a freezing winter and higher-than-usual electric rates. The good news is that rates will be dropping back down this summer for utility basic supply customers. National Grid’s rate decreased more than 40% as of May 1^st (for MA customers). Eversource customers will likely experience similar decreases beginning July 1^st. These summer rate drops will provide much needed relief, but what needs to be done to ensure this does not continue to happen in winters to come?

People’s Power & Light and RI Energy Policy

The warmer weather and blossoms on Smith Hill are evidence we’re in the heat of the Rhode Island legislative session. People’s Power & Light (PP&L) has invited key policy makers, including General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, to our upcoming Annual Meeting May 13^th. The evening is an opportunity for energy professionals and friends to learn about key policies PP&L supports. Rhode Island continues to make meaningful progress in green infrastructure, but there is more work to be done.

Guest Blog: Regulatory Review A Dangerous Path

Baker's call to streamline rules threatens forward-looking Massachusetts policies

Originally published on www.CommonwealthMag.org.  Read the original article here.

Doubling Down on Renewables: Improving the MA Renewable Portfolio Standard and RI Renewable Energy Standard

Climate scientists have concluded that in order to prevent the Earth’s temperature from rising 2°C and avert the most dangerous impacts related to climate change, we must reduce carbon emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Since a significant portion of GHG emissions come from the electric sector, an obvious way to reduce emissions is to displace fossil fuels in that sector with zero-emission resources such as wind and solar. Not only does investing in renewables reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, but together with efficiency, renewable energy is the best way to hedge against price volatility of natural gas.

Natural Gas Pipeline Leaks: Building a Bigger System Doesn’t Fix the Problem

Beneath our feet is a vast network of natural gas distribution infrastructure. The aging pipes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are among some of the oldest in the region and the nation, which means they are also some of the most leak-prone. We’ve known for some time that the methane (CH₄) emitted through natural gas pipeline leaks contributes significantly to global warming. This is because methane is about 35 times more potent than carbon dioxide (C0_2), trapping a lot more heat in the atmosphere. However, a recent study reveals that natural gas distribution systems are leaking far more methane than previously estimated.

This revelation comes at a time when utility executives and several public officials continue to push for new pipelines, paid for by New England electricity ratepayers, to bring more natural gas into the region to burn in power plants[1]. So, when public officials call for more natural gas, are they going to take commensurate counter measures to ensure that we can get on track to reducing emissions as called for in the Massachusetts Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) and the Resilient Rhode Island Act (RRA): 80% by 2050?

Taking Another Step On the Global Warming Solutions Act

In 2008, Governor Patrick signed the Green Communities Act (GCA) and the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA). These laws propelled Massachusetts into the forefront on clean energy. The GWSA and its corresponding Clean Energy and Climate Plan mandate that the Commonwealth reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80 percent by 2050, with an interim goal of 25 percent by 2020. These are ambitious targets, to be sure. In fact they are among the best in the nation, which is why the GWSA also says that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is required to write regulations that would, “establish a desired level of declining annual aggregate emission limits for sources or categories of sources that emit greenhouse gases.”

The regulations were supposed to have been adopted by January 2012 to take effect in January 2013, but DEP has not written those regulations yet. So Mass Energy has joined with the Conservation Law Foundation and others in filing a legal complaint in Superior Court, asking the court to enforce the law and require DEP to write the necessary regulations. 

Some Math Showing Our Huge Under-Investment in Energy Efficiency

There are some funny rules in the energy game. In both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, energy efficiency is required to cost LESS than natural gas or electricity. But natural gas and electricity are allowed to cost more than energy efficiency. There’s no level playing field. So how does that play out?