New England energy efficiency grows, saves

Energy efficiency in New England has saved consumers significant money in recent years, and is changing the energy landscape in the northeastern U.S.  At a briefing yesterday, the region's electric grid operator announced that continued investment in electric energy efficiency has changed its load projections from modest growth to a flat forecast through 2021. 

ISO New England manages the energy markets and transmission grid in the six New England states.  ISO New England plans for future electricity needs, and develops forecasts for electricity consumption for the next decade.  In recent years, the adoption of energy efficiency measures has reduced society's demand for electricity.  From 2008 to 2011 New England spent $1.2 billion on energy efficiency through programs like Efficiency Maine and Mass Save.  ISO New England said that it expects spending on energy efficiency is expected to increase to $5.7 billion from 2015 to 2021.  As a result, electricity use previously projected to rise by 0.9 percent annually between 2012 and 2021 will instead be flat.

Customers win through energy efficiency in several ways.  Direct savings include the money they would have spent on electricity but for their efficiency increases.  The overall wholesale price of energy and capacity can also be reduced through greater adoption of energy efficiency.  Efficiency can also eliminate the need for some transmission upgrades; according to ISO New England, 10 transmission upgrades that earlier studies showed were needed to ensure reliability can be deferred until after 2020, saving consumers an estimated $260 million more.

June 13, 2011 - RGGI carbon auction results

The latest carbon auction results from the RGGI program show a market in uncertainty.

The "Old Woolen Mill" on the Great Works River in North Berwick, Maine.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is the first market-based greenhouse gas regulatory program in the United States.  RGGI represents a cooperative effort by Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.  These ten states agreed to cap and reduce their electrical energy sector's greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2018.

While each state's legislature implemented its own version of the compact, the overall structure is that carbon allowances are auctioned off to the power sector.  Proceeds from these auctions are invested in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other clean energy technologies.  The program has been a success in creating jobs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, and funding high-yield energy efficiency projects at businesses.

RGGI just held its twelfth auction.  (You can read the market monitor's report, a 10-page PDF, here.)  Altogether, the auction raised $25.5 million.  Each participating state's energy programs get a share in those proceeds based on how the underlying carbon allowances were allocated; for Maine, the twelfth auction yielded just under $770,000.  Since 2007, Maine has received $26 million through the program, which has been invested in energy efficiency through the Efficiency Maine Trust.

Interestingly, only 30 percent of the current-period carbon allowances available in the auction actually changed hands.  This low demand for allowances is striking, particularly since the price was as low as it could be: the auction floor price of $1.89 per short ton of CO2.  This apparent oversupply has emerged as the RGGI market matured; in the initial auction, the bid demand was four times larger than the supply.  While supply first outpaced demand for the tenth auction, held in December 2010, the 30% figure represents a new low for auction demand.

RGGI's thirteenth auction is scheduled for September 7, 2011.

March 23, 2011 - energy grants for schools

Schools can participate in grant and incentive programs to help them develop energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.  The possibilities are as varied as are the programs, combining federal incentives, state-level programs in most areas, and even utility-specific efficiency programs.  If it puts together a winning application, a school could receive anything from technical assistance to cash to support these projects.

The University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, serves as an example. Last year, the University's Sustainability Office received a $50,000 grant from Efficiency Maine, Maine's one-stop shopping point for energy efficiency efforts.  The University is using the grant to install a solar hot water system, along with a display to monitor the system's performance.  Due to their core mission of education, schools often combine energy efficiency and renewable technologies with educational tools about projects' value and technology.

Across the country, at any given time, a number of open requests for proposals and prescriptive incentives are available to help schools save or harness renewable energy.  Particularly when the economic value of these projects is coupled with their educational value, schools are taking a broader look at their options.

May 20, 2010: E2tech forum with Michael Stoddard; Ontario offshore power

Today, a quick note from the Gilsland Farm property of Maine Audubon in Falmouth, Maine. This morning, Preti Flaherty's Climate Strategies Group sponsored an E2Tech forum on energy efficiency, with Efficiency Maine Trust executive director Michael Stoddard as the special guest. Michael gave a good presentation to a full-house audience on Maine's comprehensive energy efficiency efforts, and on his role as executive director in making that happen.

Thanks to E2Tech for throwing another fine event. It was a great opportunity to learn from Michael about state efficiency policy and programs, while meeting up with clients, friends, and interesting new people.

I'm looking forward to the next E2Tech event, a forum on ocean energy development and policy, to be held June 24 in Falmouth. Here's a link to the registration page.



My fellow LinkedIn Energy & Utilities Network member John de Vellis tipped me off to an interesting offshore wind generation project in Ontario, Canada. Last month, Windstream Wolfe Island Shoals Inc. was awarded a contract by the Ontario Power Authority to buy the output of Windstream's 300-megawatt project off-shore in Lake Ontario. Reports suggest the project will cover about 48,000 acres, generally in water between 10 and 20 feet deep.

This project is a bit farther along than Cape Wind. Recall that Cape Wind has struck a deal with the local utility, but that Massachusetts regulators at the DPU still get to review and approve (or deny) the proposal. In Ontario, the Ontario Power Authority has already performed that review, and -- under a different regulatory structure, namely a feed-in tariff program -- approved the contract at 18.5 cents per kWh.

While Ontario's 18.5 cents/kWh is lower than the Cape Wind proposal of 20.7 cents/kWh, what might be even more interesting is the difference between these contract prices and the market price for basic electricity. Ontario's market price is 3.44 cents per kWh. (American readers, how would you like to pay just 3.44 cents/kWh!) We can argue about whether 3.44 cents is "too low" to include environmental costs, but in the end, the Ontario offshore wind will cost over 5x (five times) what basic electricity costs in Ontario. Cape Wind is closer to 2.5x the local cost per kWh.

Has anyone seen an analysis of the increased adoption of renewables and renewable portfolio standards, and its impact on prices? What really is driving price increases, in your views?

3/19/10

The board of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power approved the Energy Cost Adjustment Factor, a multicomponent rate hike that includes Mayor Villaraigosa's carbon tax. This will add $30 per year to residentials' electric bills, and will increase business rates by 20%. Proceeds will be spent on energy efficiency.


What's new in federal energy/climate legislation? Kerry-Graham-Lieberman grows more detailed, allegedly through leaks after the closed-door session with industry (read: energy) leaders. Here's a good summary from ClimateProgress.org.


Maine energy efficiency programs in the news: a good Kennebec Journal article on how Efficiency Maine is using the $9 million in federal stimulus money that it received to award performance-based rebates of up to $3,000 for residential weatherization and efficiency measures.



A well-written Bangor Daily News article on the proposed Thorndike wind siting ordinance that goes before the annual town meeting this weekend. Other towns are also considering what they should do to regulate towers.

3/18/10

As Maine considers its energy future, there are many concerns about Hydro-Quebec, and what will happen if we allow our powerful northern neighbor to build transmission lines connecting their nearly limitless hydropower with New England markets.




Thorndike voters will pass judgment on a proposed wind turbine siting ordinance, including a one-mile setback and noise regulations. Two companies have proposed projects on a ridge extending through Thorndike and into Dixmont and Jackson.



The Dallas (TX) Morning News reports that China is enacting protectionist measures to ensure that China, not the US, will manufacture the components needed for the massive anticipated build-out of wind generation in Asia and worldwide.



Los Angeles mayor Villaraigosa has proposed a significant new tax on electricity, with the proceeds going to a newly-created Renewable Energy and Efficiency Trust Fund, to pay for new conservation programs and a solar feed-in tariff. Everyone's bill will go up by 9% to 28%, with the brunt of the tax falling on business and industrial energy consumers. LA has set a 20% RPS by the end of 2010.




What's going on with federal energy and climate change legislation? Lots of talk. Yesterday Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) met with major industry groups to present an 8-page concept outline. Supposedly this draft calls for greenhouse gas curbs across the board, reducing emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. The draft starts by regulating power plant emissions in 2012, with other major industrial sources emitting over 25,000 tons per year of GHGs phased in starting in 2016. Notably, this draft preempts U.S. EPA climate regulations under the Clean Air Act and supplants dozens of state climate laws.

Maine moves to ban the importation of out-of-state firewood for use in campfires, due to the threat of non-native invasive insect species moving into Maine through the firewood.

More residential weatherization money! Rep. Chellie Pingree held a workshop yesterday with Efficiency Maine and Maine State Housing Authority to -- yet again -- publicize weatherization programs. MSHA has about $34 million for low-income weatherization projects, and Efficiency Maine has $9 million in federal stimulus funds for all income levels.

An editorial in the Toledo Blade calls for Ohio to do more to attract solar energy manufacturers, noting that since 2000 Ohio has slipped from "global leader in solar energy" to 14th out of the United States in number of solar manufacturers.

Remember the huge underground coal mine fire that destroyed the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania? It's back in the news today. The state is moving to take the property within the town by eminent domain, apparently so it can sell the mineral (coal) rights to a mining company. Meanwhile, the few remaining residents are claiming fraud, namely that the underground fire isn't so dangerous and that their property should remain theirs.

International energy news: Senegal and Syria both want civilian nuclear power.

Here's the Portland Press Herald blurb on Michael Stoddard's selection as Executive Director of Efficiency Maine. I've worked closely with Michael in his current (3 more weeks) role as senior counsel at Environment Northeast. Congratulations Michael!

US Department of Energy has filed a petition to withdraw its request to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.

Remember the "Buy American" portions of the stimulus bill? Apparently they only apply to projects built by the government, not projects built by private companies. Senator Chuck Schumer cites the example of a $1.5 billion wind project in West Texas that is will receive $450 million in stimulus grants, most of which will be used to purchase of turbines from China. How much of that money truly stimulates American jobs?

On the residential weatherization front, President Obama gave more details on his proposed "Homestar" energy retrofit program. President Obama first announced this initiative in his State of the Union address. The initiative needs legislative approval, but for now it looks like it will provide jobs for contractors by offering homeowners up to $3,000 to insulate their houses, replace their leaky doors and windows, replace their old water heaters and roofs, and generally cut down on their consumption of energy.

2/5/10

Following up on the old elm tree "Herbie" that recently died in Yarmouth, Maine: turns out Herbie was 217 years old. It will be interesting to see what Herbie's growth rings show about how the climate in Maine has changed since 1793.

Here's a logic puzzle for you. Maine : "Saudi Arabia of wind" :: Texas : ________? How about "net loser of jobs in a clean energy economy"? A study by Navigant Consulting commissioned by the renewable-energy group RES Alliance for Jobs, concludes that a federal renewable energy standard of 25% renewable by 2025 would lead to 274,000 new jobs nationwide -- but that under current state policies on renewable energy, Texas would lose jobs while other states like California would be the big winners.

The Obama administration is pushing biofuels. The administration has renewed its commitment to getting the country to produce (and use) 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022, a goal originally set by Congress in 2007.

2/4/10

Did you know that Maine is the "Saudi Arabia of forestry"? That's the word Governor Baldacci is spreading after his meeting with President Obama yesterday. Good for Maine, since we're also the "Saudi Arabia of wind". Saudi Arabia may have the largest proven reserves of oil, but Canada is second -- so what is Maine the "Canada of"? Are we the "Iraq of ocean energy" (fourth)? How about the "Kazakhstan of hydro" (eleventh)? (Definitely not.)

I get a kick out of some of the comments on yesterday's BDN story about First Wind's test towers on Bowers Mountain, like the satirical "Maine cedes the Northeast to First Wind". Check out the comment from 2/3/10 at 7:52 AM by "deanhornblower":

Maine cedes the Northeast to First Wind
...State of Firstwindiana
Governor: Matt Kearns

Statehood: Created in 2010 as "Emergency" legislation by the Maine Legislature

Boundaries: Penobscot River to the Canadian border, from the northern shores of the Grand Lakes of Eastern Maine to Southern Aroostook.

Capitol: Prentiss, centrally located and in honor of Stetson I: "where the revolution began"

State Flag: GE 1.5 MW turbine on a "green" background

State Bird: Clubbed and Mangled Bald Eagle

State Animal: Barotraumatized Bat

State Tree: Whatever is left standing after being run over by a H C Haynes skidder

State Song: "We're in the Money"

State Motto: "Big Wind, Big Lie, Forever!"

Not my words folks, nor is any of it true, but I suspect many (other than First Wind) will find it funny.


Meanwhile, in Washington DC, the Obama administration continues to speak of "caps" on carbon emissions.

2/3/10: wind in the news in Maine and Nova Scotia

First Wind is considering developing another wind site in Maine, this time on Bowers Mountain in Carroll Plantation. First Wind is already Maine's largest wind operator, with 42 MW at Mars Hill and 57 MW online at Stetson Mountain sites -- plus 26 more MW at Stetson II coming online this spring, and DEP approval secured for a proposed 51 MW project in Oakfield. Next steps include compiling the data from the three test towers on the site, and engaging in a dialogue with the people living in the area. If you look at the map of Bowers Mountain, you can see that it's north of the Grand Lakes system, just south of Route 6, about halfway between Lincoln and the Canadian border at Vanceboro. From satellite photos, the area seems to have been mostly cut over relatively recently.

Wind's the thing today in Atlantic Canada, with reports that Bangor Hydro's parent Emera (also owner of Nova Scotia Power) has gobbled up the remaining shares of the Digby, NS wind project -- 20 turbines, with a 20-year power purchase agreement with Nova Scotia Power. Emera projects that the generators will be online by the end of 2010 and will produce enough energy to serve 10,000 homes. Nova Scotia Power also has a stake in two other wind projects being developed in Nova Scotia: a 49% interest in the Point Tupper project on the southwest tip of Cape Breton Island, and the entire Nuttby Mountain project in the Cobequid Mountains.

Maine's Governor Baldacci has traveled to Washington, DC to meet with President Obama and ten other governors on energy issues. His stated priorities include deepwater offshore wind and other ocean energy technologies, residential weatherization, and the potential for a federal climate change bill. Meanwhile, state representative Alexander Cornell du Houx, a young military veteran, has made his own trip to DC to work on energy issues.

2/2/10

A nuclear renaissance? President Obama's proposed $28.4 billion budget request for the Department of Energy includes a lot of nuclear power, of both utility and military natures. On the power side, as part of an emphasis on a clean energy economy, the budget includes expanded loan guarantees and incentives for up to 10 new nuclear reactors. As Secretary Chu put it, "This budget supports new approaches to energy research and invests in the next generation of scientists and engineers, and it will spark new clean energy projects nationwide, including restarting the American nuclear power industry." Is whether nuclear power is "clean" still considered controversial? On the military side, the budget proposal speaks of "deterrents", with over $1 billion for a combination of nuclear nonproliferation and weapons development.

As the nation's largest energy consumer, the federal government is trying to cut its energy costs too. President Obama has called for federal agencies to trim greenhouse gas emissions by 28% by 2020 - a reduction in federal energy use of 646 trillion BTUs, and up to $11 billion in costs - although some costs will be required to achieve this savings.

Veolia has completed its divestiture of waste-to-energy plants in the USA, selling the Miami-Dade contract to Covanta.

In Maine, the PUC has approved the installation of smart meters by CMP, the state's largest utility. These meters can be read remotely, which is estimated to save ratepayers $25 million over 20 years -- in addition to enabling time-of-use and other smart grid solutions.

Also in Maine: Maine Liquid Methane Fuels LLC won approval from the Brewer Planning Board last night for its plan to develop Maine's first liquid methane fuels energy plant. The proposed $50 million facility will connect to the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, liquefy natural gas, and load it into trucks for distribution. The idea is that where demand density for gas isn't high enough to support pipe distribution of gas, trucks can be an efficient way to get relatively inexpensive gas to consumers. We will see in 2011, when the Brewer plant is slated to begin operations.

2/1/10

From the turning death into science department: Herbie, the ancient elm tree that stood for over 200 years in Yarmouth, Maine, is being studied by dendrochronologists and dendroclimatologists. Herbie was the tallest elm in New England at 110' in height. Through the care of Yarmouth's 101 year-old tree warden, Frank Knight, Herbie survived 14 bouts of Dutch elm disease, and finally succumbed this year. Now that Herbie lives no more, my friend Pete Lammert of the Maine Forest Service and others are taking slices from the trunk for study of growth rates, which could shed light on Yarmouth's historic climate. Discoveries are already coming in: it now appears that Herbie grew in the shade -- likely in the wild -- for 10 to 20 years before being transplanted to its ultimate location. If this is confirmed, it will mean Herbie lived for 235 to 240 years, having sprouted before the Revolution.

1/7/10

Happy New Year! It's been a busy week of 2010 so far... so who else is still writing 2009 half the time?

Efficiency Maine and the soon-to-be-former Energy and Carbon Savings Trust -- the two agencies charged with distributing the proceeds of Maine's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative -- have made their selections of 16 grant winners for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction projects. In all, $8.9 million in funds will be awarded, leveraging over $80 million in private funds to create a total project value of $90.8 million. My firm and I were privileged to assist a number of successful applicants for these grants.

In local Maine news, Bath Iron Works has been awarded another $6.9 million contract from the Navy for engineering work on destroyers. This work will last through November. Simultaneously, BIW has sought City Council approval of an expansion to its two year-old Ultra Hall indoor fabrication facility.

In a case of the federal government stepping in on states' rights where states refuse to act, the US EPA has announced a proposal to place new strict limits on smog (NYT article). EPA suggests a range of 60 to 70 parts per billion for ground-level ozone; EPA will select a specific figure within that range later this year. This represents a reduction from previous limits (84 ppb from 1997-2008, and 75 ppb since 2008). EPA estimates this stricter limit will increase the costs of doing business from between $19 billion to $90 billion a year by 2020.