2008.06.26 ENE Lauds Legislators for Final Passage of Landmark Energy Reform Bill Press

For Immediate Release 
June 26, 2008
 
Contact: 
Meg Wilcox, 617-742-0064 617-319-6457 (cell)
Jeremy McDiarmid, 617-742-0054, 617-429-0677 (cell)

Environment Northeast (ENE) Lauds Legislators for Final Passage of Landmark Energy Reform Bill
 

New bill boosts energy efficiency and renewable energy, and brings transparency to energy planning

BOSTON - Environment Northeast (ENE) joined legislators in celebrating final passage of The Green Communities Act (SB 2768) today.  Under the leadership of Speaker DiMasi, Senate President Murray, Governor Patrick, and Senate and House energy chairs Morrissey and Dempsey the bill greatly expands cost-saving energy efficiency and renewable energy, and makes Massachusetts a national leader at efforts to build a clean and sustainable economy.  The bill now goes to the Governor for his signature.

Daniel Sosland, executive director of Environment Northeast, said, "With this bill, Massachusetts has hitched its wagon to the energy efficiency express, a move that will save consumers billions of dollars,  combat the climate crisis, and grow a clean, green energy economy."

Efficiency Provisions --One of the bill's key provisions is a requirement for the state's electric and gas utilities to invest first in energy efficiency before turning to more costly power plant generation. This provision will greatly expand state energy efficiency programs, allowing more Massachusetts homeowners and businesses to take advantage of incentives for lighting upgrades, additional insulation and more efficient appliances and equipment, reducing their bills in a time of ever rising prices.

"The cleanest power plant is the one that never gets built," said Sam Krasnow, policy advocate and attorney at Environment Northeast. "Energy efficiency is a common sense and cost-effective energy resource that will now get the priority it deserves."

 
At just 3 cents per Kilowatt-Hour, or roughly one-quarter the cost of traditional power plant supply, efficiency is the cheapest and cleanest energy resource available.

 
By maximizing investments in efficiency, Massachusetts will save consumers billions of dollars over the next decade, while keeping those dollars in the local economy, helping businesses grow, and creating new jobs for workers on all rungs of the job ladder. The Division of Energy Resources estimates that every $125 million invested in efficiency programs yields $500 million in savings, creates 2,000 non-utility jobs, and generates hundreds of million of dollars in economic growth.

Massachusetts currently spends around $6 billion on conventional electric supply - about 40 times more than it spends on efficiency resources even though supply costs nearly four times as much. To help right this imbalance, the bill allocates at least 80% of auction revenues from the sale of emissions allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to help fund increased investments in energy efficiency programs.

 
Renewable Energy   The bill also increases Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard and requires electric utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.  To help spur the development of new renewable sources, the bill further requires utilities to enter into long-term contracts of 10 to 15 years for up to 3 percent of their total load.  This provision will help create market stability and financing opportunities for renewable projects, such as wind and solar power.
 
Combined Heat and Power   High efficiency "distributed energy resources" like combined heat and power (CHP) also get a boost from the bill, which creates a new portfolio standard to encourage CHP development. CHP units use a single energy source to generate electrical and thermal power. Highly efficient, these units capture waste heat from an on-site electrical generation and harness it to make steam for industrial processes, or for cooling, space heating and hot water heating in either  industrial or residential settings. CHP units are particularly useful in large residential and commercial buildings.

CHP and other clean distributed resources should be easier to site with passage of this bill and will provide on-site power and heat to customers, reducing emissions and the need to build additional large power plants and transmission lines.
 
Energy Stakeholder Council  To provide greater transparency in energy planning, the bill also establishes a new stakeholder council to watchdog how the state's energy efficiency programs are run and provide consumers a real voice in the process. The new council will include businesses, manufacturers, the Attorney General, residential consumers, low-income fuel assistance programs, labor, government agencies, environmentalists, and energy efficiency experts.  Such stakeholder councils are underway in neighboring states of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maine and are proving to be a highly effective means for advancing energy efficiency goals.

 
A detailed summary of the energy bill compiled by ENE can be found at: http://www.env-ne.org/public/resources/pdf/ENE_MA_2008_Energy_Act_Summary_062508.pdf
 
To download the legislation, go to:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st02pdf/st02768.pdf

 
ENE is a non-profit research and policy organization addressing climate change, and other large scale environmental challenges, in the Northeast and eastern Canada with offices in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Prince Edward Island.