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The following commentary was written by Lisa Cunningham, architect and co-founder ZeroCarbonMA, and Dr. Wynne Armand, MD, Associate Director at MGH Center for the Environment and Health and Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School. Her opinion does not necessarily reflect the position of Mass General Brigham.
See our commentary guidelines for more information.
Ten years after our nation’s independence, Benjamin Franklin wrote to a close friend discussing the dangers of lead paint, which Franklin had experienced firsthand. Franklin predicted that despite the documented harmful effects of lead paint, it would be a long time before people heeded any safety precautions. Indeed, it took nearly 200 years, decades of scientific research, countless cases of lead poisoning, and persistent political advocacy to finally end the use of lead, both in gasoline and paint.
Just as we no longer allow lead paint in our homes, we must build healthier, more affordable homes without fossil fuels.
Yet, despite research spanning more than 50 years revealing the health risks of burning gas in our homes, out-of-state special interest groups are gearing up to overturn policies that allow communities to invest in healthy, pollution-free homes, keeping Massachusetts residents hooked on fossil fuels and building substandard homes that harm their health and drive up their energy bills.
Gas stoves emit toxic pollutants including nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide, and have been attributed to 15% of childhood asthma in Massachusetts. This equipment is also a source of benzene, a carcinogen known to cause blood cell cancers. When in use, gas stoves can emit more benzene directly into our homes than secondhand smoke. Even when turned off, benzene continues to leak. Fossil fuel furnaces emit the same toxins, further contributing to ozone and other outdoor air pollution, which is linked to cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological diseases, complications in pregnancy, and premature death.
Further, Massachusetts’s sprawling gas system, one of the oldest in the nation, is responsible for substantial gas leaks, resulting in deadly explosions and tree loss. Gas utilities are on track to spend over $34 billion to cover the cost of maintaining this system, which will cause gas bills to double in the next 10 years alone.
In order to meet our state and federal climate targets, we must continue to invest in policies and solutions that help people adopt healthier, more resilient and affordable homes that don’t rely on fossil fuels.
Encouragingly, Massachusetts is making strides. Thanks in part to Massachusetts’s new Opt-in Specialized Code, more than 10,000 multifamily Passive House units are in the pipeline. This extremely efficient building standard can lower energy use by up to 80% and dramatically reduce energy bills for residents. When factoring in state and federal incentives, it costs about the same to build homes to this super-efficient standard compared to conventional building practices.
In order to build an equitable, more affordable future, we must help our most vulnerable residents access these better building practices. Mayor Michelle Wu’s pledge to upgrade the city’s 10,000 public housing units with clean energy by 2030 is a strong start. Other notable projects include plans to install Boston’s first networked geothermal pilot for 129 units at the Franklin Field Apartments in Dorchester and a new 800-unit all-electric affordable housing complex built to Passive House standards in Newton.
It should come as no surprise that healthy building standards are popular in Massachusetts. The majority of residents support legislation that requires new construction to use the latest energy efficiency standards and highly efficient electric equipment such as heat pumps. Nine municipalities have adopted fossil fuel-free building standards, while communities representing nearly 30% of Massachusetts residents have adopted codes that require new buildings to be electric-ready. There are 19 million square feet of net-zero buildings in the state and 48 million square feet of net-zero ready buildings, the vast majority of which cost the same to build as conventional buildings.
Our families don’t have 200 years to wait. As we learn every day just how toxic gas is to our well-being and safety — not to mention the very future of our planet — the Massachusetts Legislature must stand up to special interest groups that threaten progress, and act with urgency to pass legislation to ensure healthy buildings and reduce our dependence on harmful fossil fuels.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Federal transit officials grant $99.49 million to NJ Transit to help it upgrade a bus garage to charge and service dozens of electric buses and add solar canopies. (New Jersey Advance Media, NorthJersey.com)
ALSO:
WIND: Ørsted has finished its purchase of the 50% stake in Sunrise Wind — a planned 924 MW offshore wind farm near New York — it didn’t already own from Eversource for $152 million. (news release)
SOLAR:
GRID:
BATTERIES: Pennsylvania lawmakers advance a bill to establish disposal requirements for small-to-medium-sized batteries following lithium-ion battery fires that have repeatedly damaged a recycling facility. (WTAE)
BUILDINGS:
CLEAN ENERGY: Canton, New York, begins surveying its residents to see who has taken clean energy actions, like subscribing to a community solar project or installing heat pumps. (NCPR)
CLIMATE: A South Portland neighborhood is Maine’s hottest heat island, with temperatures 11.1 degrees Fahrenheit higher than greener nearby communities.
CLIMATE: Montana Republican officials urge the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s decision ordering regulators to consider climate impacts when reviewing proposed fossil fuel projects. (Associated Press)
OIL & GAS:
UTILITIES:
SOLAR:
WIND: A developer proposes a 500-600 MW wind power facility on private ranchland in southeastern Wyoming. (Cowboy State Daily)
STORAGE: A central California county advances a proposed 3,000 MW stand-alone battery energy storage system on 260 acres of private land. (Energy Storage News, subscription)
GRID:
MINING: A company prepares to begin producing uranium at its northeastern Wyoming processing plant. (Cowboy State Daily)
The “solar-coaster” is about to get a little smoother for Minnesota solar installers.
State lawmakers this spring extended funding for a rooftop solar rebate program through 2035, bucking a trend of two-year renewals that caused uncertainty for installers every couple of years.
Solar industry leaders say the additional financial certainty will help companies invest in longer-term marketing and outreach, particularly for reaching lower-income customers.
Since 2014, Solar Rewards has helped more than 8,000 residential and small business customers pay for solar installations in Xcel Energy’s territory. The program is managed by the utility, but the legislature controls its budget, which has ranged between $5 million and $15 million annually. The money comes from yearly fees the state collects from Xcel in return for allowing it to store nuclear waste at two power plants.
Logan O’Grady, executive director of the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association, said the extension represents a compromise — and a victory — after failed attempts to convince lawmakers to increase the program’s funding. Funding has rarely stayed the same two years in a row. Installers have struggled with planning because they did not know if the rebates would be renewed.
“It creates the inability to plan for what you’ll be getting year to year,” O’Grady said. “You get through a two-year cycle, and then there might be nothing.”
Uncertainty about the rebate’s future has been challenging to communicate to customers. O’Grady said installers could not make promises in some years because they did not know if the program would continue. Now, even if funding runs out for the year, companies will be able to confidently tell customers that it will be available next year.
He said the extension also will help installers work with low- and moderate-income Solar Rewards customers. In 2023, the Legislature significantly modified Solar Rewards by allocating half the money for low-income participants while increasing subsidies for those projects.
Bobby King, Minnesota director of Solar United Neighbors, said connecting to organizations working with low-income households has taken a few years. The extension gives him the confidence to continue the work.
“You need the program to be consistent if you’re going to continue to grow a program to help folks get low-income solar,” he said. “We can be confident about bringing more resources to staff a (low-income) program.”
All Energy Solar CEO Michael Allen said the Solar Rewards extension “provides you a little bit more confidence” but “still doesn’t take away the real costs of having to market and to sell, design and build projects for this market segment.” He estimated that it can cost as much as 10 times more to recruit and sell to income-qualified customers because of the relationship building, education, financing and sometimes structural issues that need to be addressed.
The Solar Rewards budget over the 10-year extension will be a bit more than half of what the program received from 2014 to 2025. He worries the subsidies will slow rooftop solar, which needs to expand to meet the state’s climate goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
Martin Morud, CEO and owner of TruNorth Solar, said he prefers stable funding that allows his business time to develop relationships with community organizations that work with income-qualified customers. He said TruNorth Solar has worked on income-qualified projects involving food shelves and transitional and low-income housing through Solar Rewards and other programs.
Cooperative Energy Futures had begun using Solar Rewards for residential projects over the past two years after primarily building community solar projects with many low- and moderate-income subscribers.
Pouya Najmaie, its policy and regulatory director, said the nonprofit recently hired an employee to focus on income-qualified projects. The Solar Rewards extension will help the nonprofit maintain that position and potentially add another if demand grows.
The Solar Rewards bill was part of a 1,430-page omnibus bill that Gov. Tim Walz signed into law in late May. Rep. Patty Acomb, House of Representatives Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee Chair, said lawmakers supporting Solar Rewards worried that the program could have ended in 2025 if the Democratic-dominated Legislature changed hands.
“Fifty million dollars, or $5 million a year, is better than zero,” she said. “I think that having programs like this is a signal to the industry that there is support from the state.”
OIL & GAS: The U.S. EPA and Colorado regulators accuse a Denver-area petroleum refinery of continuing to violate clean air laws by releasing benzene and other pollutants into the air and water. (Colorado Sun)
ALSO:
EMISSIONS: Researchers launch a comprehensive investigation aimed at detecting and monitoring large greenhouse gas emissions sources in northeastern Colorado’s oil and gas fields. (Colorado Sun)
UTILITIES:
SOLAR:
BATTERIES:
MICROGRID: A western Colorado county begins construction on a battery-powered microgrid designed to enhance resilience to wildfires and outages. (Aspen Public Radio)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Oregon launches an effort to use federal funds to expand its electric vehicle charging network. (OPB)
ELECTRIFICATION: A Washington state initiative seeking to block natural gas hookup and appliance bans and restrictions garners 500,000 signatures, likely qualifying it for November’s ballot. (Tri-City Herald)
COMMENTARY: A California editorial board celebrates the oil and gas industry’s withdrawal of a ballot measure aimed at overturning drilling restrictions, and urges state regulators strictly enforce the rules. (Los Angeles Times)
Minnesota solar developers frustrated with the process of connecting projects to the electric grid will soon have a new place to turn to answer questions and resolve disputes.
State lawmakers recently passed legislation calling on the state Public Utilities Commission to hire an interconnection ombudsperson to provide clean energy companies with information, guidance, and mediation on connecting projects of 10 megawatts and less to the grid.
The legislation follows years of complaints by solar companies about disputes with utilities, Xcel Energy in particular, that have contributed to years-long delays for some projects to connect.
“We hope that we can create a role dedicated to understanding the entire interconnection process and help manage those disagreements when they arise,” said Logan O’Grady, executive director of the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association.
The legislation says the ombudsperson will track disputes and serve as a mediator between customers and investor-owned utilities. They will be expected to review policies, convene stakeholder groups, and assess ways to reduce conflicts.
O’Grady said customers, installers, and developers could contact the ombudsperson for assistance on issues involving rooftop, commercial, or community solar projects.
The ombudsperson would not eliminate the state’s existing dispute process for interconnection issues, which can take over a month and require mediation if unresolved issues remain.
O’Grady said he hopes having an interconnection ombudsperson will more efficiently resolve some disputes and provide a new option for developers that haven’t wanted to deal with the time and attention required to file a formal complaint.
Solar developers’ complaints have varied, but some involve inaccurate information leading to “weeks of back and forth to get clarity on a simple misunderstanding,” O’Grady said. The hope is that an ombudsperson with experience in the industry could more efficiently answer those questions or know who to contact in utilities to provide guidance.
State Rep. Patty Acomb, a suburban Democrat and chair of Climate and Energy Finance and Policy committee, said the ombudsperson’s work is less likely to draw skepticism because it comes from an independent source.
Solar company leaders support the new position. Bobby King, Minnesota program director for Solar United Neighbors, said the ombudsperson could “centralize” information, advocate for interconnection, create solutions to improve the process and avoid litigation. “I think it’s a positive step in the right direction,” King said.
Michael Allen, CEO of All Energy Solar, said the ombudsperson would provide “unbiased information” to the Commerce Department, the Public Utilities Commission, installers, and utilities. He also believes an ombudsperson could reduce the number of disputes that reach the Public Utilities Commission.
Marty Morud, CEO and owner of TruNorth Solar, said he’d had few issues with Xcel but sees an ombudsperson as a source for helping move utilities to respond if installer emails and phone calls go unanswered.
More than a dozen states already have positions similar to interconnection ombudspersons, including California, Massachusetts and New York. Sky Stanfield, a lawyer who works with the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, said states approach the ombudsperson differently, not all requiring them to have the technical skills Minnesota seeks.
She said that having someone see all the disputes and detect patterns could also help the Public Utilities Commission target rulemaking in problem areas.
“I do think having a person whose job is to stay up to date on what is happening seems to me like a positive step,” Stanfield said.
To be effective, the ombudsperson must be “empowered” by the Public Utilities Commission and accepted as an objective mediator by utilities and clean energy developers, she said.
The Legislature created an initial $150,000 budget. The ombudsperson position, which has not been posted, is expected to be filled later this year.
BUILDINGS: In New Hampshire, a bill on the governor’s desk would update much of the state’s building code except for its energy efficiency provisions, leaving those at an earlier standard because of claims that home costs would rise. (NHPR)
ALSO:
WIND: As developers wait to learn the results of a multi-state offshore wind project solicitation, one developer strikes up memoranda of understanding with two Connecticut businesses for their services during construction. (The Day)
GRID:
FOSSIL FUELS:
NUCLEAR: Constellation Energy acknowledges amid speculation that it’s possible to restart unit 1 at Three Mile Island but that no decisions have been made. (WTAE)
SOLAR:
POLICY:
WORKFORCE: A $2 million federal grant will help a Maryland community development agency help expand the state’s energy efficiency workforce to make more upgrades at low-income households. (news release)
POLITICS: Mississippi Republicans rush to embrace an electric vehicle factory near the Tennessee state line that’s the single largest payroll commitment in state history, but which was made possible by federal legislation they opposed and which Donald Trump has promised to roll back. (Mississippi Today)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS: Dominion Energy pushes to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Virginia that’s generating resistance from local residents as the state seeks to meet both its clean energy goals and growing power demand. (Virginia Mercury)
SOLAR:
EMISSIONS: A U.S. Army fort in Georgia signs an agreement with Georgia Power to replace its diesel energy system with natural gas and make other improvements to its mechanical and lighting systems to reduce its carbon footprint. (Augusta Chronicle)
CLIMATE:
NUCLEAR: A Virginia company partners with NASA to develop fuel and components for nuclear-powered spaceships that could replace traditional chemical rockets. (Cardinal News)
COMMENTARY:
Correction: Starke County, Indiana, officials last week denied a claim by residents that documentation for a proposed solar project is missing. An earlier version of this digest incorrectly identified the county.
SOLAR: Two developers pursuing solar projects in Ohio are proactively meeting with communities early in the development process in an effort to boost their chances with state regulators. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
EMISSIONS:
COAL: Northern Wisconsin coal plants are being replaced by natural gas and renewable energy as utilities prepare to comply with federal regulations. (WXPR)
GRID:
CLIMATE:
WIND:
HYDROELECTRIC: Hundreds of dams across the Upper Midwest are at growing risk of failure as they age and face more pressure from extreme weather. (Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Professional racing league NASCAR, while still heavily reliant on internal combustion vehicles, releases a prototype all-electric race car at an event in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune)
COMMENTARY: A Wisconsin clean energy advocate says the state’s solar energy boom will provide an economic jolt to rural communities. (Door County Pulse)
CLEAN ENERGY: The Inflation Reduction Act has spurred billions of dollars in clean energy investment as it nears its second birthday, and forthcoming tax credit guidance is set to further accelerate its impact. (Utility Dive)
BUILDINGS:
OVERSIGHT: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission started 2024 with only three of five commissioners but managed to enact major transmission, cost allocation and other rules in the first half of the year. (Utility Dive)
WORKFORCE: A $60 million federal program will fund nine training efforts across 10 states to prepare workers for climate resilience-boosting jobs. (Inside Climate News)
CLIMATE:
STORAGE: Residential and utility-scale energy storage development is off to a strong start this year, on pace to break development records. (Canary Media)
SOLAR:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
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