It’s been a long time coming, but the gas companies are finally waking up to their worst nightmare: Multiple states last month advanced policies that would require the buildout of renewable energy and the sunsetting of leaky, inefficient gas assets. The disastrous climate effects of gas - and an increasingly angry public - are finally activating policymakers. Yet another crucial factor is coming onto play: governments and consumers at the state and local level are recognizing renewable sources are now the most cost-effective investments. The Mayflower Wind project just set the lowest prices ever for offshore wind energy in its power purchase agreements. The project will be built roughly 20 miles south of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, and intends to start operating in 2025. The agreements are signed by utilities, giving both the wind farm and the utilities cost certainty moving into the future.
State governments also are taking steps sure to hasten the market shift to renewables. In the wake of Governor Charlie Baker’s call for Massachusetts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the Massachusetts State Senate recently passed a sweeping new set of climate bills that would set hard emissions targets, establish a climate policy commission to keep the state on track to meet those targets, and require the Department of Public Utilities to consider climate and economic impacts when evaluating new energy projects. If these provisions become law, good luck to any gas expansion project trying to make the case ratepayers should be charged extra for climate-damaging infrastructure that will be obsolete before it achieves a return on its investment.
More gas-specific legislation could emerge later this year, but the writing is on the wall for the gas industry. Its market is already shrinking; these new regulations will hasten the shift.. And Massachusetts is far from alone in making gas part of its past.
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimundo set a goal for 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy unveiled a plan for 100% clean energy by 2050.
A study commissioned by the Maine Legislature has determined the state must eletrify home heating and transportation to reach its climate goals.
The State of New York allocated $400+ million to fund electric heat pump installations, prompting New York Geothermal Energy Organization Executive Director Bill Nowak to state “We believe the Commission’s order marks the official beginning of a process that will lead to the eventual end of fossil fuel heating in New York."
The State of Connecticut is considering leaving the ISO-New England power grid due to its failure to move fast enough in switching away from fossil fuels to renewables.
Essentially, everywhere the gas industry turns in the northeast, it’s under siege. It’s selling a product that states are moving away from in rapid fashion. No wonder CNBC stock market analyst Jim Cramer recently levelled a dire assessment for the future of fossil fuel stocks, saying “they’re in the death knell phase.”
Of course, none of this would be happening without a rising tide of public pressure to act on our climate emergency. And there’s still plenty of counter-pressure from the fossil fuel industry and its allies in the Trump administration. The news may be good, but this is no time to slack off.