Massachusetts prides itself in being a leader on public policy. We take pride in our state as a trend-setter in everything from public libraries to universal healthcare.. However, when it comes to embracing clean energy and taking decisive climate action, Massachusetts just got left in the blocks by a Commonwealth to our south.
Over the weekend, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ratified what is now the gold standard clean energy bill in the United States. It includes:
- 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050;
- A mandate for 5.2 GW of offshore wind-generated electricity by 2034;
- A requirement that new gas infrastructure projects prove their necessity;
- Provisions to expand solar installation and increase energy storage;
- A cap-and-trade program to reduce emissions from power plants;
- Renewable energy programs for disadvantaged communities.
Of particular note is the steep hill that future gas infrastructure projects will have to climb to prove their viability. In order to pass along capital costs to customers in the form of higher rates, utilities “must first show that they cannot maintain reliable service without securing additional fuel supplies. They must then identify how much new fuel capacity they require and when they will need it. Next, they will have to study all available options, including alternatives to gas capacity contracts. Finally, they must demonstrate that gas capacity contracts are the lowest-cost option, taking into account both fixed and variable costs and projections for future utilization of the capacity.”
Imagine a utility trying to clear that bar? Mass.-based Synapse Energy just put together an environment report for a proposed pipeline in New Jersey that determined the supposed demand in New York state for fossil gas was non-existent. In fact, New York is looking at a surplus of gas in the coming decades. All the proposed project would do is make customers pay more for gas they already receive.
And that brings us back to Virginia, where in anticipation of the passage of the state’s new climate and energy bill, Dominion Energy backed away from plans to develop new gas-fired electric plants. It caused Harrison Wallace, Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, to declare “there is no future for gas.” He added, “Dominion’s actions clearly represent the first snowball in what should soon become an avalanche of companies abandoning gas in all its forms including pipelines and generation plants.”
That same snowball effect could be taking place in Massachusetts if we pass similar legislation. We just need to mirror Virginia’s renewable power energy. They’ve set the new benchmark for climate legislation. Massachusetts and every other state should strive to meet it.