Energy News for week ending June 22, 2018

No Scorecard Yet | Something for Everyone | Who Owns it

Happy Friday everyone. Hopefully you can get out to enjoy today’s weather because this weekend’s forecast isn’t spectacular.

Now for the news. Mary Serreze over at MassLive reports that the Massachusetts Senate did not include the residential energy efficiency scorecard in its Omnibus Energy Bill. Serreze writes, “Sen. Eric Lesser (D-Longmeadow) introduced a scorecard amendment during floor debate, but said it was taken off the table before the Senate voted on the omnibus bill last Thursday night. An amendment from Sen. Joseph Boncore (D-Winthrop) met a similar fate. Lesser said lawmakers decided to wait for another day, and would continue talks with trade groups that oppose the idea: the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and Greater Boston Real Estate Board. ‘We were not able to agree on the substance,’ said Lesser. ‘So we hope to be able to meet in the middle.’ The real estate organizations said they support a property owner’s ability to voluntarily obtain an energy inspection, and support a buyer’s ability to inspect a property, but oppose legislation that would mandate energy audits and scores.”

Regardless of which side of the natural gas fence you sit on, one of two items in the news this week was sure to support your position. For those in favor of gas, Bloomberg reports that “World energy ministers representing about two thirds of the global population tussled over how the world can achieve a cleaner energy future. The compromise answer: Natural gas, at least for now. A consensus statement from G20 energy ministers meeting in Argentina cited the potential of natural gas “to expand significantly over the coming decades.” Meanwhile, the group said nations that “opt to enhance their renewable energy strategies” should bolster investment and financing within that arena.”

For those who wish to keep natural gas in the ground, the Washington Post reports that “The U.S. oil and gas industry emits 13 million metric tons of methane from its operations each year — nearly 60 percent more than current estimates and enough to offset much of the climate benefits of burning natural gas instead of coal, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. The higher volumes of natural gas leaking from across the industry’s supply chain would be enough to fuel 10 million homes and would be worth an estimated $2 billion…”

Last for this week is a story from Utility Dive related to policy issues around Massachusetts’ energy storage market. From the article, “A little-noticed debate in Massachusetts could have a big impact on the trajectory of the state’s energy storage market. Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) convened a technical conference on solar and storage facilities participating in ISO-New England’s forward capacity market (FCM). The question of capacity payments and who is entitled to them is part of a larger debate about how distributed energy resources are going to be deployed in Massachusetts. The key issue in the capacity debate is not the technical issue of qualifying for ISO-NE’s FCM, but the policy question about who will retain ownership and control of a facility’s capacity. ‘The main issue is who owns the rights once a project is installed and who gets to bid into the FCM,’ Ted Ko, director of policy at Stem, told Utility Dive. It is an issue that is ‘extremely important for the storage industry in Massachusetts,’ he said.”

That’s the recap for this week. You can find events at Northeast Energy News. Have a great weekend.

Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling

A Greener Future Starts With Natural Gas, World Energy Chiefs Say, Bloomberg

Methane leaks offset much of the climate change benefits of natural gas, study says, Washington Post

Massachusetts Gas Workers Vote to Authorize National Grid Strike, USA Patch

Trump’s steel tariffs threaten multibillion dollar expansion of US, Canadian pipelines, Washington Examiner

FirstEnergy Calls out FERC ‘Failure’ to Act on Resilience, RTO Insider

Exposure to fracking chemicals and wastewater spurs fat cell development, Science Daily

Fracking boom takes toll on Pennsylvania’s communities of color and lower-income areas, ThinkProgress

Utilities Commission Rejects $639 million SDG&E Natural Gas Pipeline, Times of San Diego

Most American homes are still heated with fossil fuels. It’s time to electrify., Vox

Renewables Policy/Climate Change/RGGI