Energy News for week ending August 31, 2018

Solar: 20 million in savings | Limiting Range Anxiety | Unsteady Progress

Happy long-weekend Friday!

Here’s what we found interesting in the energy news for this week.

From Utility Dive, Distributed solar saved ISO-NE consumers $20M during July heatwave, report says “Distributed solar reduced New England wholesale power costs by nearly $20 million dollars during a heat wave from July 1 to July 7, according to a new analysis completed by Synapse Energy Economics. During peak hours for electricity demand, distributed solar can reduce load on the New England grid by more than 1 GW, the report found, helping to reduce system-wide costs. The analysis was commissioned by SunCommon, a distributed solar provider…The analysis found solar is expected to produce 2,162 GWh of total annual energy savings in 2018, rising to almost 4,800 GWh in 2027.”

From MassLive, Eversource begins rollout of 400 electric car chargers across Massachusetts; ‘range anxiety’ seen as enemy to emissions progress “…Over the next five years, Eversource will spent [sic] $45 million to install more than 400 charging sites across Massachusetts as part of its Grid Modernization plan. Hunt [Eversource senior vice president and chief communications officer] said Eversource has made great progress in switching from dirty coal to cleaner fuels like natural gas, offshore wind, hydroelectricity and solar power. But 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions come in the transportation sector, Hunt said. ‘The trick is getting those clean fuels into the cars,’ Hunt said. ‘Range anxiety is a real limiting factor,’ Hunt said, referring to the fear of being stuck someplace without a charging station to get home. He said a four-hour charge will boost most electric car batteries to 80 percent of their capacity.”

From CommonWealth Magazine, Mass. makes unsteady progress on emissions “Massachusetts greenhouse gas emissions increased for the fourth year in a row in 2015, but state officials are forecasting a downturn when numbers are crunched for 2016, according to an email sent out by the Baker administration. State law mandates that emissions reach a target of 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Data lag by several years, but the numbers suggest the state has been going the wrong way the last few years, with emissions falling to 72 million tons in 2012 before rising in 2013 and 2014 and hitting 76.3 million tons in 2015. The 2015 number was 19.2 percent below 1990 levels, which was not as good as 2014 (21.5 percent below) or 2013 (19.7 percent). Officials are forecasting emission levels to be 20.8 percent below 1990 levels in 2016.”

That’s it for this week. Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.

Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling

State: Environmental Impact Report needed for Tennessee Gas Pipeline projects in Agawam and Longmeadow, MassLive

Weymouth compressor opponents to unveil Braintree billboard, Weymouth.WickedLocal.com

Rally to revive Energy East pipeline meets opposition in Halifax, CBC.ca

Oil companies, staff remain liable for spill damage during N.J. home deliveries, WHYY

Portland, Maine, rule blocking pipeline OK’d in court, Boston Globe

European Oil Majors Are Out-Talking American Peers on Climate, Bloomberg L.P.

National Grid workers plan to rally outside Mass. Department of Public Utilities, WHDH

Billerica issues moratorium on future National Grid work, Billerica.wickedlocal.com

Renewables/Climate Change/RGGI

Regional Environmental Groups Pan Proposed Pollution Rule, WAMC