ENE Discusses New England CO2 Reduction at APPA E&O Conference
Tim Hebert, ENE Executive Vice President, participated on a CO2 reduction panel at the APPA Engineering & Operations Conference in San Antonio, Texas in early May 2017. The panel addressed CO2 reduction approaches on both East and West coasts, as well as a case study of the Lincoln Electric System’s carbon reduction activities. Tim presented alongside representatives from the Northern California Power Agency and Lincoln Electric System.
A New England Perspective
Tim discussed the complicated and interwoven backdrop of deregulation and environmental legislation overlaid on a regional, organized New England wholesale energy market.
- Five of the six New England states deregulated their electric industries, leading to divestiture of generation and “competitive” wholesale and retail markets.
- Carbon intensity in New England’s electric sector has dropped substantially since the early 2000’s due to a natural gas generation build out that was spurred by deregulation.
- Falling natural gas prices has led to the eventual retirement of nearly all coal-fired generating capacity in the region.
- All New England states have been part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative since its inception
- Each state now has a Renewable Portfolio Standard of some sort, incenting the construction of new, renewable energy resources. However, with the exception of some solar incentives, the Renewable Energy Credit market is not conducive to long-term contracting
- A few state-driven renewable energy RFPs have led IOUs to enter into limited, out of market, long term contracts
- Several new state energy and environmental policies that would result in much larger public policy resource build outs, with growing concern on the impact of those policies on the regional market. This has created the IMAPP process – Integrating Markets and Public Policy
- All the while, in several New England states, public power entities are exempt from many of these policies but the pressure for compliance is growing. Public power remains vertically integrated and is the last bastion of ready long-term contracting. The vast majority of public power entities have voluntarily added green resources to their portfolios and meet or exceed current RPS targets.
Other than that it’s been pretty quiet in New England! ENE is actively engaged with its customers on all fronts – legislative and government affairs, integrated resource and portfolio planning, and developing compliance strategies should they be needed.
Hebert will also be participating on a Community Energy Storage panel at the APPA National Conference on June 19 in Orlando, Florida.