Wind Forcing: New England's Coming Energy War
WindAction Editorial
Wind Forcing: New England's Coming Energy War
(Posted May 30, 2013)
New England state RPS policies represent some of the most aggressive and costly programs in the country. By 2021, over 20% of the electricity sold retail in the region must come from renewables. Given a robust mix of natural resources, particularly wood biomass, and some hydroelectric, meeting the state mandates, while tough, is possible. But recent legislative and regulatory proposals altering the Massachusetts and Connecticut RPS programs now threaten the balance in favor of building new wind power facilities which could lead to an energy policy war between the states.
Background: Meeting the RPS policies
Sixteen different RPS programs are on the books in New England, each representing different technology classes for new and existing resources and each with different annual compliance requirements. Since the policies are designed to encourage deployment of new renewable generation -- RPS 'Class I' technologies -- the mandates for Class I resources are accelerated. Renewables designated as new resources are state specific but typically include wind, solar, some small hydro, low-emission biomass, landfill gas, and ocean thermal.
The ISO-New England estimates that 30,420 GWh, or 20.2% of the region's projected electric energy use in 2021 will come from renewables of which two-thirds represent new resources built to meet the RPS targets. Electricity suppliers can satisfy their RPS obligations by purchasing generation or Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)[1] from a variety of technologies located either within New England or from eligible resources operating in New York and Canada.
Competitive markets have generally met the RPS demand with the help of existing facilities that were recognized as new renewables by the states, but since 2010, New England has had a shortage of available RECs for most technologies.
Paving the Way for Big Wind
Wind energy has not been welcome in most of New England. A lack of available open land, conflicts with sensitive environmental resources, limited transmission capacity and intense community opposition have stymied its growth. The high price tag (9-12 cents per KWh wholesale) coupled with its unpredictability has made wind less attractive for energy suppliers as well.
By the end of 2012, just 750 MW [2] of wind energy was installed in New England although thousands of wind megawatts have been proposed. Most projects are small, averaging under 40 MW. Without substantial public support including the federal production tax credit and RPS mandates, most of the installed wind would not have been built at all.Despite these issues, the New England Governors' Conference (NEGC) has blindly pushed for more wind in the system and Massachusetts and Connecticut were the first to respond.
Last year, Massachusetts imposed rigid emissions requirements on wood biomass which, when fully implemented, would effectively disqualify most in-region biomass plants as Mass RPS Class I technologies. A similar phase-out of 'dirty biomass' passed the Connecticut House in May and is expected to become law.
Since Massachusetts and Connecticut represent nearly 75% of the region's total RPS load, the effect of these changes on the region's renewable energy mix will be significant.
Surplus biomass RECs forced out of Massachusetts and Connecticut will migrate to smaller programs in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and possibly Maine and quickly saturate their Class I requirements. The market for biomass will dramatically shrink and may force privately-owned plants to shut down killing hundreds of jobs. At the same time, Massachusetts and Connecticut policies still retain aggressive Class I mandates that will need to be met. With biomass pushed out, the door is wide open for big wind.
As an added push, Massachusetts now mandates that 7% of RPS compliance be met using long-term (15-20 year) power contracts. Amendments to Connecticut's RPS, if adopted, will force 4% of the state's RPS load to be satisfied with contacts. The contract provisions are direct hand-outs to the wind industry which has shown, time and again, it cannot compete against other renewables, even with New England's generous policy support.
Mandating the North to Serve the South
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Comment
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Comment by Martha thacker on June 6, 2013 at 7:27am
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Thank you for posting this informative editorial!
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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