CommonWealth Beacon: "Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification"

Consider the author's point of view: "Michael S. Giaimo is the director of the northeast region of the American Petroleum Institute" 

"You may have missed it, but there is a pervasive movement afoot to electrify everything: cars, trucks, buses, homes, offices, stoves, and appliances. It may sound easy, but it is a massive undertaking rife with challenges. Policies seeking to simultaneously electrify our transportation system, our homes, and commercial buildings will require an upfront investment of billions of dollars in preparing and expanding the power grid to accommodate this increased demand for electricity. That is just for starters.  

When policymakers discuss this issue, they focus on the perceived benefits of decarbonization but consistently gloss over the process and associated challenges. When they consider mandatory electrification, among the questions they leave unanswered are: How much power is going to be needed to preserve reliability? Where is that power coming from? How is the power going to get where it needs to go? And how much is this all going to cost?

Let’s start with the question about the amount of power needed. According to the 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report) – the region’s demand for electrical power is projected to increase by a quarter over the next decade – and that prediction might be understated."

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/lets-be-honest-about-cost-challenges-of-electrification/

Reports referenced in the article are also available via Franklin Matters:

• 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report) (Yes, it is an Excel file)  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dlwPUid6Fi6Kuwa44n4ItREbYO1qE71I/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=101938843903614700481&rtpof=true&sd=true
• NationalGrid outlook ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dn0UzxmP5c8wWb7LwtIS_e9xIykVbac-/view?usp=drive_link
• Eversource outlook ->  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e170UznBm4OHedajXqOaAor5fVpyQAQu/view?usp=drive_link

Stay tuned into the "Making Sense of Climate" podcast series as we have these discussion about how we are going to get where we need to be. It will only happen with a concerted effort on the part of all involved ->   https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html

CommonWealth Beacon: "Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification"

MassCEC Seeks Participants for Building Electrification and Transformation Accelerator (BETA): Commercial Buildings Pilot

Hello,   MassCEC is proud to announce our latest pilot program, aimed at helping to decarbonize a wide range of commercial facilities 20,000 square feet and larger (including multi-family buildings with 15 or more units) across the Commonwealth: the Building Electrification and Transformation Accelerator (BETA): Commercial Buildings Pilot. Aimed at helping our local buildings become 2050 ready, the pilot will support participants by creating decarbonization plans to eliminate on-site fossil fuel use over time, for the least cost. The work to support these individual projects will provide insights in the development of statewide resources for decarbonization, such as market specific guides and toolkits. Think you qualify? Apply today! Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. If your commercial property meets the criteria detailed in the Program Manual, and you're interested in decarbonizing your building, apply using our online application form. For more information, please see our flyer about the pilot. Please consider applying and sharing this opportunity with your network. If you have any questions, please contact us at buildings@masscec.com.   Learn More & Apply Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Instagram Copyright © 2023 Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Massachusetts Clean Energy Center 294 Washington St. Suite 1150 Boston, MA 02108

MassCEC Opens Third Year of Funding for the EmPower Massachusetts Program!

Learn more about funding opportunities + how to apply

We hope all is well! The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) is excited to announce the release of our THIRD year of funding opportunities under the EmPower Massachusetts program! The goal of the EmPower Massachusetts program is to increase access to the benefits of clean energy and/or reduce energy burden to previously underserved populations in Massachusetts. MassCEC is thrilled to be able to support another round of innovative projects that will help us equitably achieve the Commonwealth's climate goals. For this next year of EmPower, we will be offering two levels of funding similar to the first two years of the program, but with some changes to funding amounts and timeline. See below for more information: Innovation and Capacity Building Grants  Grant range: $5,000-$25,000 (some opportunities for up to $50,000) "Seed" funding for applicants to explore innovative ideas for potential program models or projects and to build organizational capacity to support future program models or projects. Applicants are encouraged to apply with the intent of building toward an EmPower Implementation grant project. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through April 3, 2024, with three priority deadlines: October 18, 2023, January 18, 2024, and April 3, 2024 (applications will be reviewed starting immediately after these dates). Implementation Grants Grant range: $50,000-$150,000  Funding to implement new program models/projects for increasing access to the benefits of clean energy. A limited number of grants for up to $300,000 will be awarded to projects that use Energy Coach/Ambassador or Technical Assistance Provider models; see section 5.2 of the Implementation Request for Proposals (RFP) on the EmPower website. Applications will be evaluated in two review periods, with deadlines of October 18, 2023 and April 3, 2024. We encourage you to share this opportunity with any organizations, individuals, etc. in your community who you think would be good candidates for the program. To find all information including request for proposals/application documents, please visit the Funding section of our website, which includes funding descriptions, schedules, eligibility, and how to apply!   View both funding opportunities here! To learn more or prepare to apply, join us for office hours & watch our program overview: Office hours We will be hosting our first office hours session on Friday, August 18th from 10:30-11:30 am; you can find the Zoom registration link here. More office hours will be held in the weeks following - keep an eye on the EmPower website for more sessions.  Overview video We will be posting a video overview of this round of the program to the EmPower page in the coming weeks. In the meantime, feel free to watch our video overview for last year's round of the program here! Other Ways to Stay Engaged! Sign up for the Slack channel here. This is a great space for networking and collaboration between organizations. We will also be posting programmatic updates on this channel. Reach out to us directly via email at empower@masscec.com, so we can set up a time to talk and answer any questions you may have.  Read up on the EmPower blog posts, with new posts regularly! Check our website regularly for updates! All inquiries may be submitted via email to empower@masscec.com. Copyright © 2023 Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website. Our mailing address is: Massachusetts Clean Energy Center 294 Washington St. Suite 1150 Boston, MA 02108

Boston Globe: "Massachusetts is building a green economy, but does it have the workers to do so?"

"It’s going to take 38,100 workers to help Massachusetts transition to a clean energy state.

That’s according to a report published Wednesday by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), a quasi-public agency that supports the state’s green energy industry. The paper forecasts thousands of new jobs by 2030 in order to meet the state’s decarbonization goals. And as of now, we’re not ready to fill them.

The report classifies a worker as a “clean energy worker” if they are working in renewable energy, energy efficiency, alternative transportation, or other decarbonization efforts. These jobs include electricians who install electric panels, insulation workers who help maximize the efficiency of heating and cooling systems, or construction workers who help install electric vehicle charging stations.

According to the center’s analysis, Massachusetts needs its clean energy workforce to expand by 37 percent from its current size of 104,000. However, the report also reflects the current challenges of filling those positions today. For example, 88 percent of companies that responded to MassCEC surveys said they have difficulty hiring workers for clean energy jobs."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/19/business/massachusetts-is-building-green-economy-does-it-have-workers-do-so/

A new report highlights the need for more electricians and other workers skilled in clean energy-related trades to fill an expected 38,000 jobs in Massachusetts by 2030.DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF

Get your own copy of the MassCEC report here ->    https://www.masscec.com/sites/default/files/documents/Powering%20the%20Future_A%20Massachusetts%20Clean%20Energy%20Workforce%20Needs%20Assessment_Final.pdf

MassCEC Seeks Participants for Decarbonization Pathways Pilot

Apply by July 30th!

Hello,   The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) is seeking around 45 homes to participate in the second cohort of the Decarbonization Pathways Pilot. The pilot offers technical support and financial incentives to implement high-efficiency decarbonization measures. This is a great opportunity to get the technical support and financial assistance to bring your home into the 21st century!   MassCEC is accepting applications between July 12, 2023 and July 30, 2023.  MassCEC is specifically looking for participants who intend to install heat pumps and/or replace their home's siding to create a better insulated envelope within the coming year. We will also be asking all participants to complete a "Home Modernization Package" that ensures the home is well-prepared to convert away from fossil fuel appliances as they make future purchases (e.g., the next time the heat or hot water heater needs to be replaced). We will also be looking for geographic, income, and building type diversity within the cohort. To learn more about applying for the second cohort, read our blog or review the application.  Please consider applying and sharing this opportunity with your network. If you have any questions, please contact us at buildings@masscec.com.   Learn More & Apply If you are interested in an update on the progress of the first cohort of the Decarbonization Pathways Pilot, please check out our update blog.  Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Instagram Our mailing address is: Massachusetts Clean Energy Center 294 Washington St. Suite 1150 Boston, MA 02108 Add us to your address book

CommonWealth Magazine: "The dirty truth of Northfield Mountain’s ‘clean’ energy"

"ON FEBRUARY 11, CommonWealth published a commentary by FirstLight Power CEO Alicia Barton bragging of the Christmas Eve grid-rescuing heroics of her company’s Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station. She went on to describe Northfield as a “zero-emissions” power plant that helped save New England from a natural gas energy squeeze. There were holes in her contentions, and she failed to mention all the other elephants in the room.

Northfield Mountain, located on the Connecticut River in northwest Massachusetts, is actually a gas-powered plant. It’s a massive, net-power-loss electric machine, run off ISO-New England’s imported natural gas and nuclear-dominated energy grid. Its daily use halts, cripples, and reverses miles of the Connecticut River. Its turbines annually kill hundreds of millions of eggs, larvae, and juvenile and adult fish, and other assorted aquatic species in a four-state river system."

Continue reading the article in CommonWealth Magazine ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/the-dirty-truth-of-northfield-mountains-clean-energy/

 

CommonWealth Magazine: "The dirty truth of Northfield Mountain’s ‘clean’ energy"

From the clean heat report to decarbonization, Ted helps in this Making Sense of Climate episode #22 (audio)

FM #929 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 929 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Tuesday, January 24, 2023.  

In this episode we covered the following topics: 

• End of year reports, status recap

• The MA roadmap

• Commission on Clean Heat issued report on Nov 30, 2022

• The Boston Foundation Climate Report Card

• story of three chairs

• Myths about appliances…  trust science! Or ?

This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well. 

If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.  

The conversation runs about 38 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted McIntyre as he helps me ‘make sense of climate’ Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-929-making-sense-of-climate-23-01-24-23

--------------

  

Links to articles referenced:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1arTnyvQxTrOeV-Kdkxu7XldIWV3TLcqu/view?usp=share_link 

See the page that collects the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html 

--------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

https://www.mass.gov/doc/massachusetts-commission-on-clean-heat-final-report-november-30-2022/download