By Natalie Karas

New York is a national leader on energy and climate. The state’s Clean Energy Standard provides that half its electricity will come from renewables by 2030. The state has also committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 2005 levels by 2050. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new plan to reduce methane pollution directs state agencies to develop policies to inventory emissions and identify strategies to reduce them.

These are ambitious goals that require proactive, flexible policies from New York regulators. However, embedded within New York Public Service Commission precedent and policies are preferences for utility decisions weighted in favor of natural gas utilization and infrastructure. These policies risk locking in that infrastructure at the expense of alternatives.

Dusting off old policies

One such policy, in place since 1989, incentivizes utilities that expand gas service into new areas by increasing the rate of shareholder return they’re allowed to earn on these investments. Others put the finger on the scale for increased utility investment in natural gas pipelines and delivery infrastructure.

These policies may be sensible as a means to move away from more expensive and more polluting fuels such as oil. As the state looks to comply with its own ambitious climate policies, however, it’s time to revisit this thinking to ensure the rules aren’t biasing investment decisions in favor of gas expansion at the expense of other cheaper and lower-emitting solutions, and that they’re flexible enough to accommodate changes in demand and the emergence of new technologies.

Pipelines v. alternatives

Utilities are charged with ensuring that their systems run reliably. That means they need to have enough natural gas supply to meet all of their customers’ demand under virtually any circumstances. To meet these conservative planning assumptions, the most commonly proposed solution is to build new pipelines, compressor stations and larger gas supply systems. Often, this costly infrastructure is designed to meet extreme conditions — for example, the coldest day in 30 years — and may actually be needed only a few times a year, or sometimes less.

But building infrastructure is how utilities make profit for their shareholders. Once a utility get approval to and builds new supply infrastructure, it locks in returns over the decades-long life of the infrastructure. The incentives imbedded in the market design, coupled with policies weighted towards new gas infrastructure, also risk locking in greenhouse gas emissions over the long lives of those systems. But opportunities are emerging for gas utilities to modernize and expand their systems in new ways to meet increased demand, resulting in both environmental and cost benefits.

Some examples include more robust energy efficiency programs, demand response (where a customer temporarily reduces gas demand, sometimes with the help of technology such as a programmable thermostat, to achieve cost savings), and advanced metering infrastructure (i.e., updated technology to improve communications of gas consumption data to empower customers to better manage their energy usage and bills).

In addition, new household and commercial heating technologies such as air source and geothermal heat pumps have emerged as solutions for communities unserved by a gas distribution utility. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority says these technologies will save both energy and gas bills and help meet aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Solutions like these may very well provide a better, more cost effective solution than new pipeline capacity that may be used only a few days of the year, but locks in natural gas use for years and years to come.

Reforming the gas vision

The New York Public Service Commission has already shown its commitment to developing a comprehensive framework to meet its climate goals—it’s doing just that in the Reforming the Energy Vision initiative. The ultimate aim there is to create a modern, smart interactive electricity system designed to maximize renewable energy, efficiency, and customer choice. But a similar framework does not exist on the gas side.

Some utilities have proposed pilot programs to develop geothermal technology or other gas demand response pilot programs but this has been primarily on a piecemeal basis. Outdated policies mean too much weight is still placed on expanding gas infrastructure.

A proceeding to analyze its policies on the use of natural gas is pending before the commission. In light of New York’s climate policies enacted after that proceeding was opened, it is now the appropriate time to revisit these issues to ensure they are consistent with the state’s climate goals.

This means reevaluating incentives provided to utilities for expanding natural gas supply capability. It means recognizing and promoting non-pipeline alternatives, and accurately measuring the environmental and economic costs of these new technologies when compared to traditional natural gas supply investment. Finally, it means expanding energy efficiency programs, making the gas system more responsive to customer needs, and using new technologies to enhance operational efficiency to ensure that customers enjoy both economic and environmental benefits.

New York is a national leader on energy and climate. The state’s Clean Energy Standard provides that half its electricity will come from renewables by 2030. The state has also committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 2005 levels by 2050. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new plan to reduce methane pollution directs state agencies to […]

The post It’s time to harmonize New York’s natural gas and climate policies appeared first on Energy Exchange.

Coastal restoration is not cheap. Most projects cost on the order of millions, sometimes billions, to plan, design and construct. Such high stakes call for solutions that provide the greatest benefit over the long term. But how do you select projects that provide the most bang for the buck? Part of the answer lies in project synergies and complementary projects. What are synergies? Synergies are the interactions between projects that happen based on project scale, location and timing of construction ...

Read The Full Story

The post Project Synergies: Getting the Most Bang for our Buck from Coastal Restoration appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

Coastal restoration is not cheap. Most projects cost on the order of millions, sometimes billions, to plan, design and construct. Such high stakes call for solutions that provide the greatest benefit over the long term. But how do you select projects that provide the most bang for the buck? Part of the answer lies in project synergies and complementary projects. What are synergies? Synergies are the interactions between projects that happen based on project scale, location and timing of construction ...

Read The Full Story

The post Project Synergies: Getting the Most Bang for our Buck from Coastal Restoration appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

Coastal restoration is not cheap. Most projects cost on the order of millions, sometimes billions, to plan, design and construct. Such high stakes call for solutions that provide the greatest benefit over the long term. But how do you select projects that provide the most bang for the buck? Part of the answer lies in project synergies and complementary projects. What are synergies? Synergies are the interactions between projects that happen based on project scale, location and timing of construction ...

Read The Full Story

The post Project Synergies: Getting the Most Bang for our Buck from Coastal Restoration appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

Resiliency is a hot button word right now. Ten years ago, advocates focused on “adaptation,” or the idea of adapting to the coming effects of climate change. Now the focus is on “resiliency,” the ability to bounce forward – not backward – when something disastrous happens. For El Paso, a city on the border between […]

By Kate Zerrenner

Resiliency is a hot button word right now. Ten years ago, advocates focused on “adaptation,” or the idea of adapting to the coming effects of climate change. Now the focus is on “resiliency,” the ability to bounce forward – not backward – when something disastrous happens.

For El Paso, a city on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, resilience is critical. A huge city in the middle of the desert with an average rainfall around 8 inches per year, El Paso needs to be hardy, especially when it comes to water.

El Paso Water Utility (EPWU) is on top of the problem, enacting programs and initiatives to ensure El Paso’s water resiliency. Unfortunately, El Paso Electric – the city’s electric utility – is not doing everything it can to use less water.

To protect the city’s water, the utility should fully embrace no-water solar PV energy and not discourage customers from using solar power at their homes and businesses.

History of conservation

El Paso has been a leader in water conservation for decades. For example, the city cut water demand by more than 40 percent – from a high of 225 gallons per person per day (gcpd) in the 1970s to 132 gcpd in 2013, seven years ahead of its target.

How did El Paso do it? It changed the way city residents make decisions about and pay for water. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the city unveiled a 50-year water resource plan, changed prices to conserve water, and started aggressive water conservation programs.

Further, El Paso reuses about 15 percent of its water, much higher than the statewide average of 1 percent (although some cities, like San Antonio, are higher).

After recently coming out of a severe, multi-year drought (along with the rest of the state), El Paso understands that if it doesn’t effectively manage its water, it won’t have a city to run at all.

Solar’s role

But there’s something missing in El Paso’s water equation: the connection between making electricity and water. While El Paso’s water utility is protecting this precious resource, the electric utility isn’t.

El Paso is a very sunny city, averaging about 302 days of sunshine per year, which means a lot of solar energy potential. And solar PV uses no water to create electricity, as opposed to very thirsty traditional power resources like coal and natural gas.

Moreover, findings from an Environmental Defense Fund project with the Texas National Guard found that National Guard installations in El Paso are at the top for both water stress and solar potential. Clearly, there is significant opportunity to ease water stress by increasing solar power in the area.

One El Paso

Despite the opportunity to help save El Paso’s water by using solar power, El Paso Electric is blocking the growth of customer-owned solar power. The utility’s new proposal hits homes and small businesses that use solar panels with a higher monthly charge.

As is the case with most cities and utilities, energy and water in El Paso tend to be viewed separately. Electric utilities are inclined to plan as though they will always have enough water and water utilities do the same with electricity. But if careful planning for water and energy is not undertaken, there won’t be enough of either to go around.

El Paso should be taking every step needed to strengthen its water resilience, including making wise energy decisions. A resilient city facilitates coordination of resources and plans strategically for wise use throughout the entire system.

This post originally appeared on our Energy Exchange blog.

Resiliency is a hot button word right now. Ten years ago, advocates focused on “adaptation,” or the idea of adapting to the coming effects of climate change. Now the focus is on “resiliency,” the ability to bounce forward – not backward – when something disastrous happens. For El Paso, a city on the border between […]

Each type of cell in our body expresses our genes differently based on many things including what they are (skin or kidney cells) and how old we are (newborn or 65 years old). These differences are controlled by our epigenome – the set of molecular marks along our DNA that dictate which and when genes […]

By Jonathan Choi

Each type of cell in our body expresses our genes differently based on many things including what they are (skin or kidney cells) and how old we are (newborn or 65 years old). These differences are controlled by our epigenome – the set of molecular marks along our DNA that dictate which and when genes turn on and off. Turns out our environment can influence and alter these marks!

For this episode we talked to Dr. Dana Dolinoy of the University of Michigan about her work on the epigenome, including how twin mom mice can birth very different looking newborns—either yellow and obese or brown and normal weight—depending on what they ate during pregnancy.

Want more? Subscribe to us on iTunes or Google Play, or check out our SoundCloud to listen via desktop!

Originally posted on EDF Voices on July 26, 2017. Louisiana’s coast is a working coast. Home to nearly 2 million people, the region is an economic engine for our nation, which relies on it for energy, shipping, chemicals and seafood. But the state is also facing a land loss crisis that threatens to grind this engine to a halt, with billions in industry losses as a potential result. The Pelican State alone could lose as much as $3.6 billion worth ...

Read The Full Story

The post Trump's Budget Could Kill an Urgent Coastal Recovery Project – and Slam Our Economy appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

Originally posted on EDF Voices on July 26, 2017. Louisiana’s coast is a working coast. Home to nearly 2 million people, the region is an economic engine for our nation, which relies on it for energy, shipping, chemicals and seafood. But the state is also facing a land loss crisis that threatens to grind this engine to a halt, with billions in industry losses as a potential result. The Pelican State alone could lose as much as $3.6 billion worth ...

Read The Full Story

The post Trump's Budget Could Kill an Urgent Coastal Recovery Project – and Slam Our Economy appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

Originally posted on EDF Voices on July 26, 2017. Louisiana’s coast is a working coast. Home to nearly 2 million people, the region is an economic engine for our nation, which relies on it for energy, shipping, chemicals and seafood. But the state is also facing a land loss crisis that threatens to grind this engine to a halt, with billions in industry losses as a potential result. The Pelican State alone could lose as much as $3.6 billion worth ...

Read The Full Story

The post Trump's Budget Could Kill an Urgent Coastal Recovery Project – and Slam Our Economy appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

By EDF Blogs

By Elizabeth Villedrouin, Communications Intern, Clean Energy and Kristen Moore, Research Intern, Clean Energy

As interns at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we’ve been tapped as resident experts on surviving on college budgets, social media, and all things Millennial.  Research tells us Millennials are the largest living generation. So, as Clean Energy interns this summer, we’ve learned that gives us much power to change the game for the energy sector. But in unexpected ways.

As young people, we’re working at EDF because we want to promote systemic, market-based solutions and new energy technologies that shift our country toward a clean energy future and away from our fossil fuel past (did someone say solar paint?).

We have high standards for our energy future, and our priorities differ from our parents’ (for example, millennials tend to value careers [PDF] over religious life). And although we’re the thriftiest generation, 64 percent of us are actually willing to pay more on our electric bill if it’s generated by clean energy.

Shifting the economy

Although a generation that has been slow to invest, millennials are now buying stocks in companies that further the clean energy economy. Among millennials’ favorite stocks are companies like Apple and Facebook who declared their commitment to rely on 100 percent renewable energy through RE100. Others include Amazon, which launched four wind and solar farms in 2016 and publicly supported the Clean Power Plan; Tesla, which started selling solar panels this year; and Nvidia, which plans to reduce emissions by 15 percent per employee by 2020 and only operates in buildings that comply with LEED standards.

The energy sector needs to adapt to millennials—not vice versa
Click To Tweet

We like to put our money where our values are. Our generation is the most likely to pay more for responsibly made products and roughly 80 percent of us want to work for companies that care about their impacts. Nearly 400,000 millennials are currently working in green jobs.

Energy-efficient lifestyles

For a variety of economic and social factors, our lifestyles tend to be more energy efficient. Many of us are choosing buses and bikes over cars. And we’re more likely to purchase new, energy-saving products and services like Nest learning thermostats than people over 55, according to research by Accenture.

“Energy providers must take these and other insights about these groups to heart, to unlock value, because consumers’ preferences and behaviors are rapidly changing the market landscape,” said Tony Masella, managing director of Accenture Energy Consumer Services.

Appeal to our drive for progress and prosperity based on clean, equitable energy solutions.

Push-back against fossil fuels

Students from hundreds of colleges and universities have led successful movements urging their administrative leaders to divest from fossil fuels. Educational institutions make up 14 percent of the approximate $5.42 trillion value of institutions around the world that have divested from the fossil fuel industry. 600 colleges and universities are already members of the Climate Leadership Network, a network of institutions committed to action plans to achieve carbon-neutrality in the coming future. But, for some students, these commitments mean nothing if their schools are still buying stock in fossil fuels, even if the financial impact to the industry is slim.

Our advice: Don’t sleep on us

In order to thrive, today’s energy sector should engage its youngest customers – which happen to be America’s most tech-savvy, environmentally conscious generation. Attempts to garner support for fossil fuel would be like Sony trying to sell us Walkmans –futile. Appeal to our drive for progress and prosperity based on clean, equitable energy solutions.  More and more, we are the ones making important energy decisions –as building managers, homeowners, engineers, utility regulators, and, one day, the next head of the Department of Energy.

 

Photo source: wundervisuals

By EDF Blogs

By Elizabeth Villedrouin, Communications Intern, Clean Energy and Kristen Moore, Research Intern, Clean Energy

As interns at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we’ve been tapped as resident experts on surviving on college budgets, social media, and all things Millennial.  Research tells us Millennials are the largest living generation. So, as Clean Energy interns this summer, we’ve learned that gives us much power to change the game for the energy sector. But in unexpected ways.

As young people, we’re working at EDF because we want to promote systemic, market-based solutions and new energy technologies that shift our country toward a clean energy future and away from our fossil fuel past (did someone say solar paint?).

We have high standards for our energy future, and our priorities differ from our parents’ (for example, millennials tend to value careers [PDF] over religious life). And although we’re the thriftiest generation, 64 percent of us are actually willing to pay more on our electric bill if it’s generated by clean energy.

Shifting the economy

Although a generation that has been slow to invest, millennials are now buying stocks in companies that further the clean energy economy. Among millennials’ favorite stocks are companies like Apple and Facebook who declared their commitment to rely on 100 percent renewable energy through RE100. Others include Amazon, which launched four wind and solar farms in 2016 and publicly supported the Clean Power Plan; Tesla, which started selling solar panels this year; and Nvidia, which plans to reduce emissions by 15 percent per employee by 2020 and only operates in buildings that comply with LEED standards.

The energy sector needs to adapt to millennials—not vice versa
Click To Tweet

We like to put our money where our values are. Our generation is the most likely to pay more for responsibly made products and roughly 80 percent of us want to work for companies that care about their impacts. Nearly 400,000 millennials are currently working in green jobs.

Energy-efficient lifestyles

For a variety of economic and social factors, our lifestyles tend to be more energy efficient. Many of us are choosing buses and bikes over cars. And we’re more likely to purchase new, energy-saving products and services like Nest learning thermostats than people over 55, according to research by Accenture.

“Energy providers must take these and other insights about these groups to heart, to unlock value, because consumers’ preferences and behaviors are rapidly changing the market landscape,” said Tony Masella, managing director of Accenture Energy Consumer Services.

Appeal to our drive for progress and prosperity based on clean, equitable energy solutions.

Push-back against fossil fuels

Students from hundreds of colleges and universities have led successful movements urging their administrative leaders to divest from fossil fuels. Educational institutions make up 14 percent of the approximate $5.42 trillion value of institutions around the world that have divested from the fossil fuel industry. 600 colleges and universities are already members of the Climate Leadership Network, a network of institutions committed to action plans to achieve carbon-neutrality in the coming future. But, for some students, these commitments mean nothing if their schools are still buying stock in fossil fuels, even if the financial impact to the industry is slim.

Our advice: Don’t sleep on us

In order to thrive, today’s energy sector should engage its youngest customers – which happen to be America’s most tech-savvy, environmentally conscious generation. Attempts to garner support for fossil fuel would be like Sony trying to sell us Walkmans –futile. Appeal to our drive for progress and prosperity based on clean, equitable energy solutions.  More and more, we are the ones making important energy decisions –as building managers, homeowners, engineers, utility regulators, and, one day, the next head of the Department of Energy.

 

Photo source: wundervisuals

By Elizabeth Villedrouin, Communications Intern, Clean Energy and Kristen Moore, Research Intern, Clean Energy As interns at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we’ve been tapped as resident experts on surviving on college budgets, social media, and all things Millennial.  Research tells us Millennials are the largest living generation. So, as Clean Energy interns this summer, we’ve […]

By Elizabeth Villedrouin, Communications Intern, Clean Energy and Kristen Moore, Research Intern, Clean Energy As interns at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we’ve been tapped as resident experts on surviving on college budgets, social media, and all things Millennial.  Research tells us Millennials are the largest living generation. So, as Clean Energy interns this summer, we’ve […]

By Elizabeth Villedrouin, Communications Intern, Clean Energy and Kristen Moore, Research Intern, Clean Energy As interns at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we’ve been tapped as resident experts on surviving on college budgets, social media, and all things Millennial.  Research tells us Millennials are the largest living generation. So, as Clean Energy interns this summer, we’ve […]

By EDF Blogs

By Elizabeth Villedrouin, Communications Intern, Clean Energy and Kristen Moore, Research Intern, Clean Energy

As interns at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we’ve been tapped as resident experts on surviving on college budgets, social media, and all things Millennial.  Research tells us Millennials are the largest living generation. So, as Clean Energy interns this summer, we’ve learned that gives us much power to change the game for the energy sector. But in unexpected ways.

As young people, we’re working at EDF because we want to promote systemic, market-based solutions and new energy technologies that shift our country toward a clean energy future and away from our fossil fuel past (did someone say solar paint?).

We have high standards for our energy future, and our priorities differ from our parents’ (for example, millennials tend to value careers [PDF] over religious life). And although we’re the thriftiest generation, 64 percent of us are actually willing to pay more on our electric bill if it’s generated by clean energy.

Shifting the economy

Although a generation that has been slow to invest, millennials are now buying stocks in companies that further the clean energy economy. Among millennials’ favorite stocks are companies like Apple and Facebook who declared their commitment to rely on 100 percent renewable energy through RE100. Others include Amazon, which launched four wind and solar farms in 2016 and publicly supported the Clean Power Plan; Tesla, which started selling solar panels this year; and Nvidia, which plans to reduce emissions by 15 percent per employee by 2020 and only operates in buildings that comply with LEED standards.

The energy sector needs to adapt to millennials—not vice versa
Click To Tweet

We like to put our money where are values are. Our generation is the most likely to pay more for responsibly made products and roughly 80 percent of us want to work for companies that care about their impacts. Nearly 400,000 millennials are currently working in green jobs.

Energy-efficient lifestyles

For a variety of economic and social factors, our lifestyles tend to be more energy efficient. Many of us are choosing buses and bikes over cars. And we’re more likely to purchase new, energy-saving products and services like Nest learning thermostats than people over 55, according to research by Accenture.

“Energy providers must take these and other insights about these groups to heart, to unlock value, because consumers’ preferences and behaviors are rapidly changing the market landscape,” said Tony Masella, managing director of Accenture Energy Consumer Services.

Appeal to our drive for progress and prosperity based on clean, equitable energy solutions.

Push-back against fossil fuels

Students from hundreds of colleges and universities have led successful movements urging their administrative leaders to divest from fossil fuels. Educational institutions make up 14 percent of the approximate $5.42 trillion value of institutions around the world that have divested from the fossil fuel industry. 600 colleges and universities are already members of the Climate Leadership Network, a network of institutions committed to action plans to achieve carbon-neutrality in the coming future. But, for some students, these commitments mean nothing if their schools are still buying stock in fossil fuels, even if the financial impact to the industry is slim.

Our advice: Don’t sleep on us

In order to thrive, today’s energy sector should engage its youngest customers – which happen to be America’s most tech-savvy, environmentally conscious generation. Attempts to garner support for fossil fuel would be like Sony trying to sell us Walkmans –futile. Appeal to our drive for progress and prosperity based on clean, equitable energy solutions.  More and more, we are the ones making important energy decisions –as building managers, homeowners, engineers, utility regulators, and, one day, the next head of the Department of Energy.