“Today, residential electricity rates in the Northeast are twice as high as those in the Midwest or South and climbing fast. High natural gas prices, weather disasters and rising transmission costs are major factors, but clean energy mandates also add costs….”
“Ms. Hochul, Mr. Lamont and Ms. Healey have also expressed openness to new natural gas pipelines…. A few smaller pipeline expansions have begun moving forward.
A sea change in energy policy is occurring in the U.S., which represents one-fourth of the world economy. And this change is increasingly pushing the world to ditch Net Zero and let the best energies win in a free and open marketplace.
The latest recognition of this came in a recent New York Times summation, “Northeast States Set Big Climate Goals. Now Those Plans Are in Trouble.” subtitled, “Many blue states are rethinking ambitious strategies to cut emissions as they struggle with rising electricity costs and new hurdles for renewable energy.” Brad Plumer reports:
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul recently said the state’s goal for deeply cutting emissions by 2030 was now “unattainable” and asked the legislature to rework its landmark climate law. Regulators had been discussing fees on polluters to help meet that goal, but Ms. Hochul said the costs passed onto consumers would be too high.
In Massachusetts, lawmakers are eyeing cuts to a program that adds charges to utility bills to fund heat pumps and efficiency upgrades, while Gov. Maura Healey has pursued a flurry of energy policy changes to address affordability.
In Rhode Island, Gov. Dan McKee has proposed delaying a legal deadline for the state to get all of its electricity from renewables, from 2033 to 2050, claiming that the current mandate would impose steep near-term costs.
The rationale for higher energy costs now to “avoid” higher climate costs later is wearing thin. Anyway, the climate goals are stuck in neutral with all-pain-no-gain policy activism.
But the ambitious targets look increasingly out of reach. Various states had aimed to reduce emissions roughly in half by 2030 and nearly zero them out by midcentury. Yet New York’s emissions have barely budged since 2021, while carbon dioxide from New England’s power plants has increased the past two years.
The Northeast has for years had some of the nation’s highest electricity rates, partly driven by local policies. Some Democratic governors, worried about looming electricity shortages, now want to reconsider longstanding taboos against expanding nuclear power or natural gas pipelines.
Fact: Grassroot environmentalists do not like energy sprawl that comes with wind, solar, and batteries.
In Maine, landowners fought a proposed transmission line to shuttle onshore wind power to the rest of New England. In western Massachusetts, residents have opposed large solar farms. In New York, 97 communities have enacted moratoriums on battery storage, often over fire concerns.
Final Comment
The argument that wind, solar, and batteries are cheaper than fossil-fueled generation is a fantasy. Energy affordability is in. Blaming Trump for scaling back the multi-decade subsidy programs for politically correct, economically incorrect energies are receding.