RESPECT: Reforming Energy System Planning for Equity and Climate Transformation

RESPECT: Reforming Energy System Planning for Equity and Climate Transformation

(H 755/ S 2091)

Representative Blais/Senator Comerford

A priority bill for Climate Action Now

This bill addresses the conflict of interest in the utility planning process in which the utilities conduct long-range planning for the distribution systems that they own and operate at a profit for their investors.  

The bill, if passed into law, would create a Department of Energy Transformation Planning within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to lead energy system planning and ensure it is aligned with state goals to address climate pollution, further environmental justice, and lower consumer costs.  

What you can do to support this bill

It is really important to show support for Senator Comerford and Representative Blais’ bill because it requires the state of Massachusetts to take responsibility for long term planning of utility services rather than having the utilities in charge of that planning.  


We urge you to submit written testimony using the template below

[YOUR ADDRESS]

[DATE]                  

Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy (TUE)

Senate Chair, Senator Michael J. Barrett

House Chair, Representative Jeffrey Roy

24 Beacon St., Room 109-D

Boston, MA, 02133

As submitted by email to Abigail.Kuhn@masenate.gov  and 

JointCommittee.Utilities&Energy@malegislature.gov

Dear Co-Chairs Senator Barrett and Representative Roy:  

As a member of Climate Action Now, Western Massachusetts I am writing in support of H.755/S.2091, An Act Reforming Energy System Planning for Equity and Climate Transformation, sponsored by Senator Jo Comerford and Representative Natalie Blais. 

[Insert comments here about why acting on climate change is important to you].

The bill mentioned above addresses the conflict of interest in the utility planning process in which the utilities conduct long-range planning for the distribution systems that they own and operate at a profit for their investors.  The bill creates instead a Department of Energy Transformation Planning within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to lead energy system planning and ensure it is aligned with state goals to address climate pollution, further environmental justice, and lower consumer costs. 

This shift in responsibility for long-term planning would allow the state to focus on greenhouse gas reduction goals, meaningful public input, and environmental justice impacts.  This would in turn permit the utilities to focus on operating reliable distribution systems and serving their customers and investors.

    Sincerely, 

    [Your Name]

How to submit your testimony

Email your testimony to: 

 Abigail.Kuhn@masenate.gov and

 JointCommittee.Utilities&Energy@malegislature.gov   

 Copy your legislators as well as

 Jo.Comerford@masenate.gov  and

 Natalie.Blais@mahouse.gov     

The subject line of the email should be “H.755/S.2091, Member Climate Action Now, in Support”.


Hearing for the bill

The bill will be heard by the legislature’s joint committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy (TUE) on September 20th at 1 pm and again on September 21st at 10 AM. Click on the links below for information about the hearings.

https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/4669

https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/4577

Stop the Springfield-Longmeadow Pipeline 

Social Media Toolkit

The Springfield and Longmeadow communities have joined together to fight back against the proposed Springfield-Longmeadow Eversource pipeline because it is unhealthy, dangerous, climate-changing, costly, and unnecessary. 

We just received great news this week: the MA Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Rebecca Tepper, decided that Eversource’s Draft Environmental Impact Report did not meet MEPA requirements! This means Eversource has to do a lot more work, outreach, and analysis before submitting a supplemental report.

Secretary Tepper explicitly mentioned the many comments and 6000 petition signatures she received in opposition to this project, and the very important environmental justice concerns raised by so many people and organizations. Now it’s time to celebrate, thank the secretary for her decision, and prepare for what comes next!

Go here for actions you can take right now!  And thanks to Mireille from Slingshot for creating this toolkit!

Post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or another social media platform using the sample language below:

Thank you @EEASecretary for ruling that @EversourceMA’s Draft Env Impact Report for their unnecessary and unhealthy fracked gas pipeline does not comply! We appreciate your commitment to #EnvironmentalJustice.

#NoEversourcePipeline

After hundreds of comment co-signers and thousands of petition signatures, we got great news: @EEASecretary ruled that the Draft Env Impact Report for @EversourceMA’s fracked gas pipeline does not comply! Thank you Secretary Tepper for your leadership in #EnvironmentalJustice.

BIG NEWS: @EversourceMA’s fracked gas pipeline Draft Env Impact Report does not comply!

Thank you to our many allies and partners for their tireless work, and thank you @EEASecretary for your leadership in #EnvironmentalJustice.

We will keep pushing on to #StopTheSLP

Key pieces to include in your post: 

One or both of these main hashtags: 

#NoSpringfieldLongmeadowPipeline

#StopTheSLP

Any of these supplementary hashtags:

#PeopleOverProfit

#NoEversourcePipeline

#DontSacrificeSpringfield

#Environment

#ClimateAction

#Sustainability

#Pipeline

Tag SCJC so we can retweet! @SCJC413

Tag Eversource’s Social Media Accounts

Twitter: @EversourceMA 

Facebook: @EversourceMA

Instagram: @EversourceEnergy

Retweet, like, comment on & share other posts you see with these hashtags

 Statement from Springfield Climate Justice Coalition

 

On Monday, July 17, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Rebecca Tepper, determined that Eversource Energy’s Draft Environmental Impact Report for a proposed gas pipeline running from Longmeadow to Springfield does not comply with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act and its regulations. 

Therefore, Eversource must do additional analysis and conduct meaningful outreach in the community before submitting a supplemental report.

Springfield Climate Justice Coalition’s response to Secretary Tepper’s determination 

“The Springfield Climate Justice Coalition (SCJC) is thrilled with Secretary Tepper’s response to Eversource which reinforces the importance of environmental justice. In her ruling, Secretary Tepper explicitly underlined the concerns SCJC raised in our comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report : public health considerations were not taken into account, impacts on environmental justice communities were disregarded, and alternatives to fossil fuel infrastructure were not meaningfully considered. The Secretary demonstrated that she is truly hearing frontline communities and weighing their voices in her decision-making. 

SCJC commends the administration for this thoughtful and science-based response, and looks forward to engaging in every step of the regulatory process around this unhealthy, unnecessary, and costly project.

We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from individuals and organizations across Western Mass and the entire Commonwealth. This demonstrated once again that when people join together to speak out against injustice, our voices will be heard.”

 Detailed information regarding the Secretary’s ruling is below

The Springfield Climate Justice Coalition, a diverse coalition of community, social, civic, and public health organizations, faith based groups, and businesses,​ is celebrating an important victory in its campaign to stop Eversource Gas from building a new gas expansion project in Springfield. This proposed project, which includes a new 200 psi high-pressure 16” pipeline main and expansion of an existing regulator station within Springfield, would run through many Environmental Justice neighborhoods and would impose yet another inequitable environmental burden on a city already targeted by multiple toxic and polluting industries.

On Monday, July 17, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Rebecca Tepper, determined that Eversource Energy’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) released on July 14th,

“does not adequately and properly comply with MEPA and its implementing regulations. The Proponent  (Eversource Energy) should prepare a Supplemental DEIR (SDEIR) with the additional analysis… including a supplemental alternatives analysis and other information which was to have been provided in the DEIR.”( p.1)

MEPA is the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. The MEPA review process provides meaningful opportunities for public review of potential environmental impacts of projects for which certain actions by state agencies, such as issuing permits, are required.

The Secretary further stated that

“The purpose of the DEIR for any project is to provide sufficient information to analyze and support a selection of a Preferred Alternative that will avoid, minimize and mitigate environmental impacts to the maximum extent feasible. For the reasons stated above, the DEIR has not provided an adequate alternatives analysis, and has not fully justified dismissal of the “No Build” Alternative or other non-pipeline alternatives.” (p. 7)

Secretary Tepper highlighted the massive opposition to this project in Springfield and across the Commonwealth and the environmental justice issues raised by proposing to build new dirty energy facilities in Springfield.

“Several comment letters, including a petition signed by approximately 6,000 individuals and organizations, strongly advocate for exploration of further alternatives to the project to support a “just transition to a clean and green energy future,” and note the potential for disproportionate adverse impacts on EJ populations who may have to bear the burden of additional fossil fuel infrastructure in their communities.” (p.6- 7)

Bolstering SCJC’s claim that Eversource’s proposed pipeline is unnecessary and again reinforcing the environmental injustice of this proposal, Secretary Tepper stated that

“the DEIR has not fully justified the purpose and need for the project, and does not explain why the risk of outage was determined to be unacceptably high at this location so as to warrant immediate action, as compared to other areas with aged infrastructure throughout the Proponent’s statewide distribution network.” 

“Given the location of the project within EJ populations, the SDEIR should discuss how and why this location was chosen for infrastructure upgrades, and whether the presence of EJ and other vulnerable populations was considered as a factor in site selection.” (p.16)

Eversource proposed to expand dirty energy infrastructure at a time when farmers in Western Massachusetts are grappling with massive crop failures due to torrential climate change fueled rainstorms, as toddlers in Phoenix burn their feet on sidewalks with temperatures as high as 116 degrees F and as vast portions of the United States face toxic smoke choking our lungs due to historic fires raging in Canadian forests. Yet Eversource Energy failed to address the climate costs of this unnecessary and toxic pipeline proposal. As stated by Secretary Tepper

“In addition, the DEIR did not address other items in the Scope, including a quantitative estimate of the potential increase in gas supply that may result from the project and associated impacts, including increased GHG emissions. The DEIR has failed to provide full justification for dismissing non-pipeline alternatives to the project, and has not shown why a “hybrid” scenario of combining shorter term redundancy solutions (such as use of compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquified natural gas (LNG) to meet winter peak demand), combined with a longer term transition to other fuel sources, may not be a feasible option.”

Media Contacts

Cathy Kristofferson  978-204-3940

Susan Theberge 413-575-7345  

Naia Tenerowicz: 303-906-3848 

Quotes: 

“This proposed pipeline would run through many Environmental Justice neighborhoods in Springfield and would impose yet another inequitable environmental burden on a city already targeted by multiple toxic and polluting industries. Additionally, the cost of at least $65 million gets passed on to ratepayers, who will increasingly be the poor, those least able to pay to transition off gas”, stated Naia Tenerowicz, a lead organizer with Springfield Climate Justice Coalition. 

“In addition to the existential threat of climate change/chaos that would be increased by Eversource Energy’s proposed project if approved, this gas expansion project would exacerbate child health and environmental justice problems in Springfield” said Susan Theberge, co-founder of climate Action Now. 

“We applaud Secretary Tepper agreeing with our assessment that Eversource did not provide adequate alternative analysis nor justification for dismissing none-pipe solutions for their perceived project need,” said Cathy Kristofferson of the Pipe Line Awareness Network for the Northeast. “The gas companies cannot continue expanding their distribution systems if we hope to meet our emission reduction mandates.”

Stopping the Eversource Springfield-Longmeadow Pipeline

Springfield Climate Justice Coalition’s Comment Letter to the MA Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Comment sign-on deadline is Friday July 7, 2023 at noon.

Organizations and individuals can use this form to sign on to the Springfield Climate Justice Coalition’s comment letter.

SCJC’s very readable and thorough text is here. It addresses the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) written by Eversource Gas for their proposed Springfield-Longmeadow pipeline.

More from the Climate Action Now Western Mass. newsletter:  Urgent action needed to stop the Eversource Pipeline

The Conservation Law Foundation also has a comment letter that the public can sign on to here.

Valley Green Energy

From the Newsletter, June 25, 2023:

Residents of Amherst, Pelham and Northampton have been working together for years to bring Valley Green Energy, a group electricity buying program, to their city/town so that residents and businesses will have new choices and greater control over the cost and environmental impact of the electricity they use. You can learn more about this program at the Valley Green Energy website and by viewing this recording

Valley Green Energy needs regulatory approval from the state before the program is able to launch. One meaningful action residents can take to green our electricity is to write a comment to the Department of Public Utilities before June 30. Go here for details.

http://climateactionnowma.org/help-launch-valley-green-energy/

 Comments will accompany the application materials to DPU, so they are key for showing community support for the aggregation. See example comments here written by Local Energy Advocates.

Comments may be submitted to:

  • Carolyn Misch at cmisch@northamptonma.gov (for Northampton residents) 
  • Stephanie Ciccarello at ciccarellos@amherstma.gov (for Amherst residents) 
  • Bob Agoglia pelhamadministrator@comcast.net (for Pelham residents)

Be sure “ In Support of Valley Green Energy” appears in the subject line of the email. You can attach a pdf of your comments, or include them in the text of the email.

Protect a critical northeast forest corridor: save Vermont’s Telephone Gap from logging plan

The Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont is under threat of logging of nearly 12,000 acres. Add your comments to tell the U.S. Forest Service to let the forest do its work without the interference of “timber harvesting.”

From Zack Porter of Standing Trees: Telephone Gap On the Chopping Block

On Friday, January 27th, the US Forest Service announced its Proposed Action for the Telephone Gap Integrated Resource Project in the Green Mountain National Forest, initiating a 45-day public comment period that will extend through Monday, March 13th. This comment period is the first formal opportunity for the public to weigh in on the project after a year of delays. Please use our fact sheet for help with comment writing.

Farm Bill Action!

Support Agriculture as part of the solution to the climate crisis, Support Racial Justice, Support Local Food and Organic Farms

From NOFAMass

Please use this form (right now!) asking your congressional Representative and Senator to support a packet of bills endorsed by NOFA which have been proposed for the 2023 Farm Bill. Encourage your Congressional delegation to cosponsor these “marker” bills (details below from the action page). Increasing the number of cosponsors builds support for these bills and will make the provisions more likely to end up in the Farm Bill!

You have an opportunity to help create more biodiverse, equitable, and regenerative farms, increase soil health, reduce fossil fuels and pesticides in farming practices, and promote a community-based food system that is more resilient to climate change grounded in a long-term vision to transform the unsustainable and consolidated agricultural industry that is susceptible to systemic supply shocks, while extracting wealth from rural communities by asking your congressional Representative and Senator to support this packet of bills that have been proposed for the 2023 Farm Bill.

Increasing the number of cosponsors builds support for these bills and will make the provisions more likely to end up in the Farm Bill.

You can help, and it takes only moments – please use this form to encourage your Congressional delegation to cosponsor the below bills.

This form can be used by everyone in the US – it will send a letter to your member of congress.

If you are a farmer, please do indicate your farm name/location.

We are asking congress to support the inclusion of these bills in the 2023 Farm Bill:

Agriculture Resilience Act

Establishes goal for agriculture to reach net zero by 2040, while investing in agricultural research, soil health, transition to pasture-based livestock, ensuring farmland preservation and viability, on-farm renewable energy, and reducing food waste.

Justice for Black Farmers Act

Enacts policies to end discrimination within the USDA, protect remaining Black farmers   from losing their land, provide land grants to create a new generation of Black farmers.

Strengthening Local Processing Act
A comprehensive plan to increase slaughter options for local livestock and poultry producers, assist smaller facilities as they adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, and help consumers access locally-raised meat and poultry. Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act

Places a moratorium on certain acquisitions between large agricultural and retail-related businesses and establishes a commission to study and make recommendations to address concentration in the U.S. food and agricultural economy.

Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP)

Increase LAMP funding, reduce matching requirements to broaden producer participation, and expand opportunities for family-scale fisheries through a systems approach that promotes food sovereignty.

Rally & Hearing in Greenfield about Northfield Solar Project

NORTHFIELD 76 ACRE PRIME FARMLAND SOLAR SPECIAL PERMIT APPEAL 

Rally at 8:30 am, Hearing at 9:00 on Monday, November 28, 2022, in Greenfield at the Franklin County Court House, 425 Main St.

The court will hear arguments about a special permit for solar arrays in Northfield on Pine Meadow Road. The Northfield Planning Board granted the permit for three arrays on 76 acres. Here is an article from the Greenfield Recorder about the scope of the project.

The rally calls attention to the loss of farmland for the sake of solar development, as well as ratepayer funding for “dual use” solar. This project is right near the Connecticut River in the “Northfield Farms” area, considered some of the richest farmland in the world. It has been continuously used for farming for thousands of years. This proposal is being funded by the MA solar SMART program.

Please attend, bring signs, spread the word.

Rally to Stop Eversource’s Clearcutting of 370 Acres of Mature Forest

Our Revolution MA (ORMA) and others will rally on Tuesday October 18, 2022 from 4 to 6 PM at the Eversource facility in Hadley.  55 Russell St. (Rt. 9), Hadley, MA (Park in Hampton Inn Village Shops west of Eversource.) Rain Date: Wednesday, October 19, 4 to 6pm.

When Eversource originally installed a 29-mile-long electric line (running through 11 towns in the western Mass Connecticut River Valley), they were permitted to cut a 100-foot swath of mature trees. Now Eversource wants to double the width of the corridor to 200 feet by clearcutting an additional 370 acres of forest! They are also demanding the state waive the required environmental impact review!

Weighing the worth of these trees for the public good: Eversource’s plan will mean cities and towns must spend money to mitigate the costs of (1) a significant increase in stormwater runoff and flooding, (2) lose annual carbon capture, (3) incur damage to local habitats, including those of endangered species, and (4) lose tourism income from New England foliage! These losses will affect many western Mass towns, including: Northfield, Erving, Wendell, Montague, Leverett, Shutesbury, Pelham, Belchertown, Amherst, Granby, and Ludlow.

The campaign to stop Eversource has sent thousands of letters and submitted hundreds of comments demanding that the Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) reject Eversource’s request for a waiver of the required environmental impact report. And in response …. We have heard NOTHING!

The rally calls for Eversource end its opposition to a  full environmental impact report, as is required by the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), and insists that the Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), do its job! 

Protect MA forests in DCR comment period

The comment period for the 10-year review of Mass. state land designations ends September 28, 2022.

Click here to access a sign-on letter with this simple message, “We, the undersigned, call for state-owned lands administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, including all woodlands, reserves, watersheds, and undeveloped parklands, to be designated and permanently protected as Carbon and Biodiversity Reserves.” If there are specific DCR lands that you know and love, you can add comments to this online letter.

And view the video Calling for Carbon and Biodiversity Reserves on Our State Lands: Serving the Public Interest (9/6/22) with Michael Kellett, Executive Director of RESTORE: The North Woods, climate scientist Dr. Bill Moomaw, and biologist Bill Stubblefield.

For more information, visit Save Massachusetts Forests and read on…

To write your own letter, comments may be submitted online at www.mass.gov/dcr/public-comment. The public can say directly to DCR the same things that were said during the hearing for the forest protection bills– H912 and H1002: all DCR land, including the watersheds, should become either “parks” or “reserves,” where land management is similar to our National Parks.

The current DCR plan, written in 2012,  is here: https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/08/qq/management-guidelines.pdf

The full sign-on message: “We, the undersigned, call for state-owned lands administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, including all woodlands, reserves, watersheds, and undeveloped parklands, to be designated and permanently protected as Carbon and Biodiversity Reserves. These Reserves would protect intact ecosystems, which are influenced primarily by natural processes, with only minimal human interference. Limited management activities would be allowed if proven to be necessary to protect public safety, endangered species, or the environment.”

In the video, Calling for Carbon and Biodiversity Reserves on Our State Lands, Michael Kellett, Bill Moomaw and Bill Stubblefield provided background to help the public better understand the issues and how to frame comments to the DCR during this ten-year review of its landscape designations.

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