Latest news with #EfficiencyMaineTrust
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Has Maine learned how to make heat pumps lower electricity costs for all?
Maine's new energy-efficiency plan is projected to lower electricity bills for the state's residents — even those who don't directly benefit from its rebate and incentive programs. The plan, set to go into effect in July, is heavily focused on getting electric heat pumps in as many homes as possible. It comes as other states debate rolling back efficiency programs funded by utility customers as a short-term fix to rising energy prices. Maine's strategy takes the opposite approach: It leverages investments in efficiency and electrification to lower rates for everyone. 'This is bucking the trend,' said Michael Stoddard, executive director of Efficiency Maine Trust, the agency that administers the state's energy-efficiency plans. 'This is our pathway to managing electricity prices while also transitioning the consumers of our state to the highest-efficiency, lowest-polluting equipment that is available.' Maine has been an aggressive adopter of home heat pumps in recent years. In 2019, the state set the goal of deploying 100,000 heat pumps by 2025, a target it blew by two years ahead of schedule. The state now aims to get another 175,000 heat pumps up and running by 2027. Maine is also a member of a five-state coalition that is collaborating to boost heat pump adoption, lower prices, and train installers throughout New England. The state's new energy-efficiency plan is geared toward continuing this progress. It is centered largely on the idea of 'beneficial electrification,' a somewhat jargony term that refers to switching from fossil fuels to electricity wherever the move would save money and cut emissions. There are plenty of opportunities to make that swap in Maine, where roughly half of households keep warm with heating oil, which can be pricey and inefficient. Over the next three years, the incentives in the plan are forecast to support 38,000 new whole-home residential heat pump systems — including 6,500 in low-income households — and weatherization for 9,900 houses. A low-income household can get rebates of up to $9,000 for heat pump installations, and homes at high income levels qualify for up to $3,000. The incentives do not offer any money for residential fossil-fuel-burning equipment. This strategy should decrease annual heating costs by more than $1,000 each for homes that switch to heat pumps from oil, propane, or electric baseboard heat, but it is also expected to lower electricity prices across the board, Stoddard said. Efficiency Maine Trust estimates the plan will suppress electricity rates by more than $490 million over the long term. How? Utilities have certain fixed costs, such as maintaining power lines. To pay for them — and this is a bit of a simplification — they essentially divide the expense by the amount of power they expect customers to use in a year, and add that number to the rate they charge per kilowatt-hour. When more heat pumps come online, power demand goes up, so the fixed costs are spread out over more kilowatt-hours, lowering bills for the average consumer. Accomplishing that effect depends on finding ways to make sure much of the added demand occurs during off-peak hours, when there is plenty of room for more power to flow along the lines without building out more infrastructure and thus increasing the utilities' fixed costs. To achieve this timing, Maine's plan includes demand-response programs that pay consumers for using less energy at peak times, an incentive for low-income residents to buy electric vehicles with chargers that can be set to work at off-peak times, and other measures. 'We've already invested a lot of money in the grid, and yet it sits largely unused for many hours of the day,' Stoddard said. 'If we can find ways to manage consumption so that it is occurring during off-peak periods, then it will maximize the use of the grid infrastructure and spread the fixed costs of the utility across many more kilowatt-hours.' Maine's plan also includes an innovative program that calls for Efficiency Maine Trust to negotiate with retailers and distributors for discounted prices on electric water heaters and for agreements to keep the equipment in stock. The strategy is particularly effective at getting people to switch from fossil-fuel water heaters in moments when their old equipment has failed and they are searching for an affordable, easily available replacement, said Erin Cosgrove, director of policy and programs for the nonprofit Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships. 'This program is unique for the Northeast,' she said. More states have prioritized electrification in their efficiency programs in recent years, said Mark Kresowik, senior policy director for the research group American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Massachusetts, for example, phased out its incentives for oil and gas equipment last year, and Washington, D.C., has also eliminated rebates for fossil-fuel-powered systems and appliances. 'What a lot of programs across the country are doing is recognizing that providing incentives for fossil-fuel-based systems doesn't achieve their goals,' he said. 'Most of the leading states are prioritizing efficient electric appliances like heat pumps going forward.' Energy-efficiency programs have traditionally centered the big-picture goal of helping consumers lower their energy use to save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, whether that energy comes from an oil-delivery truck, a natural gas pipe, or over power lines. Amid rising concern about climate change, however, more states have looked for ways to amplify the emissions impact of their programs. The solution has been to limit or eliminate incentives for fossil-fuel equipment and lean into electrification, which can often save consumers money and almost always reduce the emissions associated with heating and cooling their homes. 'When you use those additional metrics, you realize some of those old measures don't make sense anymore,' Kresowik said.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Maine lawmakers advance effort to seek money for more EV subsidies
Mar. 20—With its money for electric vehicle rebates depleted, Maine's quasi-state agency that promotes energy efficiency has won the first round of approval in the Legislature to seek funding from New England's grid operator. The Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee on Wednesday voted 7-5 along party lines to approve a measure authorizing Efficiency Maine Trust to pursue more than $2 million from an electricity market run by New England's grid operator, ISO-New England, to help subsidize EV purchases by Maine car buyers. Efficiency Maine Trust taps the ISO's market and other funding sources for rebates to buyers of electric heat pumps. If approved by the Legislature, the bill will extend that to EVs. The committee's five Republicans opposed the bill while seven Democrats voted to send it to the Legislature. "I do not believe that the demand for EVs justifies continued subsidized investments into the technology," Rep. Mathew McIntyre, R-Lowell said. "I do not see this as a worthwhile or practical investment. I think this dog don't hunt." Republicans have criticized state efforts to broaden EV use in Maine, saying they are too costly for many Mainers and that the state has no business remaking private transportation. Democrats and their environmental allies say EVs are a critical part of Maine's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the transportation sector, which accounts for nearly half of carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion, according to the state's climate plan. Republicans say their constituents can't afford EVs. Rep. Steven Foster, R-Dexter, said the bill would provide funding for EVs "that folks in my district and the northern part of the state won't benefit from." "Have you been to an auto dealer lately and seen the sticker prices on these vehicles?" McIntyre asked. Michael Stoddard, executive director of Efficiency Maine Trust, said much of an EV's cost is its battery, and that battery prices over the last decade are "dropping like a stone." In the biggest annual drop since 2017, lithium-ion battery pack prices declined 20% from 2023 to 2024, to a record low of $115 per kilowatt-hour, according to an analysis by researcher BloombergNEF in December. Factors include cell manufacturing overcapacity, broader production, low prices for metals and components, adoption of lower-cost lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and a slowdown in electric vehicle sales growth. BloombergNEF said the data represent a global average and prices vary by country. Stoddard told lawmakers that Efficiency Maine Trust will promote EVs to low- and moderate-income households and businesses. EV rebates are still available for low-income applicants with money from a settlement related to the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line. Low-income Mainers — those who receive heating assistance; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, or food stamps; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; or MaineCare medical assistance — are eligible for EV incentives of between $2,500 and $7,500, depending on whether they're buying a battery EV, a plug-in hybrid EV or a used vehicle. It's not clear if the rebates will remain the same or change if the legislation ultimately becomes law and Efficiency Maine Trust gets a new source of revenue. A spokesperson for the agency said in an email Thursday that the legislation would give it the flexibility to set rebates "at levels that will make EVs more accessible to more businesses and low- and moderate-income consumers." Funding for EV rebates has been budgeted at $2 million and ISO-New England would provide another $2 million or more in a 50-50 split between EV and electric heat pump funding of $4 million to $5 million a year. Efficiency Maine Trust had spent about $4.4 million before the program was suspended last November when funding was exhausted, Stoddard said. Since the start of the EV rebate program in 2019, funding has also come from settlements in a lawsuit with Volkswagen and a one-time appropriation from the state's general fund. Over the course of the program, Efficiency Maine says it has provided rebates for more than 6,000 vehicles. Stoddard acknowledged that Maine has an uphill climb in broadening EV use. The state's cold climate can "pose a challenge" to EV battery range and electric chargers are separated by greater distances than in other, more urban states, he said. "We have a heavier lift here to make these vehicles work well for us," he said. "It's not been growing as fast in Maine as in other parts of the country. But it has been steadily growing." Nearly 17,500 battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are on the road in Maine, according to an analysis by Atlas Public Policy. That's about 12% of the state's goal of 150,000 by 2030. It's up from about 2,000 five years ago, Stoddard said. "It is steadily growing, albeit slowly," he said. McIntyre said he based his opposition to the legislation in part because he believes the taxpayers he represents would pay "into a system that they will not avail themselves of and that they don't agree is beneficial in the environment of Maine." Stoddard said Efficiency Maine Trust does not use a "penny of taxpayer dollars" for the EV rebate program. The agency taps ISO-New England's forward capacity market, an annual auction to secure power commitments from generators and others three years in advance. Efficiency Maine Trust may eventually quit "because it's increasingly complicated to participate," he said. "For next three years, we're in and have a resource we take the trouble to report, and it's worth something," he said. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Money from New England grid operator could be used to promote electric vehicle subsidies in Maine
Mar. 6—Maine could gain more than $2 million from New England's electricity grid operator to help pay for electric vehicle subsidies through a proposal in the state Legislature. The measure would allow Maine to use funding from one of several electricity markets operated by ISO-New England, the region's grid operator based in Massachusetts. It is part of a larger effort to expand the use of zero-emissions transportation. Businesses that buy and sell electricity and are accepted as bidders in ISO's marketplace auction can promote energy efficiency measures to help reduce demand for power. Efficiency Maine, the state's quasi-state agency that promotes energy efficiency, taps the ISO's market and other funding sources to offer rebates to buyers of electric heat pumps. Legislation sponsored by Democratic Sen. Henry Ingwersen of York would extend that to EVs. Funding for EV rebates has already been budgeted at $2 million and ISO-New England would provide another $2 million or more in a 50-50 split between EV and electric heat pump funding of $4 million to $5 million a year, Michael Stoddard, executive director of Efficiency Maine Trust, said Thursday. Efficiency Maine Trust had spent about $4.4 million before the program was suspended last November when funding was exhausted, he said. Since the start in 2019 of the EV rebate program, funding has come from settlements in a lawsuit with Volkswagen and the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line and a one-time appropriation from the state's general fund. Over the course of this program, Efficiency Maine says it has provided rebates for more than 6,000 vehicles. EV rebates are still available for low-income applicants with money from the NECEC settlement, Stoddard told members of the Legislature's Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee at a public hearing. Low-income Mainers — those who receive heating assistance; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, or food stamps; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; or MaineCare medical assistance — are eligible for EV incentives of between $2,500 and $7,500, depending on whether they're buying a battery EV, a plug-in hybrid EV or a used vehicle. If the legislation succeeds, Efficiency Maine Trust programs will increasingly focus on low- and moderate-income residents, businesses and government agencies that face barriers paying the higher upfront costs of EVs, Stoddard said. "The rebates really do make a difference," he said. The transportation sector accounts for about half of the carbon emissions in Maine, according to the state climate plan, and reaching emission reductions targets without expanding EV use will be a stretch, environmentalists say. Maine law requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and by at least 80% by 2050. Stoddard and Ingwersen said EVs can reduce electricity rates because the increased electricity use can spread fixed costs over a larger volume of sales, modestly reducing per kilowatt-hour rates. EVs, with fewer mechanical parts than gasoline-powered vehicles, are less costly to operate "and we are confident the marketplace is moving in this direction over the next decade," Stoddard said. "This is not a regulatory approach. This is not a stick," he said. "This is a carrot." Nearly 17,500 battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are on the road in Maine, according to an analysis by Atlas Public Policy. That's about 12% of the state's goal of putting 150,000 light-duty battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road in Maine by 2030. Maine's Climate plan says the state needs to more quickly increase the number of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, and improve public transportation and land use planning for new development that helps Mainers avoid or reduce driving. Copy the Story Link
