From:                                         May, Jane (ENE)

Sent:                                           Tuesday, July 30, 2019 1:21 PM

To:                                               RPS, DOER (ENE)

Subject:                                     FW: Please forward

 

 

 

 

Jane Strong May

Executive Assistant to the Commissioner

Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources

100 Cambridge Street, Suite 1020, Boston, MA 02114

Ph: 617.626.7332 Fax: 617.727.0030
http://www.mass.gov/doer/

 

Description: cid:image001.png@01D16D8D.BCD27320

 

Creating a Clean, Affordable and Resilient Energy Future for the Commonwealth

 

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From: Ellen Rothman <EKRothman@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, July 8, 2019 7:12 PM
To: May, Jane (ENE) <jane.may@mass.gov>
Subject: Please forward

 

                                                                                   

14 Fairview Avenue

                                                                                                            Watertown, MA 02472

                                                                                                            July 8, 2019

 

 

Commissioner Judith Judson

Department of Energy Resources

100 Cambridge St Suite 1020

Boston, MA 02114 

 

Dear Commissioner Judson:

 

I am writing to object strenuously to the Baker administration's proposal to change the definition of Class 1 renewable energy utilities and to shorten the effective period of SRECs. The changes will increase subsidies and incentives for polluting biomass energy in all three of Massachusetts’ major clean energy programs: the Renewable Portfolio Standard, the Alternative Portfolio Standard, and the proposed Clean Peak Standard by:

 

  1. eliminating efficiency standards for woody biomass;
  2. increasing utility and supplier obligations to buy from dirty waste-to-energy sources, such as trash incineration; and
  3. eliminating the requirement that hydropower facilities be designated as low impact when undergoing re-certification.

 

These changes will create additional incentives for power generation that increases greenhouse gases (GHGs), particulate pollution, and toxic air quality.

 

As I am sure you remember, in 2018 the legislature raised the amount of Class I renewable energy required in our electricity supply from 1% to 2% per year. Wood-burning biomass was not defined as a clean source of renewable energy then and should not be included now. The goal was to advance the state's clean energy and climate commitments and promote public health —the opposite of what you now propose. With climate change such a severe threat to our way of life, why weaken the few protections we in the Commonwealth are lucky enough to have?

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Ellen K. Rothman