DNREC secretary: Clean energy is the solution for high energy bills

High energy bills in Delaware are a problem. But clean energy policies are not the cause, and abandoning them would be a costly mistake for the environment, people’s health and the state’s economy. As Delaware’s new environmental secretary, I’d like to help people understand some of the factors at play in the current debate on energy costs.

About the high bills: The Delaware Public Advocate – an independent office representing utility customers – reported that recent bill increases were caused by unusually cold weather, amplified by how the state’s largest utility charges for the distribution and supply of electricity and natural gas. You can read the analysis at delaware.gov by clicking on “The Cost of Living.” This analysis also shows that costs associated with cleaner energy did not increase from month-to-month or year-to-year.

Sen. Stephanie Hansen, Rep. Debra Heffernan and others have proposed legislation, which Gov. Matt Meyer supports, that will help consumers and restrict what big utility companies can charge customers, which is the real issue we should be talking about. But others have targeted clean energy initiatives instead. Here are some terms you may be hearing, and why arguments against them are flawed.  

RGGI: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is composed of 10 states that have worked together since 2009 to reduce air pollution from fossil fuel power plants. RGGI sets an overall limit on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from power plants. Then power plants purchase allowances through a market-based auction for the carbon dioxide they emit and can buy fewer allowances if they make their plants cleaner. 

It has worked: Power plant emissions in the 10 RGGI states have been cut in half, far more than in other states. Other air pollutants have also declined as a result. That means our air is cleaner, and the health effects of polluted air – like asthma and other respiratory illnesses – have been eased.

Through Delaware’s reinvestment of RGGI proceeds, residents and businesses have reduced their bills with technologies and programs focused on energy efficiency, funded greenhouse gas mitigation projects and invested in cleaner energy sources. In Delaware just in the last few months, law enforcement agencies in Milford and Greenwood have deployed energy-efficient police vehicles, farmers have gotten energy audits and solar panels, and hundreds of low-income homes have received better insulation and appliances that use less energy – all paid for by RGGI funds. 

Delawareans can even benefit directly from RGGI funds by buying discounted smart thermostats, energy-saving light bulbs, low-flow shower heads, electric vehicle chargers and more at energizedelawaremarketplace.com. 

Some say Delaware should no longer participate in RGGI, but that would do nothing to alleviate the high bills experienced due to colder temperatures this winter, while also making Delawareans more vulnerable to pollution. Because our energy is purchased from sources throughout the region, even if Delaware were to drop out of RGGI, our electricity will still come from some power plants that purchase allowances. Delaware just wouldn’t get the benefit of funding that helps homeowners, businesses, schools, nonprofits and farmers with energy bills. And our air would get a little more polluted from local power plants that no longer need to comply with the greenhouse gas emission caps.

RPS and ACP: The Renewable Portfolio Standard is a rule that ensures a certain amount of electricity used by our state’s utilities comes from renewable sources such as solar or wind. While RGGI and other efforts seek to make fossil fuel power plants cleaner, the RPS strives to encourage development of energy sources that don’t pollute our air or contribute to the warming of our planet. 

Part of the RPS is the Alternative Compliance Payment. If the cost of renewable energy is above a certain level, the utility doesn’t have to buy the renewable energy. Instead, it pays a lesser amount into a fund that does things like put solar panels on low- and moderate-income homes and creates other new clean energy projects, and the utility gets credits to meet its renewable requirement. 

ACP is not, as has been stated by some, a fine or penalty; in fact, it is a relief valve to keep electricity prices down at times when the cost of clean energy may be higher.

All sides in the current debate agree more sources of energy in our area may help to reduce bills. Natural gas power plants are and will be part of the mix for years to come, but natural gas prices contributed to the recent bill increases. The more renewable energy sources we can build with support from programs like RGGI and the RPS, the better it will be for consumers’ electricity bills and lungs.

Moreover, these clean energy policies have created jobs in Delaware. The energy efficiency sector employs nearly 11,000 workers, while the solar industry supports another 700 workers. Rolling back RGGI or weakening the RPS would put these jobs at risk.

Exiting RGGI or undoing the RPS would jeopardize funding for clean energy programs, increase long-term energy costs and slow progress toward reducing emissions, all without having any real impact on the recent spikes in energy costs. Don’t get distracted from reforming the rules that have let some big utilities dramatically increase their rates. That is how we bring relief to Delawareans.