Without it, businesses cannot operate productively, hospitals and schools cannot provide essential services, and residents cannot depend on the amenities of daily life in our modern society. While electricity is a basic necessity, it is also a commodity – a product that is produced, sold, and transported for profit by hundreds of companies. And like most commodities, electricity is sold on both a wholesale and retail level.
Some key facts about the New England energy market:
The New England Council’s Energy and Environment Committee’s ongoing work on a variety of issues and policies helps to ensure that New England’s citizens and businesses continue to have access to affordable and secure energy resources. The Council’s Energy and Environment Committee provides a forum for New England’s energy and environment communities to discuss public policy priorities for the region. The NEC staff contacts for the Energy & Environment Committee are David O’Donnell and Peter Phipps. Below are some examples of recent activities.
In 2001, The New England Council published a report on energy supply and demand in New England. Ten years later, in 2011, the Energy & Environment Committee decided to again publish a report on the energy market in New England, this time focusing specifically on the electric market and seeking to provide a more basic introduction to understanding the market. The resulting report, “State & Federal Rate Regulation of the Electric Power Industry: A History,” was published in January 2012.
The Council’s objective in preparing the report was to provide the reader with basic information on the methods by which electricity is generated, transmitted and ultimately distributed to the retail consumer; how the rates are determined for both wholesale and retail electricity sales; the philosophy behind the legislative enactments and regulatory processes that lead to our current system; and the division between state and federal regulation of the electric power industry. The goal of this report is to provide the reader – particularly one lacking a background in or pre-existing understanding of the industry – with a basic understanding of the industry from its birth through the end of the 20th century, including a basic description of its regulatory history.
Click here to download a PDF of the report.
New England is home to nine nuclear power facilities—several which have been decommissioned—and the region gets nearly a quarter of our power from nuclear energy. The New England Council supports the development of nuclear energy as a reliable, affordable, and emission free energy source. However, the Council has long advocated for the development of central federal depository for nuclear waste, and has supported the planned Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada for many years. In August 2010, as the Obama Administration put Yucca Mountain plans on hold to consider other options, the Council submitted detailed testimony to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future expressing the importance of the proposed Yucca Mountain site for the permanent storage of spent nuclear fuel.
More recently, the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) issued a draft report on it’s findings following months of hearings and review of submitted testimony. The BRC solicited feedback from interested parties on the draft report. In October 2011, The New England Council submitted its comments on the report, again expressing its view that the Yucca Mountain site is the most appropriate locations for the permanent storage of spent nuclear fuel from the nation’s nuclear generation facilities.
The New England Council has long supported the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP),a federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services that provides financial assistance to low income households to pay for energy costs. Every year, tens of thousands of families in New England depend on LIHEAP for help paying their winter heating bills. The program is facing a significant cut in funding in Fiscal Year 2011, and the New England Council has been vocal in urging Congress to fully fund the program, particularly as thousands of New Englanders are still unemployed and many households are struggling to pay their bills. To draw attention to this important issue, NEC President & CEO Jim Brett penned an Op-Ed in November 2010 outlining the critical need for LIHEAP funds. The piece ran in several papers throughout the region, including the Lowell Sun, the Cape Cod Times, the Providence Journal, and the Union Leader.
Later, in July 2011, the Council sent letters to each member of the New England Congressional delegation, once again urging them to provide adequate support to the LIHEAP program. The letter noted that, in recent years, Congress has provided up to $5.1 billion in funding for LIHEAP, however the President’s budget for fiscal year 2012 recommended $2.57 billion in funding – nearly a fifty percent drop from this high level. At the same time, the letter explained, the economy continues to experience difficulties and the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, resulting in more households likely to be eligible for LIHEAP assistance in 2012. The Council’s letter urged members of the delegation to be mindful of this fact as they considered funding for LIHEAP in the fiscal year 2012 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Act.
Given its inevitable impact on many of the regions businesses, the New England Council has closely monitored efforts at the federal level to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in order to address climate change. In October 2010, the committee hosted a meeting with Curtis Spalding, the Regional Administrator for EPA New England Region 1, who briefed members on the Obama Administration’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas through administrative rulemaking and encouraged businesses to take an active role in the rulemaking process.
Read a summary of Mr. Spalding’s remarks to the Energy & Environment Committee
One of the most challenging and oftentimes controversial issues in the energy industry is the siting of energy facilities. The process is also complicated given that both state and federal officials play a role in siting decisions. In January 2010, to help members navigate the complicated process, the Committee hosted a panel discussion, “Energy Facility Siting: A Federal or Local Question…Who Decides?” The panel featured Derek Phelps, Director, Connecticut Siting Council and Ann Berwick, Undersecretary for Energy, Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
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