Wednesday, April 13, 2011

How I See It

Plotting a clean energy revolution for Massachusetts

By Richard K. Sullivan Jr., Secretary, Mass. Exec. Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs

At the turn of the year, Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled a bold new target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. Along with that goal came the Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2020, an ambitious, but practical, framework to accelerate the Commonwealth’s transition to a clean energy economy. Under the Patrick-Murray Administration, this nation-leading blueprint will be implemented to maintain the momentum that has already distinguished Massachusetts as a national leader on this front.

Required by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008, the plan is crafted around policies and programs that not only cut greenhouse gas emissions, but also provide significant energy cost savings and create clean energy jobs. 

The plan makes abundant sense for our state. At the end of the energy pipeline, Massachusetts imports all of its fossil-fuel based energy sources from other regions of the country or other parts of the world, many of them unstable or hostile to the United States. Of the $22 billion Massachusetts spends annually to buy the energy that runs our power plants, buildings and vehicles, 80 percent flows out of state to purchase coal from Colombia, oil from Venezuela, and natural gas and oil from the Middle East and Canada. That’s nearly $18 billion in lost economic opportunity that Massachusetts now stands poised to reclaim through investments in home-grown renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The plan promises to dramatically reduce fossil fuel use in the state’s buildings, electricity generation and transportation sectors through measures such as expanded energy efficiency programs, advanced building codes, increased renewable electricity generation, incentives for purchasing fuel-efficient vehicles and reducing vehicle miles traveled, and “smart growth” policies.

These measures — along with pace-setting programs set in motion during Gov. Patrick’s first term — will reduce energy waste, save money and stimulate the adoption of clean technologies, creating jobs across the Commonwealth. The plan is estimated to yield 42,000 to 48,000 jobs in every niche in the clean energy supply chain by 2020, including researchers, scientists, architects, electricians, plumbers, installers, manufacturers and energy auditors.

Projected growth in the clean energy sector through the plan will build on the Commonwealth’s already impressive record: a 20-fold increase in solar energy systems installed since 2007. Jobs in the state’s solar sector more than doubled during that time, and there was a 10-fold increase in installed wind power during the same period. Meanwhile, Massachusetts launched the most aggressive energy efficiency program in the country, with estimated savings of over $6 billion for residential, municipal, industrial and commercial customers, and 4,500 jobs sustained or created.

With a burgeoning core of companies in clean energy, Massachusetts was named the leading East Coast state for clean energy innovation, investment, deployment and jobs in a recent independent analysis by New York-based research firm Clean Edge Inc. The Commonwealth had more than 11,000 people employed in clean energy at the end of 2010, up 65 percent since the Patrick-Murray Administration began its run-up to a clean energy economy in 2007. The fastest growth (67 percent) has been in the energy storage sector, represented by Massachusetts innovators such as A123 Systems Inc., Beacon Power Corp., and Premium Power Corp.

The Clean Energy and Climate Plan will do much more than meet the Commonwealth’s requirements under the law. It empowers us to address one of this generation’s biggest challenges — climate change — while creating jobs and propelling the clean energy technology revolution already underway across Massachusetts.
 
 

Richard K. Sullivan Jr. is secretary of the Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.