Committing to ‘green’ power grid
Spurred by new state laws, National Grid touts hybrid approach to clean energy
It wasn’t long ago that the biggest complaint people had about their utility company was their high winter heating bills and the occasional power outage that left them in the dark for a few hours, maybe longer.
But these days, gas and electric utilities like National Grid are among the biggest targets of government policymakers aiming to make drastic changes in energy policy to combat climate change.
National Grid, which provides gas and electric service to large parts of upstate New York, including the Capital Region, announced last week it would switch to using only “renewable” sources of gas by 2050 in New York and Massachusetts, where it also has operations.
Such sources include biogas made from cow manure and so-called “green” hydrogen made from water using only renewable energy sources. Not included is traditional fossil-fuel natural gas that is drilled for by oil and gas companies, which the utility has relied upon for decades.
“This fossil-free vision is an historic announcement for National Grid and the United States,” John Pettigrew, CEO of the United Kingdom-based National Grid, said last week. “We have a critical responsibility to lead the clean energy transition for our customers and communities.”
But National Grid is also responding to aggressive new climate change laws being put into effect in both New York and Massachusetts that will change the way utilities operate.
The New York State Climate Action Council, the 22-member board that is putting the state’s
2019 climate change law into effect with public input, has been focusing mainly on “electrifying” most of the residential and commercial heating sector using heat pumps and other technologies that would, in theory, eliminate the need for natural gas service.
But National Grid believes in a hybrid approach because not everyone will be able to afford electric heating systems.
“Building an electric network capable of electrifying all heating load is not practical or cost-effective,” Brian Gemmell, National Grid’s clean energy development officer said in a public hearing held by the climate council in Albany earlier this month. “A better approach is leveraging existing networks.”
That idea is not looked at favorably by environmental groups in New York who don’t believe there is enough cow manure to make into biogas required under National Grid’s plan, which slowly phases in the use of biogas.
NY Renews, a coalition of 100 environmental and social justice groups that has been a driving force behind the state’s climate law, published a paper that pushes back on National Grid’s concept.
The report labels the promotion of renewable natural gas and “green” hydrogen as “false solutions” that use too many resources like water to make.
“Production of these alternative fuels is often carbon-intensive — compared to fossil fuels, some of these false solutions literally add more greenhouse gas emissions than they reduce,” the NY Renews report states.
Many environmental and social justice groups would like to see gas pipelines and gas infrastructure eliminated entirely, which does not align with National Grid’s vision.
Gemmell said at the same hearing that the council should consider a more hybrid plan “that utilizes existing energy networks” instead of abandoning the utility’s gas network, which has value and is still being paid for by customers.
National Grid also says that its hybrid plan will be cheaper for customers — who would have to install heat pumps and other expensive devices to meet an allelectrified heating plan.
“Compared to a high electrification pathway, electricity rates under this plan are expected to be approximately 5 to10 percent lower in 2040 and 10 to 15 percent lower in 2050,” National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella said.
This would be the case, National Grid claims, because the utility will have to build out its electrical infrastructure system in order to handle the additional power that would have to be sent onto the electrical grid to meet additional demand for heat via electrical systems instead of the utility’s gas network.
By keeping overall rates for electricity lower, it will make it more affordable to use heat pumps, charge electric vehicles and power everyday appliances, Stella said.