BOSTON -- After two years of study, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources on Wednesday released its long-awaited plan to achieve a "clean, affordable, and resilient" in-state energy future by 2030.
The 213-page Comprehensive Energy Plan, or "CEP," takes stock of the state's current situation, models five different policy scenarios, and tries to project consumer costs, reliability, and climate impacts.
In broad brush strokes, the plan calls for aggressive and technology-based conservation, efficiency, and peak demand reduction -- especially during the winter months, when power plants and home heating compete for a limited supply of natural gas.
Transportation should be rapidly electrified, as should heating and cooling, through the use of air source heat pumps -- and the electricity should be sourced from a clean grid backed by storage, the report recommends.
DOER commissioner Judith Judson, in a call with reporters, said that targeted electrification, a clean grid, and reducing energy usage overall "is the combination that results in the lowest emissions, as well as the lowest costs for consumers."
Tightening up buildings is another piece, Judson remarked. "So we do have recommendations around strengthening building codes in driving additional efficiency in new construction," she said.
The plan recognizes climate and energy achievements to date, but suggests more work to meet mandated emissions reduction goals and prevent winter price spikes in the power sector.
The Baker administration is procuring 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind and around 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower; incentives are in place for another 1,600 megawatts of solar, and steps are being taken to pair battery storage with renewables, the report acknowledges.
Massachusetts struggles with some of the highest energy prices in the U.S., but is also a leader in conservation, energy efficiency, and clean technology, the report notes -- while averring that a large influx of renewable energy would yield consumer savings, and not higher costs.
The plan contains plenty of data and information. For instance, in 2016, power generation accounted for only 17 percent of the state's total energy use. Transportation accounted for 44 percent, and non-electric thermal another 39 percent. Massachusetts that year consumed more than a quadrillion BTUs of energy.
When it comes to carbon emissions, the power sector has become cleaner since 1990. On the other hand, emissions from the transportation and thermal sectors have remained relatively constant, with a slight decrease in the thermal sector, a graph within the report shows.
The Massachusetts power sector has reduced emissions, while transportation and thermal have remained relatively constant, a CEP graphic shows.
The 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act requires that greenhouse gas emissions fall to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050, and to 25 percent of 1990 levels by 2020. In 2016, the state's high court ordered the administration to create new regulations to ensure compliance with that law.
Baker that year issued an executive order to establish an integrated climate change strategy. As part of that order, the DOER was told to prepare a comprehensive energy plan. The plan must be updated every five years.
The 2018 state policy document was prepared with assistance from Synapse Energy Economics and Sustainable Energy Advantage, the document states.