Together for Short Lives’ Post

Plans for improved resilience of Northland electricity network announced

I love this video for two reasons. 1) It tells a great story. Chelan County – this beautiful, mountainous place in the middle of the state – has the lowest energy burden in Washington. That means the people who live here spend less of their monthly income on electricity, leaving more for essentials like groceries, gas, and housing. And this isn’t an accident. It is an outcome long ago planned for, fought for, and invested in. Put simply: Energy burden is low here because electricity rates are low here. Those low rates are only possible because of the economically risky, audacious and forward-thinking decisions made by early Chelan County PUD leaders to invest in hydropower so many years ago. At the time, the only way to make such large investments was to enter into 50-year power contracts, and so those early PUD leaders never saw the economic benefits of their decisions. They knew that would be the case, but they also knew that the dams would provide long-term access to electricity in their rural community for future generations. Those decisions were made for the good of the community that bore the risks, and they enable us now to provide clean, reliable, and very affordable electricity. Does this mean that no one in Chelan County ever struggles to pay their electric bill? Obviously not, and that’s why the PUD offers programs to help those who need the extra assistance, why even now we are thinking through new programs to pull energy burden lower, why we partner with trusted community organizations like the Chelan-Douglas Community Action Council, and why our customer service team works one-on-one with individuals to keep the lights on. 2) It is a timely message. For the past few years, the state has also been thinking through energy affordability, as utilities who traditionally relied on fossil fuels are decarbonizing, and the state rightly wants to ensure that those utilities’ customers are not harmed along the way to our shared clean energy future. This week, the Washington State Legislature convened for the 2025 session, and we anticipate legislation will be introduced soon to create a statewide energy assistance program for low-income customers. I hope our legislators find a way to support utilities that desperately need help providing financial relief to their most vulnerable customers. I hope whatever program they create makes life easier for Washington state families. But it cannot be designed in a way that transfers the benefits of our local resources – finally realized after so many years – to fund priorities elsewhere. Our community took the risks, made the investments, and waited decades to see these benefits. To members of the Washington Legislature: Please do not pay for your new program by adding a fee to our customers’ bills. We like to keep those low. As the video articulates, this is sort of a big deal around here.

⚡ "With huge amounts of power sitting with multinational energy giants, there is inequity in both how profits are distributed and decisions are made. Community energy presents a compelling alternative for governments, bringing benefits through enhanced energy independence, local economic development and hopefully greater grid resilience." As supporters of community energy projects in the UK, we fully agree that the potential of community energy should be unlocked. Read here from Pioneers Post 👉 https://buff.ly/40Wj2xk

I've got a short policy brief out this morning, on the case for more local planning of energy and heat. There are lots of likely benefits to planning more at local level - smoother electricity grid investment, more clarity for households, the ability to offer neighbourhood heat schemes, and plenty more. We need to start doing planning everywhere in England, and we need to fund local areas properly to do it. This is very much a quick first cut - others like Katrina Young and Energy Systems Catapult have done much more on this - so v much welcome any views! https://lnkd.in/e8Kksfce

The National Home Decarbonisation Group (NHDG) has published a ministerial briefing note on priorities for energy efficiency retrofit. The recommendations from the group representing Tier 1 contractors and energy suppliers outline how to deliver on manifesto commitments in energy efficiency and retrofit. "We hope that the briefing we have issued helps to highlight the number of areas that need to be addressed, but also that the National Housing Decarbonisation Group members are ready to work with the new government on achieving high-quality, large-scale retrofit delivery across the UK." - Derek Horrocks, chair of the National Home Decarbonisation Group https://lnkd.in/ebZSDUV7 #action #urgency #learnfromdoing #solutionsatscale #retrofit #policy #collaboration #togetherwecan #unlocknetzero

Ask: We have long called for the Government of Ontario to revise Leave to Construct (LTC) regulations to reduce delays in critical energy infrastructure. Read our policy recommendations: https://bit.ly/4cwQ0XV Win: Through the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, the Government of Ontario is proposing a legislative amendment to allow for regulations to broaden the Ontario Energy Board exemption from LTC, for hydrocarbon pipeline relocations or reconstruction. This proposal would help reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, delays and costs for pipeline projects to help build roads faster. Read the bill here: https://bit.ly/3Xn0rJf

The National Home Decarbonisation Group (NHDG) has published a ministerial briefing note on priorities for energy efficiency retrofit. The recommendations from the group representing Tier 1 contractors and energy suppliers outline how to deliver on manifesto commitments in energy efficiency and retrofit. "We hope that the briefing we have issued helps to highlight the number of areas that need to be addressed, but also that the National Housing Decarbonisation Group members are ready to work with the new government on achieving high-quality, large-scale retrofit delivery across the UK." -Derek Horrocks, chair of the National Home Decarbonisation Group https://lnkd.in/ebZSDUV7 #action #urgency #learnfromdoing #solutionsatscale #retrofit #policy #collaboration #togetherwecan #unlocknetzero

Like it or not, you could now be part of Australia's critical infrastructure. Those physical facilities, supply chains, information technologies and communications networks which, if destroyed, degraded or rendered unavailable for an extended period would significantly impact the social or economic wellbeing of the nation. Originally limited to electricity, gas, water and ports, the 2021 and 2022 reforms materially expanded the original Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) act to cover 11 sectors and 22 categories. In our latest blog post we look what is critical infrastructure, which industries are included, and what you need to know if you fall under the SOCI Act. https://lnkd.in/eSb9SmtW

Today I spoke to the need for investment in training, education, career pathing and awareness of opportunities in Canada's electricity industry on behalf of Electricity Human Resources Canada (EHRC) at the House of Commons Natural Resources Committee as a witness regarding Canada's electricity grid and network. We have a lot of work to do to meet our economy-wide decarbonization objectives - and investing in our people will be key to our short and long term success. https://lnkd.in/evy8PiEe

📣 This U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) award of $1.5 billion that will go towards funding four energy transmission projects across the U.S.; one of them being the #CimarronLink right here in #Oklahoma ❓How does this federal investment in critical infrastructure help Oklahomans? ➡️ This sorely needed transmission capacity will allow for additional transmission of Western Oklahoma generated power, enabling not only our already existing energy projects to generate power at their maximum capacity- but by also adding capacity for the future energy needs of our region. ⚡️ Oklahoma has been the grateful recipient of a number of recent high profile federal investments from the EDA, DOT, EPA, and others. But none of that work can move forward without consideration and planning for the energy demands of those projects. Ensuring we are able to generate, transmit, and distribute the power that further enables economic development is absolutely critical, and this federal investment by the DOE does just that.