Electrification heads to Beantown

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Aug 18, 2022 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell Utility workers repair a power line. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Boston buildings are going electric. Mayor Michelle Wu announced this week that her city will ban fossil fuels from new building projects and large-scale renovations — meaning heating, cooling and cooking must be electric. The move in Massachusetts' largest city marks the latest in a tight race to determine the fuel of American buildings' future. In one corner of the ring is electricity and in the other is natural gas. The battle is heating up this year as cities and states consider competing legislative plans and industry road maps. Gas and electricity are neck and neck, with each providing roughly 40 percent of the U.S. market. The natural gas industry has been working hard to fight proposed gas bans. About 20 states have outlawed cities from banning gas use in buildings, and 10 others prohibit electric utilities from encouraging customers to electrify. But electrification proponents are scoring victories as well. According to the research nonprofit RMI, 80 local governments have adopted policies that require or encourage electrification. Boston's effort to electrify buildings stems from a major climate change bill in Massachusetts that Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law last week. The legislation enables 10 cities to require building projects to be all-electric in an effort to slash planet-warming pollution. Residential and commercial buildings contribute about 12.5 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by burning fossil fuels for heating, cooling and cooking. And emissions have been on the rise. The massive climate law President Joe Biden signed this week also invests significantly in building electrification. The Inflation Reduction Act includes $4.5 billion in direct rebates for low- and moderate-income households to invest in home electrification, from appliances like heat pumps to improvements in panels, wiring, insulation and other needed upgrades. A second $4.5 billion rebate program will fund other efficiency and electrification building efforts.   It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell.  Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.   Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Annie Snider breaks down the urgency of the Colorado River water crisis and what states and the federal government are doing to combat it. Listen to today's POLITICO's Energy podcast Trends Atlas EV Hub Electric vehicle sales keep climbing. Last month marked the highest market share for EVs at 8 percent with 90,000 sales, according to Atlas Public Policy, an EV advisory group. Tesla hits 50,000 sales — its strongest month yet — while General Motors had its best month since May of last year. Power Centers A coal-fired power plant in Georgia emits smoke. | Branden Camp/AP Wait your turn. Again. Activists from neighborhoods that have long suffered environmental threats say the benefits in Biden's new climate law don't outweigh the trade-offs Democrats made to secure it, writes Zack Colman. They say their communities have yet again been sacrificed in the name of political compromise. And some of Biden's outside advisers on environmental justice now worry the disappointment could dent their allies' enthusiasm for turning out for Democrats at the polls this November. Read the story here. On the chopping block After his recent victory in the Supreme Court, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) is going after the Securities and Exchange Commission's climate risk disclosure rule, writes Lesley Clark. Twenty-one Republican state legal officers led by Morrisey filed comments arguing the SEC is trying to transform itself from a federal overseer "into the regulator of broader social ills." Here's the story. Will they or won't they? A court ruling yesterday cleared the way for President Joe Biden to pause federal oil and gas leasing, writes Niina H. Farah. But such a ban is likely not enforceable since Biden's newly signed Inflation Reduction Act committed the federal government to millions of acres of new onshore and offshore lease sales. Read more here. In Other News 🀽🐽🠼♀️🐺 Five years ago, the group that approves new emojis rejected one for climate change. Why it might be time to change that. Health impacts: Children who live close to fracking sites in Pennsylvania are at higher risk for leukemia, a new study found. Question Corner The science, policy and politics driving the energy transition can feel miles away. But we're all affected on an individual and communal level — from hotter days and higher gas prices to home insurance rates and food supply. Want to know more? Send me your questions and I'll get you answers. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. E-bike rider in Colorado. | @CityofDenver/Twitter In their scramble to turn a major climate bill into law, congressional Democrats left tax incentives for electric bicycles parked by the wayside. Big utilities are no longer the only electricity providers that stand to benefit from the clean energy tax incentives in Biden's climate law. Developers are advancing a large Arctic oil project on Alaska state lands with a commitment to offset its greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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