Electric Utilities Require Regulatory Innovation, Capital Investment to Enable Massachusetts to Meet GHG Emission Reduction Targets, According to Analysis Group White Paper
September 12, 2023
Economists at Analysis Group have published a white paper outlining capital investment, ratemaking policy, and other regulatory innovation needed to allow the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to meet its statutory decarbonization targets. Massachusetts law requires the commonwealth to cut its 1990-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in half by 2030. As power-sector GHG emissions continue to decline toward net zero, electricity will increasingly serve as the primary source of energy for the entire economy.
The white paper, Massachusetts’ Energy Transition: Innovation for Electric Utility Regulation, was authored by Analysis Group Principal Paul Hibbard, Senior Advisor Susan Tierney, and Associates Daniel Stuart and Grace Howland. It documents sizable investment that will be required in distribution and transmission capacity and other grid modernization actions, zero-carbon electric resources, and customer-side metering, as well as a majority switch toward electric transportation and heating systems. It also outlines seven regulatory innovations that may reduce the friction and risk the transition may cause within the current regulatory framework. National Grid provided funding for the study, which reflects the independent judgment of the authors alone.