Thursday, April 25, 2024

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Biofuel & Electrification at a Glance 

Renewable Blending Standards By State 

*State*	*Heating Oil*	*On-Road*
CT	B2-B20 requirement in place, dependent on laws in contiguous states (Act 10-74) Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) proposing B20 standard with increase to B100 once ASTM provides guidance
MA	Gubernatorial moratorium on 2008 B2-B5 requirement, state launched biofuel program to assess viability
NH		B5 standard for state vehicles
NY	New York City: Current B5 standard B10 standard by October 1, 2025; B15 standard by October 1, 2030; and B20 mandated by October 1, 2034 Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester County: Current B5 standard Statewide: Discussions ongoing to expand current B5 standard statewide, with additional standards to B10 by 2025 and B20 by 2030	B20 standard for city vehicles from April 1 to October 31; B5 standard for city vehicles from November 1 to March 31
PA	Discussions ongoing to make on-road standard apply to heating oil	B2 when in-state production > 40MM gallons B5 one year after in-state production = 100 MM gallons B10 on year after in-state production = 200 MM gallons B20 one year after in-state production = 400 MM gallons
RI	Current B5 standard, discussions ongoing to increase requirement to B10 by 2023, B20 by 2025, and B50 by 2030
VT	B3-B7 requirement in place, but dependent on laws in contiguous states (Act 74)	B5 standard for state vehicles

State Heating Oil and Biodiesel Incentives  

*State*	*Type*	*Name*	*Description*
CT	Grant	Biofuels Research Grants	The Department of Economic and Community Development administers a fuel diversification grant program to provide funding for research to promote biofuel production from agricultural products, algae, and waste grease, as well as biofuel quality testing
	Tax Exemption	Bioheat Gross Earnings Tax Exemption	This law exempts a commercial heating oil blend from the state gross earnings tax that is levied on the sale of petroleum products. The heating oil blend must contain not less than 10 percent alternative fuels.
	Market-Based Program	Thermal Renewable Energy Credits (T-REC)	Program would allow Class I Renewable Energy Credits (RECS) to be generated on the basis of useful thermal energy generated from biodiesel delivered to an end user that electric providers have to buy to comply with the RPS requirements
ME	Tax Exemption	Biodiesel Fuel Tax Exemption	An individual that produces biodiesel for personal use or use by a member of his or her immediate family is exempt from the state fuel excise tax.
MA	Market-Based Program	Alternative Energy  Portfolio Standard (APS)	Program works with RPS incentivizing utilities to buy RECs from alternative energy generating sources including combined heat and power, flywheels, efficient steam technology, solar, biomass, biogas, liquid biofuel, waste to energy, fuel cell generation units, or any other alternative energy technology approved by the department. Currently UCO is the only viable feedstock and there is a 20% cap on minted credits going to biodiesel
NY	Tax Credit	Biofuel Production Tax Credit (expired)	Biofuel producers in New York State may qualify for a tax credit of $0.15 per gallon of pure biodiesel (B100) or denatured ethanol produced. To qualify, the production facility must produce, and make available for sale, at least 40,000 gallons of biofuel per year. The maximum annual credit available is $2.5 million per taxpayer for no more than four consecutive taxable years per production facility. This credit expired December 31, 2019.
	Tax Credit	Clean Heating Fuels Tax Credit	This law creates a tax credit for Bioheat in residential heating applications. The tax credit will provide one cent ($0.01) per gallon for each percentage of biodiesel content above B6. There is a cap at the B20 level. Higher percentage blends, if used, will receive 20 cents per gallon. The law allows the application of the tax credit to single family homes as well as to multi-family (apartment) buildings. This credit expires January 1, 2023

Electrification Policies By State 

*State*	*Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard*	*Building Electrification Efforts*
CT	21% by 2020 and 40% by 2030 (PA 18-50) 100% by 2040 (2019, EO)	Supports heating electrification (i.e., heat pumps) to displace heating oil with no specific target (2018 Comprehensive Energy Strategy)
ME	80% by 2030 and 100% by 2050 (2019, LD 14-94)	Goal to install 100,000 heat pumps by 2025 (2019, LD 1766)
MA	20% by 2020 increasing 2% annually to 80% by 2050 (2018 Clean Energy Standard)	Increase adoption of technologies like heat pumps to 2% of homes by 2020 (2016 Comprehensive Energy Plan)  Brookline attempted to prohibit installation of oil and gas heating systems in new construction beginning in 2021 (2019)  MassSave provides incentives for customers who switch to electric heating or heat pumps
NH	25.2% by 2025 (RSA 36-F)	Concord has a goal to achieve 100% renewables in all energy-using sectors by 2050 via building decarbonization through heat pumps, thermal improvements, and grid integration (2019)
NJ	35% by 2021 and 50% by 2030 (2018 AB 37-23) Pledges to reach 100% clean energy by 2050 (2019 Energy Master Plan)	Clean Energy Program provides incentives for customers who switch to certain energy-efficiency measures including heat pumps and gas heating
NY	70% by 2030 and 100% by 2040 (2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act)	Target to save 3.6TBtu by 2025 through statewide heat pump initiative (2020 Public Service Commission)
PA	18% by 2021 (2004 Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard)
RI	100% of electric demand met by renewable energy sources by 2030 (2020, EO 20-01)	National Grid offers incentives for heat pump installation
VT	59% by 2020 and 75% by 2032 (2015 Renewable Energy Standard)	Reduce customer's fossil fuel usage through electrification, efficiency, fuel switching or storage by 2% of annual sales starting in 2017 and reaching 12% by 2032 (2015 Renewable Energy Standard)

Economy Wide Greenhouse Gas Reduction Policies By State  

State	Mandated or Aspirational	2020 Target	2030 Target	2050 Target	Legislation Details
CT	Mandated	10% below 1990 levels	45% below 2001 levels	80% below 2001 levels	2008 Global Warming Solutions Act, 2018 PA 18-82
ME	Mandated		45% below 1990 levels	80% below 1990 levels	2019, LD 17-69
MA	Mandated		25% below 1990 levels	80% below 1990 levels	2008 Global Warming Solutions Act
NH	Aspirational	20% below 1990 levels (2025)		80% below 1990 levels	2009 Climate Action Plan
NJ	Aspirational	20% below 1990 levels		80% below 2006 levels	2007 Global Warming Response Act
NY	Mandated		40% below 1990 levels	85% below 1990 levels	2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act
PA	Aspirational	26% below 2005 levels (2025)		80% below 2005 levels	2019 Climate Action Plan
RI	Mandated		45% below 1990 levels (2035)	80% below 1990 levels	2014 Resilient Rhode Island Act
VT	Mandated	26% below 2005 levels (2025)	40% below 1990 levels	80% below 1990 levels	2020 Global Warming Solutions Act - Possibility Governor Scott may veto

Regional Programs   

Name	Relevant State(s)	Description
Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)	CA	California's LCFS aims to reduce carbon intensity (CI) of the transportation fuel pool by at least 20% by 2030 Sets annual CI benchmarks which reduce over time, and lets the market determine which mix of fuels will be used to reach the program targets Resulted in a 7.5% reduction in carbon intensity since 2011
Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)	OR	California's LCFS aims to reduce carbon intensity (CI) of the transportation fuel pool by at least 20% by 2030 Sets annual CI benchmarks which reduce over time, and lets the market determine which mix of fuels will be used to reach the program targets Resulted in a 7.5% reduction in carbon intensity since 2011
Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)	NY	There are ongoing discussions to establish a statewide LCFS in New York to meet the requirements of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)
Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)	All (Federal)	The House Climate Action Plan recommends Congress establish an LCFS program for transportation fuels based on the California model  Proposal would build upon or replace the Renewable Fuel Standard Plan proposes generating credits for aviation and marine fuels, but does not explicitly include heating fuels
Regional  Greenhouse  Gas Initiative  (RGGI)	CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, VA*	First cap and invest program to limit CO2 emissions from the power sector  Requires fossil fuel power plants with 25MW+ capacity to obtain an allowance for each ton of CO2 emitted annually Collectively cut power sector carbon emissions by 45% since 2005 with a goal to further reduce emissions to 30% below 2020 levels by 2030
Transportation  and Climate  Initiative (TCI)	CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, VA	Cap and invest program modeled after RGGI to help transition the transportation sector with a declining CO2 emissions cap Gives each state the independence to decide how to achieve the program's goals Government leaders in VT, NH, RI and ME have expressed reservations about joining Fall 2020 memorandum of understanding expected on how program will move forward
*New Jersey withdrew from RGGI in 2012 but rejoined in 2020; Virginia is scheduled to join RGGI in 2021; proposed regulation for Pennsylvania to join RGGI is expected September 15, 2020.

Government Policy

Electrification

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