WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE HEAT ACT IN NEW YORK: The New York state legislature is set to consider the state budget this week – and environmentalists are pushing to include a bill that curbs the use of natural gas from utilities.
About the bill: Dubbed the New York Home Energy Affordable Transition (HEAT) Act, the bill will push gas utilities to comply with New York’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, and no less than 85% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. The measure would enact a cap on the utility bills of low-income communities so that they don’t exceed 6% of a household’s income.
The bill would also get rid of the “100 foot rule,” a requirement for utility companies to provide gas services to anyone who lives within 100 feet of an existing line at no cost. The costs of these efforts are paid for by other customers.
Getting rid of the “100 foot rule” could save ratepayers $200 million every year, according to estimates from the New York League of Conservation Voters.
But most notably, the bill would largely shift utilities away from natural gas. Under current law, utilities are obligated to serve their customers natural gas as a default. The new bill would include language to broaden out options for utilities to provide ratepayers with less carbon-intensive alternatives, such as electricity generated by renewable resources.
“Whether it’s $200 million/yr that ratepayers are forced to pay to subsidize gas expansion, $150 billion to fix leaky pipes, or the skyrocketing price of gas, the fossil status quo is an albatross around NYs’ necks. NYs deserve a break – and that’s just what #NYHEAT will deliver,” state Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger, the bill’s sponsor, tweeted when the measure passed the Senate in March.
Reasons for support: Environmentalists praised the legislation, stating that the bill aids in energy affordability by capping energy bills and eliminating unnecessary subsidies for natural gas companies, and called on the lower chamber to act on the bill.
“The Assembly’s budget acknowledges New York’s energy affordability problem, but its proposal does not do enough,” Liz Moran, a New York Policy Advocate for EarthJustice, said in a written statement earlier last month. “To truly deliver on affordability and save money for ratepayers, the Assembly must champion the NY HEAT Act in the budget.”
And now, the opposition: But those that are opposing the N.Y. HEAT Act have concerns that transitioning away from natural gas too quickly could result in reliability issues, and could cost natural gas jobs if the state is unable to quickly supplement with green energy jobs.
Republican N.Y. State Sen. Pamela Helming recalled representatives of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers predicted to her that between 1,000-3,000 jobs could be lost if the measure becomes law.
“While it is important that we take steps to reduce emissions and protect the environment, we must also be conscious of the impacts on consumers, businesses, and the workforce,” Helming said in a column. “The NY HEAT Act fails to adequately and responsibly consider these impacts and I strongly urge my colleagues to reject it.”
It’s a hot topic: Hundreds of advocates gathered in the New York State Capitol last week to press for its passage, according to reporting from WENY News. But on the flipside, Republicans are surely to use this legislation as fodder to attack their Democratic opponents. Earlier this year, GOP lawmakers went after Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul for her push to phase out natural gas stoves in new buildings.
State of play: Now, it’s up to the New York State Assembly to either pass the bill as a standalone, or include the measure in the state’s budget. The lower chamber’s majority caucus has 102 Democrats, along with 48 Republicans filling the minority. The deadline for government funding for the state is this Thursday, on April 4.
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CALIFORNIA’S HIGHWAY 1 CLOSED AFTER EASTER WEEKEND LANDSLIDE: A 40-mile stretch of California’s Highway 1 remained closed after heavy rains collapsed portions of the famed roadway Saturday and left some 1,600 motorists stranded.
California transportation officials said they are continuing to assess the extent of the damage, which occurred Saturday near the iconic Rocky Creek Bridge south of Monterey. Videos and photos captured from the event show chunks of highway tumbling down the craggy seaside cliffs and into the Pacific Ocean.
Officials with California’s transportation department, CalTrans, said engineers are working to assess the damage caused by the slip-off. In the meantime, they urged drivers to avoid all unnecessary travel in the area as they continue to stabilize the bridge and carefully lead convoys of motorists through portions of the roadway determined to be safe. All state parks in the Big Sur area also remain closed until further notice, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
This isn’t the first time Highway 1 has been hit hard by severe weather: In January 2023, another stretch of Highway 1 was hit by a massive landslide that dumped some 500,000 cubic yards of debris on the road, and several smaller problems have occurred in the months since.
Officials acknowledged Saturday’s slide-out adds to a growing list of infrastructure issues that have plagued the scenic roadway, slowing the timelines for other planned reopenings. Read more on the closures here.
ASIAN LNG IMPORTS JUMP TO RECORD HIGH AMID PRICE DROP, DEMAND GROWTH FROM CHINA, INDIA: Global liquified natural gas shipments shifted back toward Asia last month, according to new ship-tracking data, underpinned primarily by a drop in prices, lower demand from European buyers, and new purchases from China, India, and Thailand.
Bloomberg reports that shipments to Asia saw a 12% jump in March compared to the same period last year, with imports rising to a record monthly high of 24 million tons for the four-week period.
Chinese imports rose by 22% year-on-year, while India boosted its shipments by nearly 30%. The trend is expected to increase as LNG prices continue to fall to a three-year low, due to lower demand from Europe and milder winter conditions.
Europe’s LNG purchases dropped 20% in March as a result of the bloc’s well-supplied gas storage tanks. Leaders raced to obtain gas in the months after Russia’s Ukraine invasion and reduction of Russian piped gas supplies. But the tanks are currently 59% full—far higher than the five-year seasonal average of 42%, and allowing buyers there to slow their imports in the near term. Read more from Bloomberg here.
CHINA POWER FIRM GCL REVIVES ITS LNG PLANS AS DEMAND GROWS: The privately-run Chinese power company GCL Holdings said today it is returning to its natural gas business after years of solar investments and installations, with plans to build out two new LNG import terminals and a gas-focused trading operation based in Beijing.
GCL’s shift to natural gas, reported by Reuters, will involve building two new LNG import terminals that will come online as early as 2025, as well as the potential resumption of activity in Ethiopia’s gas-rich region of Ogaden.
In shifting back to gas, GCL will join two other state-run Chinese gas companies, ENN and Beijing Gas Group, as they look to ramp up LNG import activity and capitalize on China’s renewed status as the world’s largest LNG buyer.
The shift from solar: GCL’s self-described “strategic shift” back to gas comes as Beijing grapples with an industry-wide solar overcapacity problem, which has sparked domestic price wars and forced companies like GCL to sell off many privately-owned solar power stations.
GCL sold all 220 of its solar stations last year, mostly to state-owned utilities, for a profit of $325 billion.
Meanwhile, the company has hired former ENN natural gas executive Xiong Xin to head up its new Beijing-based gas trading team. Read more from Reuters here.
BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER SAYS E.U. NATURE RESTORATION ACT IS A ‘BAD LAW’: Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said European Union leaders should go “back to the drawing board” on the bloc’s Nature Restoration Law, drawing criticism from other European leaders.
De Croo, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency of the EU Council, took aim at the Nature Restoration Law in an interview with the local outlet De Zondag, saying that the bill “may sound good, but it is a bad law.”
“I am not against a law that protects our nature, on the contrary,” he said of the law, which is aimed at rehabilitating one-fifth of EU countries’ land and sea ecosystems by 2030.
De Croo cited concerns of uncertainty over the new law, which he said lawmakers must revisit following the June European Parliament elections. “Will people still be able to build and do business?… It may mean that you can hardly build and that land that is currently used for agriculture is taken away,” he said.
The interview prompted backlash from others in Brussels, including Alain Maron, the environment minister for the Brussels region, who criticized De Croo’s remarks as being “unworthy of a President of the Council” and failing to honestly represent the interests of the EU Parliament and state governments, which had struck agreement on the Nature Restoration Law last year. “The [law] deserves determination, not weakness,” Maron said on Twitter. Read more here.
RUNDOWN
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