August 10, 2020
Mark D. Marini, Secretary
Department of Public Utilities
One South Station, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02110
Dear Secretary Marini,
I am writing on behalf of the Cape Cod Technology Council, Inc. (“CCTC”) ] in response to the request from the Department of Public Utilities (“DPU” or the “Department”) for written comments on the petition of the Cape Light Compact JPE (the “Compact”) for approval of a compliance filing in D.P.U. 20-40, regarding implementation of the Cape and Vineyard Electrification Offering (“CVEO”). For the reasons set forth herein, the CCTC supports the CVEO.
Founded in 1996, the CCTC is a membership based non-profit organization whose mission is to promote technology, education, and economic development on Cape Cod, the Islands, and Southeastern Massachusetts. Our membership includes local Cape, Islands, and Southeastern Massachusetts businesses, technology innovators, educational organizations, government entities, working professionals, and community leaders.
The CVEO is an innovative proposal from the Compact that will deliver cost-effective energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The offering will replace a customer’s fossil fuel-based or electric resistance heating system with a cold climate heat pump that uses electricity for space heating and cooling. The electricity usage of the heat pump will be offset by the installation of a solar PV system that produces renewable electricity on site, which will avoid adding new load to the electric grid. Lastly, a battery storage system will be installed as part of the CVEO to help save all ratepayers money as it will be used by the Compact to reduce the region’s peak demand and will provide a source of backup power for the CVEO participant in the event of an electricity outage.
The CVEO will deliver a much-needed focus on serving low- and moderate- income customers. These customer groups currently install CVEO technologies at low rates in comparison to other customers. That is because while solar PV systems and heat pumps ultimately provide savings to customers, low- and moderate- income customers do not have the means to afford the high upfront cost of these technologies and are often unable to qualify for loans or other financing to install these measures.
Employing innovative approaches to increase energy efficiency aligns with the mission of the CCTC. We encourage the Department to approve the CVEO.
The CCTC appreciates your consideration of our views. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Respectfully,
Jennifer Reid, President