Andrew Kimball

The @American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s 2024 City Clean Energy Scorecard came out this week! This scorecard ranks 75 of the largest U.S. cities on energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions and identifies the best-performing cities, the most improved, and those with substantial room for improvement, with recommendations for making progress. This year, the top three cities are: 1. #SanFrancisco 2. #Denver 3. #Seattle Find out what they did to earn the top spots and where your city ranks⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eUEdqyqf 

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Excellent TIME article from James Anderson of Bloomberg Philanthropies: Why America’s Infrastructure Is So Hard To Fix “Thousands of municipalities—from the smallest towns to the largest cities—have an opportunity to realize their dreams, tackle their most urgent needs, and build their way to prosperity... The job is hardly finished, though.” Read more about the historic opportunity presented by ARP, BIL, and IRA, and how our program – the Local Infrastructure Hub – is supporting cities and towns to meet the moment and drive progress. https://lnkd.in/gccpZzmD

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I wrote a report in 2022 with my friends Ted Boling and Laura Smith Morton on federal policy actions needed for #offshorewind. Re-reading many of the policy ideas, they are still relevant today. We wrote the playbook on what is needed -- some are now in the BOEM Modernization Rule and others still need to be implemented. https://lnkd.in/eWqpDuuA

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My piece in today's The New York Times outlines what's necessary from Congress & the Biden administration to make sure that rural communities benefit from the investments available in the #IIJA, #IRA, & #CHIPs. The opportunities are immense, but we have to be intentional if we are to help rural places maximize the public benefit - and we shouldn't let politics get in the way. #RuralMatters #RuralDevelopment #ReimagineRural https://lnkd.in/eSEQWztv

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Absolutely thrilled to learn that NH has received $43.5 million from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fund low-income solar. These funds will go to solar for multi-family housing, Resident Owned communities, and additional dollars to the states competitive grant program. These funds will begin to be deployed at roughly the same time as $70m for low-income weatherization and electrification. I think there's a high probability that this funding will be transformational for how multi-family housing is built when we look back 10 years from now. It's already only a fraction more expensive to build high-efficiency multi-family dwellings (3.5% more) and these homes use as much as 80% less energy. These funds will make an already wise choice an absolute no-brainer. https://lnkd.in/eM6kj3Cn

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Here's the summary of our new paper calling for greater effort at dismantling inequity: DC’s Local Fund budget (the portion of the budget that reflects spending supported through our three broad based taxes—income, sales, and property) has been steady for decades when taken as a share of the economy (a key measure of our fiscal capacity). In other words, we’ve largely just kept pace with growth in the economy and that’s a good thing—we have to be able to keep up with growing needs for public services broadly and also specific things like competitive public sector wages and parts of the budget that grow faster than others or serve populations with higher cost needs. Our spending as a share of the economy has at times been higher than it is now—in fact it is actually lower now than it was in the very last year of the Control Board era. We’ve made some really important investments for racial and economic equity with that spending, especially in the last decade or so (we share a few examples that are not meant to be an exhaustive list). Revenue is projected to decline as a share of the economy in the coming years, which could cause us to backtrack when we really should be pushing forward toward more progress on tackling longstanding racial and economic inequity. More progress would strengthen our economy as a whole. To move forward and achieve more transformative change, we will need to raise revenue and increase our collective effort (we offer just a handful of examples where we should fulfill commitments already made and forge ahead with additional public investments).

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Calling climate tech innovators with high impact projects: fund your business concept with government resources 💰 The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit highlights how U.S. government investments support energy innovation and sustainability. ⚠️ The summit showcased projects funded by ARPA-E, which focuses on high-risk, high-potential technologies that are often too risky for private investors. 🏢 Government resources available for startups are categorized into seed, scale, and deploy: 🌱 Seed programs like ARPA-E, DOE’s SBIR/STTR, and FESI provide early-stage funding and support. The Department of Defense also offers funding for near-commercialization projects. 📈 Scale initiatives such as ARPA-E’s SCALEUP, DOE’s OCED, and EERE provide substantial funding for scaling up technologies, including building factories and developing supply chains. 🚀 Deploy: agencies like DOE’s LPO and OTT, and EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund focus on commercializing technologies ready for deployment, offering loans, grants and tax breaks. ⚡️ The DOE offers comprehensive support, especially at the early and late stages of development, but startups in the intermediate phase may face funding challenges. Focus on available “scale” resources and state-level investments to bridge this gap.

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Are New York City’s public transit subsidies fair? Please check out this important new report from the Center for New York City Affairs in partnership with the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy at The New School and the Center for Community Uplift at Brookings. This Robin Hood-funded report reveals racial and economic inequities in the city’s subsidies across its 10 public transit systems—with subsidies for the NYC Ferry disproportionately benefiting higher-income, predominantly White riders. Expanding the Fair Fares program, which provides half-priced fares for low-income riders, would make the system more equitable and benefit working-class New Yorkers of color. As the city finalizes its 2025 budget, expanding #FairFares should be a priority to promote #racialequity and economic mobility for all New Yorkers. Read the report: https://lnkd.in/ePwkkxqf

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Shocking statistic: 92% of all persistently impoverished communities are served by co-ops. 🤯 With 110 on bill financing programs around the country (mostly run by co-ops), the barriers have never been lower to reduce bills. So why are these communities still suffering? Barriers: Accessibility. Education. Capital. Accessibility: Going through an energy audit, sourcing and hosting 3-5 contractors, and filling out loan applications with little support is HARD. Even tougher to go through this process with confidence.... Education: Expertise is hard to come by in co-op territories and delivering it is expensive! Capital: Many on-bill programs still have credit checks, lengthy bill payment criteria, and small loan funds. In other words, to be successful these programs MUST: 1) Reduce the time intensity 2) Educate homeowners -- get them excited to move forward with confidence! 3) Lighter capital requirements and raise bigger loan funds Is there something else that I've missed? A big thank you to Miguel Yañez-Barnuevo (he, his) for penning this paper and for all his effort helping co-ops get access to the capital they need to help their members! ______________ I'm Grant Gunnison Click my name + follow + 🔔 to learn how to get off gas and electrify P.S. If you'd like early access to our platform, repost this! #onbill #batteries #renewables #heatpumps

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I helped work on New York's historic congestion pricing legislation in 2019. Here is why it's good for New Yorkers, good for the climate—and why New York's congestion program must start on June 30. Over her time in office, Governor Hochul has been a steadfast advocate for the implementation of congestion pricing, a vital policy that stands to reduce congestion, alleviate pollution in overburdened communities and provide dedicated financial support to public transportation. The Governor’s decision to postpone this critical policy is incredibly disappointing. It’s imperative we recommit to swift implementation of the 2019 law. After so much work has been done to secure stakeholder support and federal approvals that were years in the making, we must begin this initiative as soon as possible. We know from analysis conducted by the business community and your own transportation agencies that congestion pricing is perfectly compatible with a strong New York economy and affordability agenda. It’s also an important part of New York’s leadership on climate. We also know from examples overseas in cities like London, Milan, Stockholm, and Singapore that congestion pricing can improve air quality, ease commute times and increase affordable and clean travel options for people.

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Have you used DOE's WindExchange website before? https://lnkd.in/eUARRgWz. It provides accessible resources for local decision makers, communities, and individuals to understand the benefits and impacts of wind energy markets, technology, and development. WINDExchange empowers U.S. communities to understand and participate in wind energy siting, permitting, and installation processes. Help us improve the WINDExchange website by filling out a roughly 10-minute, voluntary, anonymous survey by Monday, April 29, 2024: https://lnkd.in/ekFEbDhP.

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Come to hear two big brains on utility policy and EVs. Stay for the optimism and insights on what to expect in the near term. We're entering a pivotal moment in EVs. It's time to deliver on infrastructure promises for all vehicle types. The utilities are the driving force behind the power delivery necessary for this to happen. Two industry leaders, Brian Wilkie and Nadia El Mallakh joined me to talk about EV grid integration. Check it out on YouTube below or your favorite podcast app. Are utilities up to the challenge? What do you think? https://lnkd.in/eSTSFXVE

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As communities eye a clean energy future, does it make sense for utilities to keep investing in gas pipelines at the same rate? What if communities could reduce gas demand enough to avoid otherwise needed upgrades? Or even more ambitious: What if entire neighborhoods could be electrified, allowing aging pipelines to be completely decommissioned, rather than replaced? These are questions that some cities and utilities are asking themselves. Finding alternatives to pipeline investments is still an emerging idea, but enough examples now exist to draw lessons from, RMI's Mike Henchen told me. Those lessons are outlined in a newly released paper that RMI co-published with National Grid. #cleanenergy #gaspipelines #buildingdecarbonization My story for Smart Cities Dive:

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This is an excellent analysis of the challenges facing those who want the economic transition to electrification of the on-road fleet, and away from gasoline and diesel, to happen equitably. This will require breaking down institutional and political barriers that are embedded in our mobility and energy sectors.

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Policymaking is mostly hard—but sometimes it’s not. After years of hard work, clear evidence, and significant equipment installations, simply ‘turning on’ NYC’s congestion pricing program was easy policymaking. In a stunning rebuke, Governor Hochul just made the easy into the hard, “indefinitely pausing” the region’s congestion pricing program. In the process, she’s potentially held back the region and delayed the country’s single most important transportation policy intervention. https://lnkd.in/eyESyv_K   We can all recognize and respect the opposing political forces the Governor felt here: serious consumer inflation; stakeholder complaints in outer boroughs and beyond; concerned business owners in the CBD. Even if you ignore the threats from NJ, the opposition is real.   It's just that the nay’s evidence is no comparison to the yea’s. NYC’s situation is still ideal: - Current drivers have plentiful alternatives. NYC has one of the best regional transit systems in the world, making it time-competitive with the driving and parking. Oh, and the people and truckers who will keep driving? Congestion pricing would make their drive times faster. - Congestion pricing would save drivers money. Drivers could easily switch to transit, leading to actual lower transportation costs for their household. This applies to 4- and 5-day commuters as much as to those who work remotely and only use the CBD a couple days. - Congestion pricing boosts the state and regional economy. The revenues recycle right back into the community via MTA capital investments, leading to better transit service and lower cost burdens in the long run. That's a recipe for a healthier regional economy and a more competitive NYS. - Congestion pricing saves the planet. I get that environmental benefits aren’t likely top of mind for local travelers, so I’m only putting this last as a political ranking. But make no mistake, the policy would be a huge benefit by enabling the region—unlike many metropolitan peers—to actually hit their GHG targets via changing transportation behavior. - Maybe the most important point—the Governor could always have made this call later! The Stockholm experience is well known at this point, but they first tested the program and then made it permanent after people unexpectedly loved it.   One of America’s true global advantages is our federalist system of governance. The “veritable lab of democracy” unlocks experimentation, allowing us to test new ideas and copy what works. In this case, the entire global population already knows congestion pricing works. NYC, the region, and the state were poised to have a first-mover advantage among US peers, while being seen as a leader as other metros follow their path.   All that work may now have been squandered. I don’t agree with the Governor’s calculations today; I’m even more confident she’s held back the country in the process.

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