Page 69 - BusinessWest October 12, 2020

Eversource
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Fueling Optimism
There are other components to this clean-energy strategy, said Hunt, listing windpower initiatives — the company is partnering with Orsted, the largest and most successful operator of off- shore wind in the world, to develop up to 4,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity, reducing carbon emissions by millions of tons each year — as well as energy-storage steps that will reduce the need for fossil-fuel-powered gen- eration, while improving power quality and reliability.
These are, of course, part of the company’s own efforts to become car- bon-neutral. As noted, this strategy has a number of components, from divest- ing fossil-fuel plants to offshore wind and solar; from improving efficiency
at its many facilities to making its own fleet of vehicles greener, although much work remains in that realm, as we’ll see.
These efforts, as noted, have put the company more than 90%, and perhaps even 95%, of the way toward its goal
of carbon neutrality. But, as Hunt said, the last mile is traditionally the most difficult, although he believes the goal is attainable.
“We’re a leading energy-efficiency provider. We can reduce our consump-
Events
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tion in the 150 facilities we own and operate in New England be more effi- cient with lighting and energy use, procure more clean-energy resources to power those buildings ... we’re devel- oping that plan; we’re building smarter buildings to get to net-zero-energy for the buildings we operate.”
As for the fleet, there are electric vehicles in that fleet, mostly lighter
“We’re not far off,” he continued. “There’s a lot of research and a lot of investment going into electrification of more heavy-duty vehicles; there will be a day when 18-wheel vehicles are powered electrically and run autonomously.”
Meanwhile, on the gas-business side, the company is working to tighten up its infrastructure, some of it built
also looking into cleaner, more efficient natural-gas options.
“Natural gas is an important bridge to a clean-energy future,” he explained. “Our customers depend on it, and it’s
a cleaner, more cost-effective fuel for home heating and thermal needs than oil or electric. But we’re exploring ways to inject cleaner natural gas — and that might be biogas from agriculture or, further down the road, injecting hydro- gen gas into our natural-gas system
to further offset methane use; we’re exploring those opportunities.”
Powerful Arguments
Returning to the matter of that countdown clock, Hunt said Ever- source has set benchmarks for different points over the next decade, and will be developing a scorecard, as well as an offset strategy, for its quest for car- bon neutrality.
“We’ve got nine years to get there, but in many respects, that’s right around the corner — that’s not far away,” he noted, adding, again, that the goal is ambitious, but reachable.
In short, a utility that has in many ways set the standard when it comes to energy efficiency and clean-energy use is looking to continue that tradition. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
“Natural gas is an important bridge to a clean-energy future,” he explained. “Our customers depend on it, and
it’s a cleaner, more cost-effective fuel for home heating.
”
models, and there are charging facili- ties at all of Eversource’s facilities, he noted. But the heavier trucks, includ- ing those used to restore power when there are outages, are more difficult to convert to electric.
“But we’re looking at innovations, like hybrid vehicles that might be pow- ered by diesel today, but might be pow- ered down while they’re doing work, with the buckets running on electric only,” Hunt said. “When you think about how these vehicles have oper- ated, they’ve had to be on and idling so you can run the power on that arm. Today, we’re investing in hybrid types of vehicles that we can power down.
100 or more years ago and now prone to leaks. And these efforts will grow in scope with the acquisition of Columbia Gas, which operates in Brockton, Law- rence, and Springfield and boasts some 330,000 customers.
“We’ll be making the same kind of investments in upgrading older infra- structure and reducing leaks in the Columbia Gas system,” he noted. “In making the decision to purchase those assets, we assessed all that, and we’re committed to achieving it. It will make our goal of carbon neutrality even more challenging, but we’re up to the challenge.”
Beyond infrastructure, Eversource is
come back, Jensen said, if only because people des- perately want to attend them. “Human nature is interactive; we want to see people, be with people, go to dinner, go on vacation. Most people aren’t home- bodies. People over the summer couldn’t wait to go to the beach or go camping. You couldn’t buy a kayak.”
In the same way, “I think live events will come back massively once we get through this pandemic
Tech
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al STEM Careers Symposium.” Hosted by the STEM Starter Academy at STCC, this event features UMass Amherst professors and STEM industry leaders who will participate in an interactive symposium on STEM pathways and careers.
• Friday, Oct. 23, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: Dell Technologies will host a webinar about employees’ experience with the company.
STEM Week will also feature record-
Lending
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as an example. Between half and two- thirds of PeoplesBank employees are still working remotely, a trend being reflected across all geographic regions and business sectors.
As a result, “nobody really knows what’s going to happen with the office
ed presentations featuring faculty in specific STEM programs. The following are planned:
• Physics: “The Science of Sports and the Engineering Behind Sports Equipment.”
• Engineering: “Computer Applica- tion in Engineering”.
• Optics and Photonics: “What is Optics & Photonics?”
• Math: “The Mathematics Behind Bin Packing.”
• Manufacturing: “Extreme Preci- sion: Splitting Hairs on a CNC Machine
segment of the market, with so many people working from home. Will they go back at some point? Will companies decide they don’t need so much space, or does social distancing mean you have fewer people but still need more space? It’s a total unknown for us.”
It’s unfortunate that some indus-
and Measuring Them in the Metrology Lab,” and a video created at Governors America Corp., an electronics manu- facturer in Agawam.
• Robotics: A demonstration of a Fanuc robot functioning as a pill sorter with programmable logic controllers.
• Computers/IT: “What is Computer Systems Engineering Technology?”
While there is a concentration of events planned for STEM Week, STCC offers STEM-themed discussion and presentation for students and the
tries, like restaurants, will likely see a slower return to health, O’Connor said, “but it’s good to see customer con- fidence in some areas coming back, even a little bit sooner than we would have expected.”
Miles agreed. “We’re very happy with what we’re seeing right now. It’s
And events will
and the comfort level comes back up.”
In fact, Jensen predicts bottlenecks as venues book
up quickly once they get the go-ahead from the CDC and state officials. “I think it’s going to be the end of ’21 into ’22 when events pick up fully. We’re a couple years out from full recovery. But people will be eager to plan these things.”
Zaskey agreed. “It’s still very, very tough, and it’s going to be tough for a long time,” he said, but he looks back to 9/11 for a possible parallel. Events suf-
fered mightily after that tragedy as well, but 2002 through 2004 were Zasco’s biggest growth years.
“People wanted to get back to live events. And I think the same thing will happen when the pandemic is over. Getting to that point is the challenge.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
public throughout the year. In early October, STCC STEM Starter Academy joined students and researchers from UMass Amherst, Florida International University, and other universities and organizations from across the globe as part of the International Assoc. for the Study of the Commons (IASC) Global Symposium on Commons Without Borders: Global Multiscale Ecosystem Frameworks. A playlist of the sympo- sium’s presentations is available on STCC’s YouTube channel. u
not behind us, but it’s not as bad as people anticipated. If activity is picking up and people are borrowing, they’re confident, which is good.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
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