The road to making the Island 100 percent renewable

An MVC report shows how the Island can achieve a fully renewable energy supply by 2040.

By
Daniel Greenman
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40

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) has released a new “Getting to 100 Percent Renewable” report, showing how the Vineyard can reach its goal of all-renewable energy use by 2040.

The report focuses on changes in the Vineyard’s power supply, transportation, buildings, and more.

The renewables goal comes from a nonbinding resolution passed by all six towns to reach 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, and 100 percent by 2040, in line with state goals requiring decarbonization in all sectors by 2050.

MVC regional energy planner Kate Warner says hitting the mark will be a challenge. “We’re really in a paradigm shift here, where we’re trying as a society, or as a population, to move away from burning fossil fuels,” she told The Times. “Well, that’s a huge step, right? It’s like when we switched from the horse-drawn carriage to the combustion engine.”

The Vineyard’s goals will largely depend on the New England electrical grid, which supplies the Island’s power. Massachusetts plans to generate the equivalent of around two-thirds of its total energy demand from offshore wind by 2040.

Currently, the Vineyard receives power from the grid via four undersea cables. But by 2025 — the report’s earliest major benchmark — one of these cables will be replaced, and a fifth will be added.

This will allow the Vineyard to connect more solar power arrays to the grid, says the report, but it is also needed to meet changes in the Island’s energy demand. The Vineyard’s electricity use has risen 17 percent in the past 10 years, and a four-cable setup no longer meets peak power demand in the summer. The Island’s population has also increased since COVID. “More people moved here, and people’s daily behavior changed radically,” Warner says.

In 2050, these five cables will be able to provide 140 percent of the Vineyard’s estimated power demand. They will also allow Eversource, the Island’s power distributor, to decommission the diesel generators it uses on-Island.

Improving existing buildings is also key to the 2040 target. As of 2023, the Vineyard had 19,275 houses and 2,016 nonresidential buildings. These will need to transition to renewables, as around a third of the Vineyard’s energy use is currently for heating, and around a quarter is for electricity, according to the MVC.

The five cables will allow the Vineyard to switch to renewable energy for heating, by using energy-efficient heat pumps. “Heat pumps are currently the most efficient way to heat, cool, and dehumidify our houses,” the report reads.

At the town level, newer municipal buildings are being built as all-electric. Aquinnah, though the Island’s least populous town, is leading all towns in building energy efficiency and resiliency, according to the report. Aquinnah has adopted the Specialized Code, the most energy-efficient of Massachusetts’ three building codes. All other towns use the Stretch Code, the middle level of the three. Aquinnah and Chilmark are also designing microgrids for their town centers, which will provide extra power in the event of an emergency.

After heating and electricity, transportation makes up the remaining 45 percent of the Vineyard’s energy use. Around a third of this transportation is fueled by gasoline, and the rest comes from diesel and aviation fuel.

The Steamship Authority makes up 14 percent of the Vineyard’s transportation emissions. To reach the state’s goal of reducing emissions, the Steamship will need to switch to electric ferries, which will require onshore electrical infrastructure to charge vessels in the port. The report notes that funding these changes will be a challenge, as the Steamship currently doesn’t receive state funding, while other ferry operators are connected to their state’s Department of Transportation. “[The Steamship] may need to consider this option,” states the report. The MVC also encourages citizens to tell the Steamship that they support the transition to electric ferries.

For air travel, the MVC states that Cape Air intends to acquire 75 nine-seat Eviation Alice aircraft. These planes use electric propulsion on routes of under 250 miles. The Vineyard will still rely on major companies to reduce aviation emissions.

“It is anticipated that there will be a gradual shift toward better fuel efficiency for commercial and private jets,” the report reads.

On the ground, the Vineyard’s towns have committed to all-electric municipal vehicles and to having electric rental cars. The Vineyard Transit Authority is set to electrify its fleet of 32 buses by 2028, and Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools has electrified two of its 25 buses. The school district is pursuing a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to secure more electric buses. The MVC also calls for more people to take public transit, and for a more biker-friendly Vineyard.

For people who need to drive off-Island, the MVC recommends plug-in hybrids. “A 50-mile battery range will get most places on M.V.; the combustion engine can be used for longer trips,” the report reads.

Warner hopes that Vineyarders will read the report, available on the MVC website. “I hope it’s really helpful for people to understand where things are now, so that then they can be … informed contributors to how we can reach our 100 percent renewable goal.”

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40 COMMENTS

  2. Most of this article is nonsense but the electric rental cars is the most out of touch of all the proposals. Hertz just fired it’s CEO for losing $25 Million betting on electric cars. No one wants them, certainly not on vacation where you aren’t familiar with where the charging stations are located. EV’s are by no means the future, certainly not in this country where most auto manufacturers are all but eliminating them from their inventory.

    • Don’t you get tired of 24/7 naysaying? We spent 10 days in Florida last month. At the airport Budget gave us the choice of renting a gas or electric car. We chose a Hyundai Kona EV and could not have been happier. There was a charging station where we stayed, but given that the battery capacity was over 300 miles, we’d have managed just fine without one.

      Currently, I’m looking at a new RAV4 Prime plug-in to replace the trusty old 2003 Tacoma double-cab that I’ve put 190,000 miles on. I’ll miss having a pickup, but automatic braking should more than make up for it.

    • Totally agree John. As expected the government started pushing EV decades before any of the infrastructure to support them had been created.
      They also don’t mention that the lithium used to power the cars requires an extremely unfriendly method of extraction and is sourced from countries
      that hate us. Throw the startup costs of $50k, thousand dollar home charging cost plus fact if an EV goes on fire it can not be extinguished by standard methods. Finally, the charging station used to offer two charges at once uses more
      Ethanol then the engine car they were hoping to
      eliminate. This is not to say EV’s won’t be a great option in 10+ years once the infrastructure is in place. Typical government planning I’m afraid.

    • “Fully-electric vehicles (BEVs) had 8.1% market share in Q4 2023. This is a new all-time record. One year prior in Q4 2022, EV market share was 6.5%”.

      “1,189,051 electric vehicles were sold in the United States in 2023, the first time the figure has exceeded one million.”

      There are no manufacturers selling over 60,000 cars a year that do sell EVs. Two sell no ICE.
      EV market share continues to expand by double digit increases.
      What do you seeing happening to stop this? Trump couldn’t.

    • John, Here is a quote regarding the Hertz cars:
      Without building any charging infrastructure at its rental locations, Hertz may have hurt its own business.
      “They don’t want to go 20 minutes out of their way at five in the morning to find a charging station,” Ives said.
      https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/business/hertz-ceo-departure-ev/index.html
      And in regard to your statement that, “EVs are by no means the future,” that isn’t what the data shows.
      On the ground, the Vineyard’s towns have committed to all-electric municipal vehicles and to having electric rental cars. The Vineyard Transit Authority is set to electrify its fleet of 32 buses by 2028, and Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools has electrified two of its 25 buses. The school district is pursuing a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to secure more electric buses.
      https://fortune.com/2023/09/08/electric-vehicles-new-car-sales-in-california-now-22-percent-rest-us-following-path/
      There are over 40 models of EV cars available for purchase in the US, maybe there’s one in the mix that looks good to you:
      https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/every-ev-available-ranked-by-range/

      • EVs are useful for some situations and not others.
        A municipal or school bus system is a good bet for EVs.
        Many people have them as second cars.
        But for huge numbers of drivers and driving situations they are not going to work.
        And the fire danger is real.
        It is best to have realistic expectations.
        My favorite car guys tell me to get a hybrid, not an EV.
        If I rent a car to drive up to Maine or down to NYC, I will take an ICE, not an EV.

  3. Not gonna happen. Too expensive and too inconvenient and people are souring on EV so the trajectory of growth will flatten. The Hertz write down was actually 245 million on EV’s.

    • Interesting prediction. What is it based on? The history of the growth in in EV’s.
      The improvements in ICE technology?
      Hydrogen?
      Is it a waste of money for airline industry to chase that dream.
      What is your data set proving the the souring on EV’s?
      When will the flatten start.
      Hard numbers please.

      • Hess, I said the pace of growth is slowing. Please read carefully. Why would it slow Hess? Got to be some reason. Is it because our economy is not good but people like you say its great. People are finding out the cons of EV’s that is all. As for Mary Hansen below, I have an electric bike and I love it but I bought it because I am 80 last week. I drive a lot, I dont want to charge every 400 miles. I sometimes do 800 miles in one day. Besides I want to idle my car just to annoy Keller. But mostly I am not concerned about climate.

        • Andrew, At 80 I guess you’ve earned the right to not be concerned about the climate. And sometimes do you make counter arguments only to counter Keller? It’s hard to see humor through the written word, but I have to see the humor in it!

        • andy– you are the quintessential example of why your
          grandchildren are going to live a life that is going to be
          much harder than yours. And I can’t tell you how ironic
          I find it that you love your bike, after decades of criticizing
          me for riding my bike— And of course, you couldn’t
          care less about children in a parking lot breathing the
          carcinogenic exhaust from your ice vehicle.
          But I get it– you are willing to cause irreparable harm to the lungs of children and the climate of the planet just to annoy me.
          You also seem to want to help raise the price of gas through increased demand, of course. That might annoy other people other than me you know.. I after all would like to see the price of gas at $20 a gallon.

        • Happy birthday, Andrew! If I could have afforded it I would have bought a Hummer and let it idle in my driveway, just to annoy my neighbors who were credential-less climate cultists– when they weren’t building McLookAtMyBigStuff or jetting off to somewhere to tell fellow cultists how much toilet paper to use. Save the trees!

          • Thank you Jackie . I wish I could communicate with you on the Israel question. So much stuff in National
            Review, Claremont Review and Jerusalem Post. We do Shabbat this friday

    • Andrew, there are lots of people anxious to buy electric cars. And electric bikes. Everybody I know is buying an electric bike. The infrastructure for EVs is finally catching up and chargers are everywhere. The 2023 Lucid Air has a range of 516 miles. That’s impessive!

      • The price of the 2023 Lucid Motors Air starts at $88,900 and goes up to $250,500 depending on the trim and options.

        • John, the 2024 Lucid electric car starts at $69,900. It feels a bit, oh, I don’t know, that you use last year’s numbers to make it look like something it isn’t.

      • Feel good eco-cultists who lecture on how people SHOULD spend their money is not impressive. Mopeds have always been a big hit (pun intended) on the island. E-bikes could do as well on sandy roads, especially up-island in the summer. Everyone you know is buying an e-bike? Everyone? Have you ever spent time on the Vineyard, Mary?

    • Not only that but the used market for EV’s is flopping. https://www.ft.com/content/d8ffbdd9-3aa0-4048-b23a-f22095083714
      The used market is becomin” financially unsustainable “ and the amount of people who are turning their vehicles in after three years of leasing is only going to make it worse. Buying a used EV you have to account for the financing of a new battery which is in excess of 10k. And now that the incentives are gone the people who need a new car are going back to cheaper ice vehicles. That’s coming directly from the dealers. This very expensive experiment has run its course.

      A little off topic but have you seen the amount of energy that the AI tech is going to use. They are actually building their own natural gas power plants. Shaking my head.

      • Carl– The average lifespan of a us made ice vehicle is 133,000
        miles. All evs have at least a 100,000 mile warranty on the
        battery. Some, like Tesla offer 150,000 miles at 70 % retention.
        That means that if your new tesla could get 350 miles on a charge
        you 8 year old 150,000 mile battery will still get 245 miles on a
        charge. And, if you happen to have solar for your house, your
        used battery can be incorporated into your home power system
        used for solar and last for decades, at which point the minerals
        can be recycled. It’s not as bad as you think.
        But if you want to go a little off topic ;
        “Bitcoin alone is estimated to consume 127 terawatt-hours (TWh) a year — more than many countries, including Norway. In the United States, cryptocurrency activity is estimated to emit from 25 to 50 million tons of CO2 each year, on par with the annual emissions from diesel fuel used by US railroads.Jan 30, 2023”

        • That a crazy amount of energy being used for another scam. I atgue with my kids that invest in something that high can see, feel, touch or consume. Anything else and you’re on the hook. But bottom line is we are outpacing our need for energy and is clear to renewables alone are not going to cut it.

    • Martha, You’re right! Let’s go back to the old days. Let’s forget about clothes dryers and hang our clothes to dry. Isn’t it beautiful to see a clothes line filled with laundry? Maybe we could have an artists exhibition where each artist depicts laundry blowing in the breeze!

      • Mary– Some people think that light bulbs that
        use 90% less electricity deserve a “pox”
        whatever that means. Trying to convince them
        to not use a dryer is enough to get you labeled an
        extremist. I have a rack that can take a full load of
        laundry ( on the large setting). It’s not a big deal to
        put clothes on it, and I keep in in a corner of
        my bedroom. I have not used the dryer in at least 6 years.
        It’s not difficult. Depending on the spin cycle of the
        washer, a dryer uses about 50 cents to a dollar worth of
        electricity.

      • To Martha, riding a bicycle would make more sense than riding a horse – more efficiency, less upkeep, little to no mess. To Mary, my friend and former neighbor Jill D. White has published just such a delightful compendium of laundry photos: Life On The Line, a Collection; 2023, Pluto Paced Press. Available at Olive Branch Fair Trade in Vineyard Haven, and on Amazon.

  5. Phase Change Material is an awesome technology that many people have never heard of.
    It works like ice in a drink–the drink stays at 32 degrees until the ice has melted before it heats up. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) can be custom designed to hold temperatures at the customer’s chosen temperature. Obviously, it would be best if buildings were designed with the PCMs integrated into the design, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying the benefits of PCMs. You can purchase PCMs and put them into your current home in unique ways, such as a storage ottoman that sits near a sunny window. Why would you put PCMs into your home? It keeps the room at your custom designed temperature for longer. It smooths the temperature shift in the room, which for most people translates into more comfort. It’s pretty cool! Give it a try!
    https://insolcorp.com/

  6. Grid connected power is the past. Each home should be energy independent.

    Anna Edey was kind enough to outline the cost of going solar for her own situation:
    “Here’s my own plan for going 100% solar, and thus go totally grid/propane/oil/gasoline-free.
    This will require 48 PV panels @ 400 watts /panel (a 19 kW PV system, a 19,000-watt array, requiring 1008 sq.ft.), and 80 kWh of battery storage – enough to keep everything running even through extended cloudy conditions, including 2 Nissan Leaf EV cars.
    The entire 19-kW PV array kit, including 48 PV panels, inverters, cables etc, costs $44,000, with free shipping. Only $44,000 for all the materials!
    It will produce 15,000 kWh annually, which is worth $7650 at today rate of $0.51/kWh.
    By no longer paying for grid electricity, propane or fuel and upkeep of 2 gasoline cars, I will save at least $16,000 annually. That’s enough to pay off the loan AND leave me several thousands in profits, increasing as the cost of gasoline, heating fuel, and grid electricity will inevitably keep rising.”
    Thanks Anna for this fine example! You would pay off your system in two years and nine months. Awesome!!! This is the future! Everyone who can, should exit the grid.

    The above article says:
    “Currently, the Vineyard receives power from the grid via four undersea cables. But by 2025 — the report’s earliest major benchmark — one of these cables will be replaced, and a fifth will be added.”
    I contend that instead of adding a fifth cable that we follow Anna’s idea of adding an island solar panel project:
    “the cost of all materials for a complete 170,000-PV-panel + battery storage system would be roughly $160,000,000 (maybe much less because of scaling).
    Let’s double that to include installation: maybe $320,000,000 total installed?
    Financed over 20 years @ 6%, the financing would cost $27,648,000/year.
    Each panel would generate 366 kWh/year – yes, on the Vineyard!
    Thus, 170,000 PV panels would generate 62,220,000 kWh/year, which @ $0.51/kWh is currently worth $31,732,200, which will increase as the cost of grid electricity keeps rising.
    With $27,648,000 financing cost and $31,732,200 value of the electricity, this PV system would actually yield a first-year profit of $4,084,200.”

    Let’s place emphasis on the $4,084,200 PROFIT.

  7. Kate Warner, this article is suggesting that hybrid cars would be better than electric cars for people who need to travel off-Island. Please, please adjust your advice! The Lucid has a 516-mile range! Most gasoline cars have less range. Many of the 2024 electric cars have around 300 miles of range. Charging stations are abundant. EVERYONE should be buying fully electric cars.

    • Mary, not sure if you saw my post about tax rebates and having to apologize to you for being wrong. I miss read the incentive as one time. Thanks for calling me out on it and my apologies for my post to you. I’ll try and do better.

  8. Great point about AI and energy consumption, Carl. Just one more reason to be incredibly wary of the AI boom.

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