Jamie Dickerson
jamiedickerson.bsky.social
Jamie Dickerson
@jamiedickerson.bsky.social
Senior Director w/ Acadia Center. Formerly NYSERDA-fied. Climate policy and strategy. Posts and opinions are my own.
November 14, 2025 at 10:53 PM
@kevinjkircher.com @roselund.bsky.social here’s what an optimized renewable mix looks like for New England in 2050, from @acadiacenter.bsky.social’s analysis last year. See part 1 of our report here:

acadiacenter.org/resource/the...

Electrification drives major RE buildout needs.
October 19, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Yes! Thanks for flagging the results from the EPCET study. Its results came out late in the cycle for our report to directly compare, but another interesting data point. Key Qs: how much did they look at EE/DR; & do SNG numbers factor in RE needs for electrolysis and DAC. Still have to read closer!
December 7, 2024 at 1:53 PM
That’s my starting five. How about yours?

Join @acadiacenter.bsky.social and CATF tomorrow to hear more (seriously) about the evolving grid mix for New England and what it means for infrastructure siting, permitting, and community engagement. See you there!

us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
December 4, 2024 at 9:49 PM
5. Center: ENERGY STORAGE 🔋. Duties and attributes include: i) Rebound effectively; ii) Defend the rim and block shots; iii) Create possessions and opportunities to score.
December 4, 2024 at 9:45 PM
4. Power Forward: OFFSHORE WIND and Other Large-Scale Renewables 🌬️. Duties and attributes include: i) Larger physical size; ii) Often the most powerful and dependable scorer; iii) Able to dominate the post and the paint.
December 4, 2024 at 9:44 PM
3. Small Forward: Distributed SOLAR and Other Distributed Energy Resources (DER) ☀️. Duties and attributes include: i) Strong two-way player; ii) Big impact despite smaller stature; iii) High versatility, quick and nimble.
December 4, 2024 at 9:43 PM
2. Shooting Guard: ENERGY EFFICIENCY 💡. Duties and attributes include: i) Score points with high efficiency; ii) Provide consistent, reliable production; iii) Space the floor, find open spaces; iv) Have the hot hand.
December 4, 2024 at 9:43 PM
1. Point Guard: TRANSMISSION 🔌. Duties and attributes include: i) Make assists, create shots for teammates; ii) Handle the ball, pass it around swiftly; iii) Dictate the flow of energy, control the pace of play; iv) Low turnovers.
December 4, 2024 at 9:42 PM
Here’s my "starting five" of the energy transition, i.e. the five starting positions in basketball. The tie-in is that 'The Energy is About to Shift' is of course the moniker coined by the Boston Celtics's shooting guard (and NBA Finals MVP!) Jaylen Brown. Drop your quibbles in the comments! 👇
December 4, 2024 at 9:42 PM
That’s a wrap! Stay tuned for more on the implications of this build-out, both re: energy system planning as well as for how New England must approach siting, permitting, and community engagement. @acadiacenter.bsky.social

THE ENERGY IS ABOUT TO SHIFT: acadiacenter.org/new-report-f...

(11/11)
New report finds that improved community engagement for clean infrastructure projects is critical to New England’s energy transition - Acadia Center
Download the Press Release: EATS Report Press Release Full Report: The Energy is About to Shift Media Contacts: Samantha Beairsto Deputy Director, Communications and Development, Acadia Center sbeairs...
acadiacenter.org
November 27, 2024 at 1:56 PM
Finally, the bigger #interregional #transmission context: most studies only contained limited information on transmission capacity additions as well as net imports into the region. Check out more on our cross-border work via the NGPF project: acadiacenter.org/resource/the...

(10/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:53 PM
On #solar, the studies envision tremendous further growth in the region by 2050. Models prefer the cheaper utility-scale solar by ~3:1, but as our report details, it's an open question whether siting realities on the ground will bring forth a greater share of smaller distributed solar.

(9/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:51 PM
That brings us back to supply mixes for New England. Here’s how the studies aligned on capacity deployments, annual generation totals, and capacity factor. Note the tradeoffs within the study on combustion resources (amount left online by 2050 vs. annual run-time):

(8/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:50 PM
That’s one big overall takeaway: we should work to increase models’ attention to energy efficiency, flexible loads, demand response, price-responsive demand, etc. There are other emerging areas too: #GETs, #advancedconductors; #longdurationstorage; interregional transfers, and beyond.

(7/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:49 PM
Something we noticed along the way: the level of rigor around input assumptions for projected increases in #demand is quite low relative to the #supply side. Many models included only rough/static assumptions; others included no information at all on, e.g., building shell #efficiency.

(6/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:47 PM
…and for increases to annual load for the region. We also unpacked the differing drivers for each: winter peaks driven primarily by #heatpumps, and annual load growth driven primarily by #electricvehicles.

(5/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:44 PM
But of course, the region’s supply mix is modeled in response to assumptions around growing demand, both for increases first in peak demand, which is projected to shift from summer to winter in the 2030s (note comparison to findings in ISO-NE’s 2050 Transmission Study) …

(4/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:42 PM
To answer that question, we looked at 5 recent studies modeling the evolution of the New England grid under net zero by 2050 scenarios. Short answer: potentially quite a lot (of stuff)! Led by new #solar, #wind, and #storage capacity, plus #transmission.

(3/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:40 PM
Our report is about #siting, #permitting, and #communityengagement around clean infrastructure (solar , wind, storage, transmission, grid infrastructure, etc.) in New England, so we started out by asking ‘roughly how much stuff are we going to need to build?’ Here's a preview:

(2/x)
November 27, 2024 at 1:38 PM