The state agency tasked with turbocharging the state’s green economy laid off 11 employees, citing a “challenging funding landscape” amid federal headwinds.
Clean Energy
Posted inEnergy
In New Bedford, Healey celebrates completion of Vineyard Wind project as the company faces financial disputes
Gov. Maura Healey along with Massachusetts labor and energy leaders celebrated the completion of the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, which concluded construction in March. She touted its benefits while shrugging off the wind development company’s recent financial disputes that have made headlines and threatened the project.
Posted inOpinion
Mass. environmentalists have lost the plot on energy affordability
People can want offshore wind, solar, storage, hydro, geothermal, efficiency, and new technology – while also supporting natural gas as an affordable and reliable bridge to that transition.
Posted inEnergy
Massachusetts kicks off big bet on battery storage
The four projects selected, out of 13 total bids, will create 1,268 MW of storage capacity, though that’s shy of the 1,500 MW the state and utilities had sought to solicit in this round of bids.
Posted inEnergy
House punts on sweeping energy bill that would dial back state climate commitments
After intense blowback to a draft House bill to weaken the state’s 2030 clean energy target, the chamber’s budget chief says the topic is on hold until next year.
Posted inOpinion
In the fight for a more sustainable future, we can’t afford to leave underserved communities behindÂ
Since Massachusetts wants to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, we can’t afford to leave any homeowners behind in pursuing clean energy improvements.
Posted inState House News Service
Mass. legislators visited Canadian renewable power operations
The trip comes as state energy policies shaped through a series of clean energy laws are suddenly at odds with the new direction of federal energy policy under President Donald Trump.
Posted inEnergy
Setting the record straight on energy storage and clean energy costs
Mass. Fiscal Alliance’s recent critique of the state’s pending clean energy legislation regarding battery storage procurement is heavy on alarmism and light on accuracy. The conversation around costs and benefits must be rooted in facts—not misinformation and back-of-the-envelope calculations designed to undermine progress.
Posted inOpinion
Look around, barriers to clean energy development not hard to find
A healthy regulatory environment — one in which the state and utilities are open to honest discussion about balancing long-term projects and consumer costs — attracts capital investment that fuels infrastructure development. Thus far, Massachusetts is sending a positive signal to the market that stands in contrast to its neighbors.
Posted inEnergy
Somerset files criminal complaint against town’s largest land owner
The town of Somerset is pursuing a criminal complaint – and more than $3 million in fines – in connection with a zoning dispute involving the company that owns Brayton […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government
Is Mass. eyeing out-of-state nuke, wind power for clean energy?Â
THE CLIMATE AND ENERGY bill sitting on the governor’s desk contains two policy sections that could open the door to clean energy procurements involving onshore wind from Maine and nuclear […]
Posted inOpinion
Cities can clean up the transportation sector
TRANSPORTATION IS THE largest source of carbon pollution in the Commonwealth, producing 40 percent of climate-disrupting greenhouse gas emissions. Cities and towns can play an important role in leading the […]
Posted inOpinion
Electricity trick or treat?
Well-intentioned law has been corrupted by con men BY DANIEL STEVENS AS SUMMER SWINGS into high gear, our electric bills do, too. Modern life dictates that we need power to […]
Posted inOpinion
With more control, communities choose clean energy
ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS, COMMUNITIES are taking control over where their energy comes from. By leveraging local bulk purchasing power, more than 100 towns and cities in the Bay State have increased […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker hits some turbulence
Suddenly, Gov. Charlie Baker doesn’t seem so invulnerable. He may still be the most popular governor in the country, but over the last few weeks Baker has hit some serious […]
Posted inOpinion
A question of access: Shifting the transportation conversation
TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY matters to everyone who commutes, travels, or runs errands on a daily basis, and these everyday trips create a sense that we are all experts on transportation. […]
Posted inEconomy
How now cow power?
IN A RURAL valley south of Deerfield, power lines strung on new poles run along a stretch of muddy gravel between the main road and the interior of Bar-Way Farm, […]
Posted inOpinion
More pipelines aren’t the answer
NEW ENGLAND IS in the clutches of a frigid winter. This is putting demands on our energy resources and driving up electricity prices during the few hours of the day […]
Posted inOpinion
Time to revisit the need for more gas pipelines
NEW ENGLAND’S GOVERNORS, who for years called for increasing the delivery capacity of natural gas into the region, have largely gone silent. Today, the region is seeing the consequences with […]
Posted inOpinion
Businesses want stronger clean energy mandates
FOR CENTURIES, MASSACHUSETTS has been a national hub for innovation. With cutting edge academic institutions, a superb health care sector, and a thriving real estate market, the commonwealth is an […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. citizens point the way on climate change
WE LIVE IN a time when the way we power our lives is literally putting our survival at stake. We’re seeing an increase in deadly natural disasters, glaciers melting at […]
Posted inEnvironment
Northern Pass hits another obstacle
THE TROUBLED NORTHERN PASS power line project was dealt another blow as the federal Environmental Protection Agency called for an additional 40-mile stretch of the transmission line to be buried […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cities and states must take lead on climate change
CLIMATE CHANGE CREATES risks that scientists have been warning about for decades. Fortunately, many actions that reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change and hedge against longer-term risks […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Clean power will cost more
The push to add clean power resources to the region’s energy mix is going to drive up electricity prices, at least in the short term. Clean energy advocates have hinted that the state […]
