ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY on Thursday sought to delay action on a bid by Eversource Energy to tap its electric ratepayers for money to finance a natural gas pipeline expansion […]
Electricity
Posted inEnvironment
Moody’s raises concerns in wake of power auction
MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE on Tuesday issued a negative outlook for the region’s power generators in the wake of a very successful auction held last week to secure electricity supplies for […]
Posted inEnvironment
Auction yields plenty of power for 2019-2020
NEW ENGLAND POWER GRID OFFICIALS appear to be having little problem meeting future electricity demand, but most of the new power plants coming on line run primarily on natural gas, […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Cape Wind mounting comeback
CAPE WIND, the controversial Nantucket Sound wind farm given up for dead last year when it lost a lucrative pair of utility contracts, is trying to mount a comeback. Jim […]
Posted inUncategorized
Supreme Court upholds demand-response payments
THE US SUPREME COURT ruled 6-2 on Monday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the authority to pay major consumers of electricity for commitments to use less power during […]
Posted inEnvironment
Eversource, Grid submit gas pipeline contracts to DPU
THE STATE’S TWO MAJOR ELECTRIC UTILITIES are asking state regulators to approve contracts they have negotiated on behalf of their customers to purchase access to proposed natural gas pipelines. National […]
Posted inEnvironment
Politics behind the plug
THERE IS A PATTERN that runs through the energy debate on Beacon Hill. The Baker administration wants to bring new natural gas pipelines into the region; utilities are tasked with […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Enviro groups appeal DPU exclusion
SEVERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOLAR GROUPS are appealing a decision by a Department of Public Utilities hearing officer denying them full intervenor status in a rate case filed by National Grid. […]
Posted inOpinion
Clean energy industry: Job numbers solid
By Emily Reichert The December 3, 2015 article “Do clean energy jobs add up?” in Commonwealth Magazine raises questions about the methodology of counting jobs in Massachusetts in the annual report on […]
Posted inUncategorized
Grid operator confident about this winter
THE POWER GRID OPERATOR IN NEW ENGLAND said it expects to have sufficient supplies of electricity this winter despite concerns about the inadequate capacity of natural gas pipelines coming into […]
Posted inOpinion, Uncategorized
Net metering is not a subsidy
CONTRARY TO UTILITY ASSERTIONS, net metering is not a subsidy. It’s mechanism that allows solar owners to receive credit, similar to rollover minutes on a cell phone plan, for power […]
Posted inEnvironment
Lawmakers go home, turn lights out on solar bill
THE HOUSE AND SENATE failed to agree on net metering legislation Wednesday night and recessed until next year, leaving the state’s fast-growing solar industry stalled in a regulatory limbo. Solar […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey study: No new pipelines needed
A STUDY COMMISSIONED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY indicates new natural gas pipelines are not needed because the region’s power grid will face no “reliability deficiency” through 2030. Even with […]
Posted inEnvironment
House passes solar bill; Senate leader hopeful
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE voted 150-2 on Tuesday in favor of a solar power bill that is very different from what the Senate passed in June, yet the Senate’s energy expert […]
Posted inUncategorized
Solar advocates slam House net metering bill
THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE unveiled a solar power bill Monday night that would temporarily lift the cap on a key incentive but then rein in costs associated with […]
Posted inUncategorized
Quebec premier pitches baseload hydro power
(A correction has been added to this story.) QUEBEC PREMIER PHILIPPE COUILLARD came to Boston on Friday to pitch hydro-electricity from his province as a source of baseload power for […]
Posted inOpinion
Lift net metering cap, help low-income communities
What follows is a letter sent to state leaders on Wednesday by a large number of religious leaders, community groups, and academics. AS COMMUNITY LEADERS, religious and spiritual leaders, community […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Q&A: Sorting out solar
It seems like solar power was going great guns under former governor Deval Patrick, but now everyone is fighting about it. What’s going on? Solar did do phenomenally well under […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
More natural gas, not LNG, is the answer
AS NEW ENGLAND PREPARES for another winter, there is a growing consensus among energy policy makers in New England that more natural gas is needed to mitigate the high cost […]
Posted inEnvironment
Pilgrim shifts Beacon Hill energy debate
THE LOOMING SHUTDOWN of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth is quickly transforming the debate about energy on Beacon Hill, moving it out of the policy-wonk arena and into the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
It’s time for a clean energy two-fer
MASSACHUSETTS ELECTRICITY COSTS were well above the national average in 2014 for households and businesses, according to federal data. After paying $3 billion in excess electric costs in the winter […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Mass. once again playing catchup on energy
RIGHT NOW, IT SEEMS LIKE Massachusetts remains on the slow boat to natural gas pipeline expansion, which is impacting prices for customers and reliability for power generators. The region needs […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Baker opposes lifting net metering cap
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION, siding with electric utilities over solar developers and environmental groups, is recommending no expansion of a key state solar subsidy until a more cost-effective program to harness […]
Posted inEnvironment
Don’t rely on foreign LNG
IT WAS JUST PAST MIDNIGHT during the winter of 2013. Winter Storm Nemo was barreling down on our region with fierce intensity, and demand for heat and electrical power strained […]
