OFFICIALS FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA came to MIT on Monday to make the case for their seven-year-old tax on carbon, which some lawmakers and clean energy advocates in Massachusetts want to […]
Energy
Posted inEconomy, Environment
National Grid electricity prices to drop
National Grid’s 1 million basic service electricity customers will see their monthly bills drop in May, but rates aren’t returning to the level they were last summer and they will be significantly higher […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Healey comes out strong for renewables
What follows is a copy of Attorney General Maura Healey’s prepared remarks to the NECA Renewables Conference minus her introductory statement. Today, I would like to talk to you about […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Baker backs Patrick’s solar goal
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is committed to the installation of at least 1,600 megawatts of solar energy in Massachusetts by 2020, the governor’s energy chief said Monday. […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cape Wind developer not giving up
CAPE WIND DEVELOPER Jim Gordon spoke at a rally on behalf of Cape Wind on Saturday and insisted his 14-year quest for a wind farm in Nantucket Sound is not […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Baker pushes regional energy approach
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION said on Wednesday it plans to work with utilities in Massachusetts and neighboring states to purchase renewable energy and expand the region’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure. In […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cape Wind developer mum on project
THE DEVELOPER OF the troubled Cape Wind project quoted Mark Twain on Wednesday, saying reports of his death are greatly exaggerated. Â But he had very little to say about efforts […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Should electric ratepayers pay for gas pipelines?
THERE SOON MAY be a new charge on your electric bill for natural gas pipeline construction. The novel idea first surfaced last summer as the six New England states began […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Cape Wind, on life support, deserves better
THE HEADLINES DO NOT look good for the country’s first offshore wind farm. On Jan. 7, National Grid and NSTAR announced that they would be canceling their contracts to buy […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Baker and the MBTA stage management crisis
Paging Harry Truman. The 33rd president delivered one of the most recognizable lines about leadership in American history, so famous that it has become a cliché. “The buck stops here.” If Truman isn’t your […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Power incentives hit $4b
FACED WITH POWER plant closures, New England’s regional power grid operator is paying out an estimated $4 billion in incentives to ensure adequate supplies of electricity three years from now. […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
Don’t raise the gas tax
I HAVE WATCHED with a combination of amusement and amazement as columnists across the ideological spectrum have recently called for a federal gas tax hike. First it was the Washington […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Offshore leases attract little interest
AN AUCTION FOR potential wind farm parcels off the coast of Massachusetts drew little interest on Thursday, as two firms submitted low bids for two areas and no bids were […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Natural gas is a bridge
WHEN VERMONT YANKEE stopped producing electricity for the grid last month, it achieved a major policy goal for advocates of deactivation but it also removed a major clean energy source […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
New gas pipelines can be avoided
LAST WINTER’S NATURAL gas price spikes, and resultant electric rate hikes, continue to be used to justify the push for massive expansion of gas infrastructure. Yet a successful program to […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Haddad files energy bill
A TOP MEMBER of House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s leadership team filed legislation on Friday that calls for expanding the region’s natural gas pipeline capacity, importing more hydroelectricity from Canada, and […]
Posted inEnvironment
The solar disconnect
THE US ENERGY Information Administration says solar power is expensive relative to other types of electricity generation, yet cities, towns, and schools across Massachusetts are finding that solar can save […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Baker taps 3 for energy posts
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Monday filled three key energy and regulatory posts with officials whose backgrounds suggest they are likely to take pro-business positions on most issues. Matthew Beaton, the […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Electricity prices fall
IT’S STILL EARLY in the season, but electricity prices so far haven’t lived up to the hype that this winter will be one of the most expensive ever. ISO New England, […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, The Back Story
A warning on natural gas
JUST MINUTES BEFORE Charlie Baker became governor, the Patrick administration released a $250,000 study suggesting winter electricity prices are likely to remain very high for the next four years and […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
New Bedford facing Cape Wind fallout
THE BLOW DELIVERED by National Grid and NStar to Cape Wind extends to New Bedford’s Marine Commerce Terminal that would have served as the major staging area for construction of […]
Posted inEnvironment
Utilities terminate Cape Wind power contracts
CAPE WIND FACED a potentially crippling blow Tuesday night as the state’s two largest utilities announced they were terminating their contracts to purchase roughly three-quarters of the power output of […]
Posted inEnvironment
Pipeline foes attack natural gas study
Groups opposing the construction of a new natural gas pipeline coming into Massachusetts on Tuesday attacked a draft study suggesting the pipeline is needed, with one critic saying the $250,000 […]
Posted inEnvironment
Is Cape Wind running out of time?
Cape Wind officials, who several months ago were confidently predicting financing for the offshore wind farm would be wrapped up by the end of this year, are now saying they […]