A REPORT COMMISSIONED by SouthCoast Wind indicates the cost of building and operating US offshore wind farms has risen by more than 20 percent since 2019, suggesting the Massachusetts procurement […]
Energy
Posted inEnergy, Environment
SouthCoast Wind pulling out of its wind farm deal
A clarification has been added to this story. SOUTHCOAST WIND said on Monday that it is moving to terminate its existing offshore wind contracts with Massachusetts and hoping to rebid […]
Posted inEnergy
Eversource exiting offshore wind business
EVERSOURCE, New England’s largest utility, said on Thursday that it plans to exit the offshore wind business and write down the value of its holdings by $220 million to $280 […]
Posted inEnergy
Vineyard Wind components arrive in New Bedford
THE NATION’S fledgling offshore wind industry took a very visible step forward on Thursday as a ship from Portugal delivered components for the first US industrial-scale wind farm to the […]
Posted inEnergy
Healey seeking $250m for grid upgrades
THE HEALEY ADMINISTRATION announced on Monday that it has filed an application for $250 million in federal matching funds to help build connections to the power grid in Massachusetts for […]
Posted inOpinion
Ocean grid key to explosive offshore wind growth
OFFSHORE WIND could be as beneficial to Massachusetts economy as life sciences, but not without transmission infrastructure to scale the industry. The life science sector grew by over 60,000 jobs […]
Posted inOpinion
Weymouth compressor fight has implications for Pilgrim
IN THE 1940s, the Fore River Basin of Weymouth, Quincy, and Braintree was home to major factories, supplied hundreds of good paying jobs, and set the stage to create the […]
Posted inEnergy
Avangrid CEO mentions default on wind farm deal
THE CEO of Avangrid told financial analysts on Wednesday that his company has defaulted on a provision in its offshore wind power purchase agreement with three Massachusetts utilities. It’s not […]
Posted inOpinion
We see promise in geothermal heating and cooling
CLIMATE CHANGE is real. Also real is that each of us can act. We are at a critical moment to make lasting change, particularly in reducing greenhouse gas emissions that […]
Posted inEnergy
Maine jury delivers hydro relief for Mass.
BAY STATE and many New England policymakers breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday after a jury in Maine voted 9-0 to green light the completion of a Massachusetts-financed transmission […]
Posted inEnvironment
AG reaches $300,000 Brayton Point settlement
AFTER NEARLY TWO years of negotiation, the owner of Brayton Point in Somerset on Wednesday agreed to a $300,000 settlement with the Massachusetts attorney general’s office related to allegations that […]
Posted inOpinion
New transmission lines key to clean energy future
STATELY WIND turbines and neat arrays of solar farms provide vivid images for a much-anticipated era of abundant renewable energy. But it is the relatively mundane network of transmission lines […]
Posted inEnergy
Select Board race in Somerset has offshore wind ramifications
A BATTLE FOR A SEAT on the Somerset Select Board is shaping up as a referendum on the board’s oversight of Brayton Point, which many in town hope will become […]
Posted inOpinion
A letter to Bill McKibben: Do the math
Dear Bill McKibben, Thanks for coming home to Concord/Lexington on April 2 and reminding us how we have wasted precious time since you sounded the alarm in 1989 with “The […]
Posted inOpinion
Criticism of green hydrogen misses the mark
A YEAR AGO, President Biden signed into law the single most sweeping climate bill in American history. Supported by virtually the entire Democratic Party and environmental leaders like the Environmental […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
New England’s last coal-fired power plant loses key revenue source
AN AUCTION for commitments to deliver electricity to the New England power grid three years from now provides two interesting clues about the region’s energy future. First, New England’s last […]
Posted inEnergy
Electricity prices falling, but remain high
NATIONAL GRID said its price for basic service will plummet starting May 1 but still remain above levels from a year ago. Basic service is electricity National Grid buys on […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Offshore wind industry united on pricing adjustments
MASSACHUSETTS POLICYMAKERS may be split on whether offshore wind developers should be allowed to adjust the pricing in their existing power purchase agreements to cope with changing economic conditions, but […]
Posted inOpinion
More renewables, not more gas, is our future
At 4:30 p.m. on a bitter, cold Christmas Eve 2022, New England’s power grid operator ISO-NE declared a capacity deficiency after gas and oil generators used during times of peak […]
Posted inOpinion
Correcting the record on decarbonization
A RECENT COMMENTARY, “Decarbonization road map has some gaping holes” by Arnold J. Wallenstein, argues that Massachusetts must scale back its efforts to decarbonize its energy system. Unfortunately, the piece […]
Posted inOpinion
The dirty truth of Northfield Mountain’s ‘clean’ energy
CLARIFICATION: Northfield Mountain officials raised several issues with this commentary following its publication that prompted clarification and wording tweaks. The pumped storage facility is not powered by natural gas; it […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, Opinion
Fair share for the fossil fuel industry
RIGHT NOW, the fossil fuel industry is booming. A recent Reuters report said that Exxon Mobil made record annual profits in 2022, raking in $55.7 billion, exceeding its previous record of […]
Posted inOpinion
Pushing back against the defenders of natural gas
WE TAKE exception to Arnold Wallenstien’s recent commentary, in which he argues against a rapid transition from gas to renewable energy. First, he fails to consider the alternative to a rapid […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government
Back-channel talks on Commonwealth Wind
THE HEALEY ADMINISTRATION has been working behind the scenes to get the Avangrid wind farm project back on track, but so far little progress has been made. Avangrid last year […]