SEVEN WESTERN SUBURBS of Boston are crying foul about an Eversource proposal that would cut the amount of money they receive for selling solar energy to the power grid, resulting […]
Environment
Posted inEnvironment
In shift, Eversource backs W. Mass. rate relief
EVERSOURCE IS PROPOSING significant changes to a $96 million rate hike request that would have the effect of lowering bills for customers in western Massachusetts and raising them for customers […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Brayton Pt closing ups need for gas
AS BADLY AS ALL OF US in Massachusetts have been needing improved access to natural gas, Wednesday at midnight our need–and the challenge to our economy and energy security–grow even […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Baker backs Paris climate accord
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Students had prepared Wednesday to attempt to persuade Gov. Charlie Baker to speak out in support of the Paris climate change agreement. Instead, they ended up […]
Posted inEnvironment
Boston seizes clean energy opportunity
IT’S BEEN A sobering few months for clean energy advocates. Despite the Trump administration’s disdain for programs and policies intended to lower the carbon emissions that threaten the safety and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
The downside of renewables
MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN about New England’s electricity markets and the distortions caused by policy makers. There are many lessons that elected officials and bureaucrats can learn by looking overseas […]
Posted inEnvironment
Vineyard Wind brings in a big player
A BIG INTERNATIONAL ENERGY PLAYER is jumping into the competition for offshore wind power contracts with Massachusetts. Through a company in which it is the major shareholder, Iberdrola S.A., a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Utilities unveil RFP for offshore wind power
THE STATE’S UTILITIES on Monday set in motion a first-of-its-kind procurement for 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power by asking Massachusetts regulators to approve a bid process that gives companies […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Eversource electric vehicle proposal worth pursuing
RECENT ACCOUNTS OF THE EVERSOURCE rate case have understandably focused on the utility’s request for a controversial rate increase. However, at risk of getting lost in the shuffle is a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Judy Grinnell’s river rehab
Photograph by Frank Curran What’s the Hoosic River Revival all about? The Hoosic River trickles through downtown North Adams within old, concrete, inaccessible flood control chutes that protect the city […]
Posted inEconomy, Gambling
Wynn shipping contaminated soil around nation
THE CLEANUP OF the Wynn Resorts casino site in Everett is a case of addition through subtraction. Before the Wynn tower could start going up, all of the contaminated soil […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
MA should finance climate change projects abroad
BY PROPOSING TO SLASH FEDERAL SPENDING to combat climate change, President Trump has declared war on our ability to deal with a very real, existential global problem that cannot be […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Natural gas shouldn’t be the boogie man
IT’S IRONIC THAT SEVERAL DAYS after Emily Norton’s op-ed in CommonWealth (“Kill the Northeast pipeline”), the Department of Environmental Protectiion announced that greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts decreased from 2013 to […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
MA emissions continue decline
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS in Massachusetts decreased from 2013 to 2014, continuing a decade-long trend, according to the latest state data. State law requires emissions by 2020 […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Kill the Access Northeast pipeline
LAST MONTH, 74 conservation commissions across Massachusetts sent Gov. Charlie Baker a letter asking him to drop his support for new natural gas pipelines, and over 450 small business owners […]
Posted inEnvironment
Preparing for a shrinking Boston
SETTLED BY EUROPEAN COLONISTS in 1630, Boston was founded on the narrow Shawmut Peninsula behind the protective landforms of what are today Stellwagen Bank, Winthrop, Hull, and the 34 Boston […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Don’t forget about transmission
EARLIER THIS MONTH my company, Anbaric, announced a new partnership with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan that enables funding to create up to $2 billion in renewable energy transmission and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Trump’s attack on environment is attack on communities of color
TWO WEEKS BEFORE the commencement of President Trump’s reign of error, the New York Times reported that in an effort to undermine strong public support for policies to prevent climate […]
Posted inEnvironment
Offshore wind firms split on size of initial contract
THE THREE COMPANIES vying for Massachusetts offshore wind contracts sharply disagree on how big the initial procurement should be, but they are united in their belief that electricity generation and […]
Posted inEnvironment
US planning more offshore wind leases off MA coast
IN ANOTHER SIGN the offshore wind market is heating up, the federal government indicated on Friday that it intends to lease more ocean tracts off the coast of Massachusetts after […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Trump’s puzzling clean energy stance
Celebrate or despise his politics, it is hard not to acknowledge the brilliance of President Trump as a competitive opportunist. His business and political success is a long history of […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Sparks fly on electric vehicle provision
A FIGHT IS BREWING on Beacon Hill over how far the state should go in promoting the adoption of zero emission vehicles. Environmental advocates and many state lawmakers want new […]
Posted inEnvironment
Wholesale electricity prices drop to 13-year low
New England’s wholesale electricity prices plunged to their lowest level in 13 years in 2016, propelled by cheap natural gas and lower consumer demand for power. The operator of the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Utility raises concerns on emission targets
A TOP OFFICIAL WITH EVERSOURCE ENERGY said on Wednesday that Massachusetts was in danger of not meeting its carbon emission reduction targets for 2020. In a conference call with financial […]
