A GROUP OF 100 state representatives broke ranks with House leadership on Tuesday, urging six lawmakers trying to broker a legislative compromise on solar energy to hew more closely to […]
Environment
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
The case against gas pipelines
This is the first in a three-part series of opinion pieces that will appear on consecutive Mondays. ON MARCH 20, 1886, the world’s first alternating current electric grid was powered […]
Posted inEnvironment
DeLeo officially backs offshore wind
HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO on Wednesday made official what his lieutenants have been saying, that the omnibus energy bill scheduled to come up for a vote in April will include […]
Posted inEnvironment
Beaton offers no commitment on offshore wind
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S POINT PERSON on energy told an offshore wind conference on Tuesday that the governor is very interested in the technology, but offered no commitments. Matthew Beaton, the […]
Posted inEnvironment
House leaders: Price key in energy bill
HOUSE LEADERS, OFFERING UP SOME TANTALIZING CLUES about the omnibus energy legislation they are developing, said the bill will emerge sometime around mid-April and deal in some fashion or another […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Building an electric vehicle charging network
THE GOVERNORS OF 17 STATES, including Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, came together recently to forge an agreement to develop cleaner energy and transportation solutions for our nation. The pact, known […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey pushes for delay on pipeline contracts
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 […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion, Politics
DeLeo is the reason solar on hold
THERE IS A GROWING SENTIMENT of frustration among the business community in Massachusetts. As businesses from manufacturing to service, small to large, and from all corners of Massachusetts met with […]
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 inEnvironment, Opinion
Baker right on hydropower, clean energy contracts
DAN DOLAN’S broadside against Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal to bring additional hydropower into our electricity market reminds me of the time when the New England power generators essentially told me […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Raise the net metering cap
MASSACHUSETTS SPENDS more than $28 billion per year on energy and electricity, with much of that money leaving the state to pay for fossil fuels from other parts of the […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Baker: Greenhouse gas emission target ‘achievable’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LEGAL MANDATE of reducing Massachusetts greenhouse gas emissions to hit a 2020 benchmark is “achievable” if environmental policies are carried out but imperiled if the state […]
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, Opinion
Bay State impresses at Paris climate conference
AFTER TWO DECADES, world leaders reached the first-ever truly global climate agreement at the United Nations climate change conference in Paris. President Obama and his fellow heads of state spoke […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, State House News Service
Nearly 99,000 clean energy jobs in MA
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE CLEAN ENERGY SECTOR now employs nearly 99,000 workers in Massachusetts, after five consecutive years of growth, according to a report out Tuesday from the Massachusetts […]
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 inEnvironment, State House News Service
Solar power rhetoric, lobbying heats up
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE House leaders are taking their effort to pass a solar energy bill before the winter recess down to the wire, fomenting an increasingly bitter and public […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
From journalist to climate crusader
IN 2013, WEN STEPHENSON sat down with his son and daughter to explain why he might end up in jail. “How do you explain to your children that climate change […]
Posted inEnvironment
National Grid proposes new rate structure
NATIONAL GRID on Friday proposed a radically different rate structure for delivering electricity to Massachusetts customers that relies more on fixed monthly charges and less on fees based on electricity […]
