ONE OF THE BIG MYSTERIES on Beacon Hill is how Gov. Charlie Baker is going to accomplish one of his top remaining energy priorities – building a new natural gas […]
Plugging In
Energy and the Environment
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Baker is right; we need gas pipeline
Gov. Charlie Baker is right to push for a new natural gas pipeline. His support for renewable energy – solar and wind – is fully compatible with his support for […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
MIT dean talks fusion with govs, premiers
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AN ACADEMIC’S IDEAS about what the future might hold inspired Gov. Charlie Baker to invite him to speak to Canadian premiers and New England governors. Speaking […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker still wants new natural gas pipeline
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is continuing to push for a new natural gas pipeline into the region, but at a conference on Monday with fellow New England governors and Canadian premiers […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Time to turn page on natural gas
AS REPORTED LAST WEEK, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a utility-proposed cost-recovery scheme – the “pipeline tax” that would have helped finance Spectra’s Access Northeast project – violated […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Gas pipeline firm says it’s full-speed ahead
What follows is a letter from the three top officials of Access Northeast to New England policymakers on the need for new natural gas pipeline infrastructure in the region. […]
Posted inEnvironment
SJC nixes ‘pipeline tax’
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT ruled on Wednesday that the Baker administration can not authorize the state’s electric utilities to tap their ratepayers for the money to finance a new natural […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Energy bill a solid step forward
IF YOU’RE DISGUSTED BY POLITICS in this country, take heart. This is Massachusetts. The state’s clean energy bill, passed in the wee hours of July 31, is an important step […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
The inconvenient truth of energy policy
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE just enacted some of the most ambitious clean energy procurement legislation in the nation. It is a significant step to meet the Commonwealth’s emissions reduction goals and […]
Posted inEnvironment
Energy bill: Winners & losers
The energy legislation approved by the Legislature late Sunday night radically reorganizes the state’s energy market in favor of clean energy, calls for hydroelectric and offshore wind power contracts worth […]
Posted inEnvironment
Lawmakers give late-night OK to energy bill
HOUSE AND SENATE LAWMAKERS approved a compromise energy bill Sunday night that they hope will pave the way for an offshore wind industry and sharply increase imports of electricity from […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
We must preserve nuclear power plants
The following is a letter sent to Gov. Charlie Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg by a group of scientists, environmentalists, and academics. As scientists, environmentalists […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
No subsidies for gas pipeline projects
IT’S CRUNCH TIME when it comes to the Omnibus Energy Bill that is being debated on Beacon Hill. Lawmakers have to decide if they will continue to promote fossil fuel […]
Posted inEnvironment
DPU-Eversource communications probed
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES is investigating whether one of its employees had improper communication with an attorney for Eversource Energy, which is seeking state approval to assess its […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Shame on enviro group
OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, the New Hampshire Legislature has debated and killed repeated efforts to require that transmission line be buried in New Hampshire. Fueled by opposition to the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Mass. on verge of energy greatness
IN CASE YOU MISSED THE NEWS, the Massachusetts House and Senate just did something big that we should all celebrate. By passing major energy bills, they have set the Bay […]
Posted inEnvironment
Pipeline tariff is not a tax
SEVEN OF THE TOP 10 most expensive states for electricity costs are in the Northeast, including Massachusetts. We pay the sixth-highest retail electricity prices in the nation – almost 50 […]
Posted inEnvironment
What will Brad Jones do?
REP. BRADLEY JONES JR. of North Reading is caught in a tug-of-war between the House and Senate as the two branches try to find common ground on energy legislation. Jones […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Prohibit the ‘pipeline tax’
What is the proposed “pipeline tax” on our electric bills, and why is there a bipartisan effort to ban it? The so-called “pipeline tax” is a scheme under which consumers […]
Posted inEnvironment
Pipeline firm makes case for more natural gas
THE COMPANY TRYING TO EXPAND a major natural gas pipeline coming into New England said on Friday that the growing opposition in the Legislature is failing to recognize that more […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Mass. should insist on burial of NH power line
AS MASSACHUSETTS WORKS to reduce reliance on carbon-generated electricity, neighboring New Hampshire is fearful of becoming a muddy doormat between Quebec and Boston. Hydro-Quebec wants to export more of its […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Advice for Beacon Hill energy conferees
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE AND SENATE are to be commended for passing important energy legislation in recent weeks. Both bills represent the most important steps forward to date to further the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Court: 2 Cape Wind approvals flawed
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the US Department of Interior erred twice in granting a key environmental approval for Cape Wind, but the judges decided not to […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Senate approves energy legislation
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AN ENERGY BILL PASSED 30-0 by the Senate Thursday evening would require the solicitation of long-term contracts for at least 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind by […]