THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION made clear on Tuesday that its ideal combo platter for energy has two main dishes – hydroelectricity from Canada and a new natural gas pipeline. Matthew Beaton, […]
Plugging In
Energy and the Environment
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Report: Baker hydro bill won’t lower power rates
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WARNING ENERGY COSTS WILL RISE as the state aims to meet the 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals of its Global Warming Solutions Act, a new […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Cape Wind goes to court again
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Cape Wind, the offshore wind project planned for Nantucket Sound, has not given up despite some serious setbacks, and this week appealed to the Supreme Judicial […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Assessing risk in the state’s energy debate
THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL ENERGY POLICY issue pending before the Commonwealth – rivaled perhaps only by the solar debates – has been the proposal to expand natural gas pipelines into New […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. should boost renewable targets
MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE LEADERS are currently drafting an omnibus energy bill to secure new supplies of electricity as much of the region’s fleet of aging nuclear, coal, and oil power plants […]
Posted inOpinion
Offshore wind can be price competitive
For years, supporters have made a convincing case that offshore wind power can play a central role in scrubbing the air we breathe of millions of tons of carbon dioxide […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Hydro-wind combo would save customers $171m
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A NEW STUDY ON THE IMPACT large-scale hydro and wind power imports could have on the Massachusetts energy market predicts significant savings for consumers, challenging the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Offshore wind better bet than hydro
IN A FEW WEEKS, the Massachusetts Legislature is likely to vote on a sweeping energy bill that will help determine how, from where, and from whom we get a substantial […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Kinder Morgan pulls plug on pipeline
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CITING INADEQUATE COMMITMENTS from prospective customers, Kinder Morgan on Wednesday suspended further work and spending on its Northeast Energy Direct natural gas pipeline project, which held […]
Posted inPolitics
Time starting to run short for legislative bills
WITH THE STATE BUDGET expected to tie up the House the rest of this month, time is starting to run short for other bills to make it through the legislative […]
Posted inUncategorized
Solar net metering bill moving fast
COMPROMISE SOLAR NET METERING LEGISLATION that allows the industry to resume expansion while reining in some costs borne by ratepayers appears likely to hit the governor’s desk by the end […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker board denies Cape Wind permit extension
A BOARD DOMINATED BY APPOINTEES of Gov. Charlie Baker dealt a major blow on Wednesday to efforts to revive Cape Wind, voting unanimously not to grant the project a permit […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Solar negotiators reach a deal
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FIVE MONTHS OF NEGOTIATIONS resulted in a deal Tuesday between House and Senate leaders to raise the cap on the amount of energy that public and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Cape Wind appeals permit extension rejection
CAPE WIND IS URGING A STATE BOARD to overrule its staff and grant an extension of a permit needed to run a power line from the proposed wind farm in […]
Posted inThe Download
Time running short on solar
With time starting to run short on Beacon Hill, solar power advocates are mounting an inside-outside campaign to convince a six-member legislative conference committee to lift the cap on net […]
Posted inOpinion
What Massachusetts can learn from New York’s solar experience
Over the past several years, Massachusetts has been able to deploy more than 1000 megawatts of solar capacity. This remarkable success is due to an interrelated set of policies that […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Nuclear wasted
Since the Shippingport Atomic Power Plant in Pennsylvania went online nearly 60 years ago, becoming the first peacetime use of nuclear power in the world, proponents have touted the low […]
Posted inOpinion
Inaction is driving solar firm out of Mass
THERE ARE 400 SOLAR COMPANIES working throughout the value chain in Massachusetts and I’m proud to own one of them. When I started my business, Sustainable Energy Professionals (SEP), our […]
Posted inOpinion
Solar power is not a zero sum game
MORE BAY STATERS ARE BENEFITTING from solar power than ever before. Such widespread adoption of the technology represents a growing consumer desire to control and cut their electricity costs while […]
Posted inOpinion
Solar isn’t the cause of high electricity costs
LIKE MANY UTILITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, National Grid blames high electricity costs on net metering while claiming to protect ratepayers. But that’s not the real reason utilities object to this […]
Posted inThe Download
Utilities, environmentalists duke it out on energy policy
While lawmakers on Beacon Hill are debating energy legislation in private, the state’s environmental advocacy groups and utilities are making their respective arguments in public. The Acadia Center today wraps […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Utilities aren’t afraid of solar
IN 2009, MASSACHUSETTS DECOUPLED our electricity rates, eliminating the incentive for us at National Grid to sell more electricity to our customers. This change in the way we do business […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Inside the solar negotiations
A legislative conference committee trying to bridge a philosophical gap between the House and Senate on solar power is making progress, but some new stumbling blocks are emerging. Sources familiar […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker amenable to offshore wind
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Tuesday that he would support omnibus energy legislation that would spur the development of offshore wind, but he stopped short of backing a special carveout […]