Rebecca Tepper, the governor’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs, made an interesting impression at this week’s field hearing of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Maine.
In a crowd of nerdy bureaucrats, regulators, and business people who are largely convinced natural gas will remain the dominant energy fuel in New England for years to come, Tepper tacked in the opposite direction. She said the region’s power grid is over-reliant on natural gas, extolled the importance of offshore wind, and lectured members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the need to listen to different voices.
But she also took a pass when asked if she wanted to shut down a piece of natural gas infrastructure in Everett and seemed unprepared for a question about using pricing signals to drive down electricity consumption.
One of the key topics at the all-day hearing was what to do with a terminal in Everett used for importing liquefied natural gas. The terminal has been hanging on by a thread and is in danger of going out of business. It was dealt a major blow when the operator of the region’s electric grid surprised everyone by saying it wasn’t needed anymore.
Most of those who testified at the hearing, including the grid operator, urged the retention of the Everett facility. Tepper suggested the commissioners weren’t listening to the right people.
“I think this hearing would have benefitted from some additional voices today, particularly the environmental justice community and particularly the community of Everett,” she said. ““Pay attention to them. They live there with that facility.”
FERC Commissioner Mark Christie asked Tepper whether Gov. Maura Healey supports keeping the Everett facility open. Tepper didn’t answer directly. “A lot of new information has come out on that issue over the last few months,” she said.
Tepper, who previously worked in the attorney general’s office under Healey, indicated the liquefied natural gas facility may be needed to support natural gas utilities. “It’s their responsibility to ensure that they serve their customers and they need to go to their regulators to ask for that,” she said.
Christie also asked Tepper whether Massachusetts has time-of-day pricing for electricity, which is used to reduce consumption of electricity by hiking prices at peak demand periods. Special smart meters capable of two-way communication are typically needed to execute on time-of-day pricing.
“In Massachusetts we don’t have smart meters yet, so we need to put in smart meters,” said Tepper, who then reversed course and said time-of-day pricing may not be needed.
“Virtual power plants are going to be a way for us to control the peak without having to do [anything] necessarily with the rates,” she said. “People are going to have storage in their house, they’re going to have storage in their car, they’re going to have solar on the roof. And that can be managed in a way to control the peak.”
Tepper ended the day by extolling the importance of offshore wind, even though two key developers are maneuvering to terminate their existing power purchase agreements because of changing economic conditions.
“I do agree with the sense of urgency to continue on our clean energy procurements and the benefits that we’re going to see from the offshore wind industry,” Tepper said. “I believe 100 percent that we will have an offshore wind industry off the coast, off the East Coast. It’s just too valuable. We have some of the best wind in the world, Saudi Arabia of wind here. It’s too valuable of a resource for it not to happen. So full press on offshore wind, full press on the transmission to support it, full press on the transmission to support clean energy, and full press on the tie lines to bring in renewables from other regions.”
BRUCE MOHL
FROM COMMONWEALTH
Overdue update: Sex education gets an update in a new health and physical education curriculum framework released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The new framework, once approved, will replace the current document, which was released in 1999.
– Frameworks offer state guidance on what local schools should be covering in classes from pre-K to grade 12. What actually gets taught is left up to local officials.
– The new framework reflects changing attitudes about sex, gender, and sexual orientation, as well as mental health, fitness, and nutrition. Abstinence, for example, plays a central role in the sex ed contained in the current framework, but less so in the new framework.
– Gov . Maura Healey, who is the first openly gay governor of Massachusetts, applauded the drafters of the new framework. “They recognize gay, queer, trans student identities and needs,” she said. “That’s important and it’s not something we’re going to shy away from. Our LGBTQ+ students face higher risks of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and suicidality.” Read more.
Nitrogen pollution: The Department of Environmental Protection issues final regulations on a new system to address Cape Cod nitrogen pollution, which is caused by septic systems and destroying water bodies and killing off plants and wildlife. Read more.
OPINION
We can do this: J.D. Chesloff of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable says a survey of his members suggests the state can win the new world of work. Read more.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Gov. Maura Healey is refusing to say who funded a private, tax-exempt group that was formed to “facilitate” her transition into office, leaving open the possibility that those bankrolling the effort may have been looking to “curry favor” with the new administration. (Boston Globe)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, the committee chair who oversaw last week’s passage of a Boston budget plan that cut $900,000 from veterans’ services, says the move wasn’t her idea – but won’t say which councilor is responsible for it. (Boston Herald)
Boston Herald columnist Joe Battenfeld whacks Michelle Wu as “the least transparent mayor in recent Boston history.”
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
After revelations that Chicopee continued to pay health insurance premiums for employees after they died or resigned, the city’s acting human resources director announced she would leave her post for health reasons. She chastised city leaders in her resignation letter for casting blame on her department and colleagues for the insurance errors. (MassLive)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Time is running out on hope for rescuing the five people in a submersible that disappeared after descending on Sunday in the North Atlantic Ocean. (New York Times) There are a lot of elements to the tale of the missing submersible near the site of the 1912 Titanic sinking that make it a gripping and dramatic news story, but The New Republic’s Alex Shephard says it’s striking how little coverage there has been of the sinking a week ago of a ship carrying 800 migrants off the coast of Greece,
EDUCATION
National test scores in math and English plummeted in new results from the National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP. (Washington Post)
Jay Gonzalez, the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor and former budget secretary under Gov. Deval Patrick, was named president of Curry College. (Boston Globe)
The YMCA in Lynn has installed a garden on its roof and is sending staffers to Vermont to learn farming techniques that will be passed on to young people at the Y. (Daily Item)
A Malawian-American teacher who was not rehired at Barnstable Intermediate School says she faced hostility and “microagressions” due to her race, highlighting retention issues for educators of color. (Cape Cod Times)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
The Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents pleads not guilty. (Associated Press)
A Westfield woman has been charged with reckless endangerment of a child and animal cruelty after officers discovered two children and numerous pets living in “terrible conditions.” (MassLive)
MEDIA
US Supreme Court Judge Samuel Alito Jr. responds to queries by ProPublica by publishing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal prior to ProPublica publishing its story. (Washington Post)