DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY from the New England power grid fell to an all-time low on Easter Sunday, another telling sign that solar power continues to expand across the region.
Solar is an energy source that can be hard to track, in part because much of the electricity is generated and used behind the power meter of a home or business and never makes it on to the grid.
But the power grid operators at ISO-New England are seeing more and more evidence of solar’s growth. Traditionally, demand for power from the grid is lowest at night when most people are sleeping. But increasingly the low point of power demand is shifting to earlier in the day when solar panels on homes and businesses are generating the most electricity.
The first time demand for power from the grid was lower in the afternoon than at night was on April 21, 2018. It happened 35 more times through the end of 2021, 45 times in 2022, and is expected to happen even more times this year.
On May 1 last year, demand for power from the grid fell to its lowest level since ISO-New England took over operation of the grid 25 years ago. Demand fell to 7,580 megawatts on a Sunday when the sun was shining (generating more solar energy) and overall demand for electricity was low. Temperatures were in that sweet spot where neither air conditioning nor heat were needed.
On Easter Sunday this year, demand fell even lower — to 6,814 megawatts between 2 and 3 p.m. As a point of reference, power demand from the grid was 10,929 megawatts six years ago on Sunday, May 6, 2017.
Less demand for power from the grid means less need to fire up power plants that rely on fossil fuels to generate electricity. It’s a virtuous cycle that should accelerate in the coming years.
“The previous record lasted less than a year, and this one likely won’t last long either,” said Steven Gould, ISO-New England’s director of operations. “Each day, our system operators are seeing the clean energy transition play out in real time.”
BRUCE MOHL
FROM COMMONWEALTH
Shifting priorities: House leaders adopted different spending priorities than Gov. Maura Healey for the $1 billion in tax revenue from the millionaire tax. The House plan targets school meals, the MBTA, and a new Green School Works program, while Healey prioritized child care and higher education, including a tuition price lock for students at UMass. Read more.
House budget highlights: A big bottom line, another push for an online lottery, a Boston seat on the MBTA board, free prison phone calls, and no retaliation against Auditor Diana DiZoglio. Read more.
Settlement with Juul: Massachusetts will receive $41 million from e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. as part of a multi-state settlement of allegations that the company improperly promoted nicotine vaping among young people. Read more.
OPINION
Sex ed: Pediatricians Amanda Bryson and Sarah Wiener say Massachusetts can do a much better job teaching students about sex and relationships. Read more.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Acrimony on the Boston City Council over redistricting continued yesterday as tempers flared over a proposal by City Councilor Erin Murphy for a hearing to review whether the council followed proper procedure in the mapmaking process. (Boston Globe)
Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes wants to see a big pay raise for council staffers. (Boston Herald)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
It’s back to court in New York for Donald Trump, as the former president faces questioning today under oath in a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is charging that Trump and his family improperly benefited by overvaluing property they own by billions of dollars. (New York Times)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
With 20 percent of New Bedford living below the poverty level, dealing with an old housing stock and increasingly low vacancy rates, Congressman Bill Keating convened a forum focused on South Coast affordability crises and promised federal efforts to bring more funding. (New Bedford Standard-Times)
EDUCATION
Not everyone is happy over the $300 million donation hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin made to Harvard, which will rename its main graduate school in his honor, with critics zeroing in his support for Ron DeSantis and the anti-gay agenda they say the Florida governor is pursuing. (Boston Globe)
TRANSPORTATION
The Salem ferry to Boston will no longer accept MBTA passes when it resumes operation in May. The operator of the ferry said the T used to subsidize the service but stopped doing so some time ago. The ferry continued to accept the passes, however, running up losses of $100,000. (Salem News)
Peter Pan Bus Lines says it is going to start providing service between New Bedford and Boston once the incumbent operator, DATCO, pulls out next week. DATCO is withdrawing because of declining ridership. (New Bedford Light)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Solar panel fires are more common than you might think. (Berkshire Eagle)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
Seven men who worked with the speed of a NASCAR crew are being charged with stealing more than 500 catalytic converters from cars in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Precious metal from the catalytic converters were sold on the black market. (Associated Press)
Ten years after the Boston Marathon bombing, the Biden administration’s argument to reinstate Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death penalty sentence while proposing an end to capital punishment at the federal level continues to perplex legal experts. (MassLive)
MEDIA
Margaret Low, the CEO of WBUR, says the radio station will withdraw from Twitter to show solidarity with National Public Radio, which withdrew from the social media website after it was labeled “state-affiliated media” and later “government funded media.” Low did acknowledge that 1 percent of NPR’s budget comes from the federal government, but said the Twitter label was designed to undermine the integrity of the news organization. (WBUR)
GBH, the other NPR affiliate in Boston, is going in a different direction, at least for now. Station officials say they object to Twitter’s characterization of NPR but intend to remain on the social media website because “GBH continues to be the most trusted media in this market, and we have a responsibility to share our news and other programming with the broadest possible audience using the tools available to us.” (Media Nation)
