WELL-MEANING POLICYMAKERS in Massachusetts are looking north, seeing in Canadian hydropower a quick solution to the need for more green energy. But one state’s environmental solutions may be another state’s environmental nightmare, and we should all care about the whole picture – not just our own small piece – to achieve the greatest long-term impact. […]
Electricity
Posted inEnvironment
Hydro-Quebec officials push Northern Pass
TOP OFFICIALS AT HYDRO-QUEBEC said on Wednesday in Boston that the company’s Northern Pass project represents the best, most complete solution to New England’s need for clean energy. Eric Martel, CEO of Hydro-Quebec, confidently predicted that Northern Pass will win needed permits in New Hampshire next year and be up and running by 2019. Steve […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
SJC decision raises emissions questions
WE ARE FACING the daunting challenge of meeting the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of the Global Warming Solutions Act. And now the recent Supreme Judicial Court decision, Kain v. DEP, has confirmed those targets are legally binding. But, unfortunately, the court’s decision may have established a principle of law that should cause serious concern […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service
House OKs hydro, offshore wind bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE House lawmakers voted near unanimously on Wednesday to diversify the state’s state energy mix by requiring utilities to solicit and enter into long-term contracts for large-scale hydroelectric and offshore wind power as part of a strategy to reduce the state’s reliance on natural gas and meet its carbon emission reduction mandates. […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cape Wind sharply attacks House energy bill
CAPE WIND ISSUED a position statement on Tuesday calling the House’s energy bill anticompetitive, unconstitutional, and the result of “a form of legislative bid-rigging.” The unusually harsh statement was issued the day before the House is scheduled to take up a bill that would authorize the state’s utilities to purchase large quantities of offshore wind […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
No mandate needed for municipal utilities
FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, through changes in the electric industry more revolutionary than the ones we are facing today, Massachusetts municipal utilities have set the standard for excellence in reliable electric service and competitive rates. There are many reasons for this success, including a not-for-profit business model and local control over decisions that affect […]
Posted inEnvironment
Beaton: More hydro needed in energy bill
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S point person on energy said on Thursday that he would like to see more emphasis on hydroelectricity in the Legislature’s energy bill and indicated he shared House concerns about including Cape Wind in any procurement for offshore wind. Matthew Beaton, the governor’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs, said he was pleased […]
Posted inUncategorized
Wholesale electricity prices fell by third in 2015
THE OPERATOR OF THE REGION’S POWER GRID said on Thursday that the wholesale price of electricity fell by more than a third in 2015, primarily because of lower prices for natural gas, the fuel used to produce nearly half of New England’s electricity. ISO New England said the average wholesale price for electricity in the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Electricity consumption on the rise
EVERSOURCE ENERGY says the average monthly electricity usage of its typical customer is now 600 kilowatt hours, up from the 500 kilowatt-hour estimate the company has used for years. The change showed up on a recent press release detailing the firm’s basic service rates for this summer. Michael Durand, an Eversource spokesman, said the average […]
Posted inEnvironment
Energy bill includes offshore wind, hydro
A HOUSE COMMITTEE released a long-awaited energy bill on Monday that calls for the state’s utilities to negotiate long-term contracts for large amounts of offshore wind and Canadian hydroelectricity, although the hydroelectric portion of the proposal is half the size Gov. Charlie Baker had sought. The bill, dubbed “an act to promote energy diversity,” calls […]