THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION, siding with electric utilities over solar developers and environmental groups, is recommending no expansion of a key state solar subsidy until a more cost-effective program to harness the sun’s energy can be developed. In a letter accompanying a task force report released late Friday, two Baker administration officials said they favored continued […]
Electricity
Posted inEnvironment
Don’t rely on foreign LNG
IT WAS JUST PAST MIDNIGHT during the winter of 2013. Winter Storm Nemo was barreling down on our region with fierce intensity, and demand for heat and electrical power strained New England’s energy system nearly to the point of failure. A senior executive with ISO-New England, the organization charged with keeping the lights on, said, […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
National Grid electricity prices to drop
National Grid’s 1 million basic service electricity customers will see their monthly bills drop in May, but rates aren’t returning to the level they were last summer and they will be significantly higher than what customers in New Hampshire are paying.  The utility buys electricity on behalf of its basic service customers every six months. Over the winter, […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Should electric ratepayers pay for gas pipelines?
THERE SOON MAY be a new charge on your electric bill for natural gas pipeline construction. The novel idea first surfaced last summer as the six New England states began exploring ways to bring more natural gas into the region, and now a group of companies pushing a pipeline expansion plan are spelling out in […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Electricity prices fall
IT’S STILL EARLY in the season, but electricity prices so far haven’t lived up to the hype that this winter will be one of the most expensive ever. ISO New England, which operates the regional power grid, said preliminary numbers for December indicate the wholesale price of electricity and natural gas were both down more than […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, The Back Story
A warning on natural gas
JUST MINUTES BEFORE Charlie Baker became governor, the Patrick administration released a $250,000 study suggesting winter electricity prices are likely to remain very high for the next four years and additional natural gas pipeline capacity is needed to address the problem. The report by Synapse Energy Economics of Cambridge said the state is likely to […]