STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A COMMISSION that spent the last 11 months studying ways to help the state meet its emissions reduction requirements by shifting to cleaner buildings and addressing heating fuels that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions released its final recommendations Wednesday, but was not able to come to consensus around a timeline for […]
Electricity
Posted inEnergy
Maine hydro project clears another hurdle
MASSACHUSETTS MADE some headway on its clean energy goals on Tuesday, but moving forward on key offshore wind and hydro-electricity projects remains an uncertain process. A Massachusetts-financed transmission line carrying hydroelectricity from Quebec into Maine cleared another legal hurdle on Tuesday as the Maine Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that had blocked the […]
Posted inEnergy
Eversource’s turn: Basic service rate up 62% over last winter
EVERSOURCE SAID its eastern Massachusetts basic service rate – the price it charges customers who direct the utility to procure electricity on their behalf – is going to jump to a record high on January 1. The electricity price is jumping to 25.6 cents a kilowatt hour, up from the current level of 17.9 cents […]
Posted inThe Download
Powering up highway charging stations
Driving along the Massachusetts Turnpike, electric vehicle charging stations are popping up at the service plazas, a harbinger of a future without internal combustion engines. But a new study from National Grid suggests the charging stations are somewhat misleading indicators of the future. The real challenge will not be installing charging stations, but delivering the […]
Posted inTransportation
Powering up highway charging stations
DRIVING ALONG the Massachusetts Turnpike, electric vehicle charging stations are popping up at the service plazas, a harbinger of a future without internal combustion engines. But a new study from National Grid suggests the charging stations are somewhat misleading indicators of the future. The real challenge will not be installing charging stations, but delivering the […]
Posted inEnergy
Baker aide urges Avangrid to stay the course
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S top energy aide urged the offshore wind developer Avangrid to abandon efforts to reopen its electricity contract with the state and abide by the existing terms. Avangrid has asked the Department of Public Utilities for a one-month delay in approving the contract, saying the time is needed to work out new terms […]
Posted inThe Download
Clock ticking, Avangrid finds itself isolated
Avangrid, the state’s leading wind farm developer, suddenly finds itself facing both economic — and political — headwinds. Avangrid told state regulators its 1,200-megawatt Commonwealth Wind project could not get built without a “very modest increase” in the price the company would get paid for the electricity. Avangrid blamed the war in Ukraine, rising interest […]
Posted inEnergy
Clock ticking, Avangrid finds itself isolated
AVANGRID, the state’s leading wind farm developer, suddenly finds itself facing both economic — and political — headwinds. Avangrid told state regulators its 1,200-megawatt Commonwealth Wind project could not get built without a “very modest increase” in the price the company would get paid for the electricity. Avangrid blamed the war in Ukraine, rising interest […]
Posted inEnergy
Mayflower Wind to honor existing contract terms
MAYFLOWER WIND on Monday backed away from an effort to seek revisions in its contract to supply electricity to the state’s utilities, pledging to move ahead with the pricing in its existing power purchase agreement. The shift came after the Department of Public Utilities told Mayflower and Commonwealth Wind that it would not grant a […]
Posted inThe Download
Avangrid’s Kimmell says wind farm needs ‘very modest’ price increase
Avangrid’s Ken Kimmell said his company can get its Commonwealth Wind project back on track with “a very modest increase” in the price state ratepayers would pay for the electricity. Appearing on The Codcast, Kimmell, Avangrid’s vice president of offshore wind development, said the company bid the current price in September 2021 and affirmed it […]