DEALING A POTENTIALLY major setback to the state’s emerging offshore wind industry, the Department of Public Utilities rejected a request by Avangrid to delay action on a power purchase contract for its 1,200-megawatt wind farm to allow time for the company to renegotiate the price. The ruling leaves the project very much in doubt because […]
Electricity
Posted inEnvironment
Report says Boston not meeting climate action targets
Boston University Statehouse Program AN INAUGURAL progress report says Boston isn’t on pace to meet its goal of cutting carbon emissions by half before 2030 and becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. The report – issued by the Boston Foundation and developed in partnership with the Boston Green Ribbon Commission – includes findings from more than 50 […]
Posted inEnergy
Baker open to Commonwealth Wind negotiations
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER indicated on Wednesday that he doesn’t want a high-stakes procurement process for offshore wind to collapse because of a dispute over the terms of the power purchase contract. Commonwealth Wind, a 1,200 megawatt project being developed by Avangrid, says the contract it agreed to in May is no longer sufficient to attract […]
Posted inEnergy
Vineyard Wind starts laying undersea cable
VINEYARD WIND said on Tuesday that it has begun laying the undersea cable that will carry electricity from its yet-to-be built wind farm off of Martha’s Vineyard to landfall in Barnstable on Cape Cod. The cable work is being done by the Prysmian Group using cable manufactured in the United Kingdom. Prysmian is also planning […]
Posted inEnergy, State House News Service
Wind farm raises alarms about its viability
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A MAJOR OFFSHORE wind project in the Massachusetts pipeline “is no longer viable and would not be able to move forward” under the terms of contracts filed in May and now both developers behind the state’s next two offshore wind projects are asking state regulators to pause review of the contracts […]
Posted inEnergy, State House News Service
State’s largest solar field opens in Ludlow
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A RENEWABLE ENERGY project in Ludlow will soon start generating enough power for more than 1,500 homes, boosters said as they cut the ribbon Monday on the “largest single solar field and the largest municipally-owned solar project” in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company said the project will generate more than […]
Posted inOpinion
Putin’s aggression is being felt in our electric bills
The announcement this week that Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other oil-producing countries — known as OPEC plus — are planning to cut output and inflate gas prices for drivers makes it clear that energy is going to be weaponized by nations seeking to challenge America’s global influence. Indeed, here in Massachusetts we are feeling the sting of […]
Posted inOpinion
Climate bill gained through omission
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER in August signed into law a comprehensive bill to address climate change. The bill includes provisions designed to reach a net zero carbon goal by 2050 by promoting the adoption of electric vehicles, supporting the modernization of the power grid, and expanding support for the development of offshore wind power. But one of […]
Posted inEnergy
Healey calls National Grid rate hike ‘devastating’
A correction has been added to this story. A SPOKESWOMAN for Attorney General Maura Healey, who represents ratepayers in proceedings before utility regulators, warned that National Grid’s electricity rate hike will be “devastating for hundreds of thousands of customers in Massachusetts who simply cannot afford it.” In a statement, Healey spokeswoman Chloe Gotsis urged the […]
Posted inEnergy
National Grid says electricity prices to skyrocket
NATIONAL GRID said the price of electricity it supplies to customers in Massachusetts this winter is going to skyrocket to record levels because the cost of natural gas, the primary fuel used to generate power in New England, is soaring. The utility said on Wednesday that the cost of electricity provided under its basic service […]