ONE OF THE LARGEST electric batteries in the nation is starting to provide backup power for Provincetown and will soon do the same for Truro and part of Wellfleet. The $49 million battery, located on a few acres at the Provincetown transfer station, is designed to seamlessly integrate with the power grid in the area, […]
Electricity
Posted inEnergy
5 New England states seek info on transmission issues
FIVE OF THE SIX New England states have launched an effort to better coordinate the process of bringing ashore electricity produced by offshore wind farms and feeding the power into the regional grid. Currently, states contract with offshore wind developers and the developers select where they want to bring their power ashore and are responsible […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Maine court revives Mass.-financed hydroelectric power line
THE MAINE SUPREME Judicial Court on Tuesday breathed new life into a Massachusetts-financed power line designed to carry hydroelectricity from Canada to Lewiston and from there into the New England power grid. Fifty-nine percent of Maine voters passed a law in November that retroactively blocked the transmission line from being built through the heavily wooded […]
Posted inEnergy
Grid operator, utilities call for energy reserve
THE OPERATOR of the New England power grid and six of the region’s major utilities are calling on state and federal policymakers to develop an “energy reserve” that can be tapped when energy supply chains are disrupted. In a call to action memo in advance of a September 8 conference sponsored by the Federal Energy […]
Posted inEnvironment
Boston seeks to join state pilot banning gas hookups in new construction
BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu said on Tuesday that she wants the city to join a state pilot program allowing 10 municipalities to ban fossil fuel infrastructure in most new construction, but she’s a bit late to the party. Boston’s participation fits with Wu’s broader climate change vision and would bolster the 10-community experiment administered by […]
Posted inOpinion
Climate bill needed for environmental, equity reasons
THE CLEAN ENERGY legislation on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk opens the door for marginalized communities across the Commonwealth to share in the many benefits of the fight against climate change. The governor should sign this bill, which builds on the foundation of environmental justice already underway in the Commonwealth, to further codify equity and inclusion in […]
Posted inEnergy
Biden visits Somerset, an energy bellwether
REP. PATRICIA HADDAD of Somerset woke up a bit late on Tuesday, checked her phone, and saw she had 15 texts and six phone messages – all about President Biden coming to town. The White House announced that Biden would be flying into Providence on Wednesday and then coming over to Brayton Point in Somerset […]
Posted inOpinion
Repurpose, don’t scrap, existing pipeline infrastructure
THE RACE to net zero emissions is on, and we have a lot of work to do to get there and not a lot of time to do it. Nowhere is that truer than here in Massachusetts, where the 2030 deadline to slash our emissions in half is bearing down on us. Now is no […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Utilities facing pushback on clean energy contract compensation
THE THREE MASSACHUSETTS utilities, accustomed to getting their way on Beacon Hill, are facing pushback on a provision in state law that allows them to collect from electricity ratepayers up to 2.75 percent of the value of any clean energy procurement for simply carrying the contract on their books. House and Senate negotiators trying to […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
FERC grants delay on N.E. energy market reform
IN A DECISION posted at 10 p.m. Friday night, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave the operator of the New England power grid two more years to come up with a system for incorporating subsidized clean energy into the region’s electricity markets. Environmental activists had been urging FERC not to grant the delay, but the […]