The south shore community of Milton is planning to borrow $6 million to build a large wind turbine on town land. Normally, a project of that magnitude in such a small town would be studied endlessly, but it whisked through town meeting in less than an hour because it’s such a no-brainer. Town officials expect […]
Energy
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
Competition works
massachusetts is committed to the principle that approximately 20 percent of its existing electric generation capacity should be replaced by a combination of efficiency measures and renewable energy. On the demand side, this commitment has already spawned a boomlet of energy efficiency initiatives that are having a substantial impact on electricity demand. On the supply […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Seeing green
The air was thick with anticipation as US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar stepped to the microphone, even though the news he was about to make had already leaked out. With reporters jammed into the room at the Massachusetts State House and a bank of television cameras lined up against the back wall, Salazar […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
An unsustainable status quo
absent the ability to peer into a crystal ball, no one knows what kinds of fuels the cars and trucks of the future will run on. Many of us have high hopes for a world where cars are fueled by electricity generated from renewable wind energy, or by natural gas recovered from landfills, or by […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service
41 munis, but no new ones since the 1920s
There are 41 municipal electric companies scattered across Massachusetts that charge, on average, 21 percent less for their power than the four investor-owned utilities that serve the rest of the state. But no munis have been established since the 1920s. The reason utilities like National Grid and NStar have a lock on the business is […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Power portfolio
If power on Beacon Hill is measured in terms of share of the state budget, Ian Bowles is a nobody. The state’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs oversees agencies that represent less than 1 percent of the overall state budget, and their funding has been shrinking. The budget for his environmental agencies has been […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Catching the wind
More than 10 years ago, New England set out on the road to develop dynamic, competitive wholesale electricity markets that would create incentives for private investment in diverse sources of supply, transmission improvements, and new technologies to make the region’s electric system more efficient and its resources more cost-effective. Electric industry restructuring prompted a tremendous […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mass.-only provision dropped on subsidies
In the face of a legal challenge, Massachusetts officials withdrew a regulation that tried to steer subsidies for renewable power to Massachusetts-based companies. The emergency order issued by the state Department of Public Utilities on Wednesday means Massachusetts renewable energy developers will now have to compete against companies outside the state for long-term power contracts […]
Posted inEnvironment
Grid strikes Cape Wind deal
The largest electric utility in Massachusetts today agreed to buy half of the power output of Cape Wind over the next 15 years, paying a significant premium over current prices. The deal, which requires approval from the Department of Public Utilities, is designed to give Cape Wind a guaranteed, long-term revenue stream to reassure lenders […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Berwick to replace Hibbard at DPU
By Bruce Mohl Paul Hibbard is stepping down as chairman of the state Department of Public Utilities and being replaced by a top aide to Ian Bowles, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs. Bowles made the announcement in an email to state workers on Friday. He said Hibbard first broached the idea of leaving […]