THE HOUSE AND SENATE failed to agree on net metering legislation Wednesday night and recessed until next year, leaving the state’s fast-growing solar industry stalled in a regulatory limbo. Solar developers have been pressing the Legislature for more than six months to raise the cap on net metering before the holiday recess, warning that failure […]
Environment
Posted inEnvironment
Healey study: No new pipelines needed
A STUDY COMMISSIONED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY indicates new natural gas pipelines are not needed because the region’s power grid will face no “reliability deficiency” through 2030. Even with more power plant retirements than expected, the study said the grid would face a power shortfall for only 26 hours over nine days during that […]
Posted inEnvironment
House passes solar bill; Senate leader hopeful
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE voted 150-2 on Tuesday in favor of a solar power bill that is very different from what the Senate passed in June, yet the Senate’s energy expert said he was optimistic the two branches could approve legislation and send it to the governor before the Legislature recesses Wednesday night. Sen. Benjamin Downing […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Solar power rhetoric, lobbying heats up
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE House leaders are taking their effort to pass a solar energy bill before the winter recess down to the wire, fomenting an increasingly bitter and public back-and-forth between the solar industry and business groups searching for an alternative way to incentivize the clean energy technology. House Speaker Robert DeLeo has listed […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
From journalist to climate crusader
IN 2013, WEN STEPHENSON sat down with his son and daughter to explain why he might end up in jail. “How do you explain to your children that climate change is so serious, so urgent and scary that Daddy’s going to go risk getting arrested to try and do something about it?” says Stephenson, a […]
Posted inEnvironment
National Grid proposes new rate structure
NATIONAL GRID on Friday proposed a radically different rate structure for delivering electricity to Massachusetts customers that relies more on fixed monthly charges and less on fees based on electricity usage. The utility, which serves 1.3 million electric customers in Massachusetts, filed a proposal on Friday with the Department of Public Utilities to increase its […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Heating oil vs. natural gas
HOPEFULLY, NEW ENGLAND WILL BE LUCKY this winter. No Polar Vortex. No endless snowstorm piling nine feet of frozen fluff on Boston. But whatever our luck, there are certain unavoidable facts of life that every New Englander will experience this winter. Even the staunchest New England opponent of increased natural gas pipeline capacity cannot dispute […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Let’s boost solar with smaller subsidies
LEGISLATORS ARE HAVING A HEATED DEBATE over the subsidies that flow to those who install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. That debate has been largely portrayed as dividing environmentalists and solar companies versus utilities and some business leaders. Solar advocates seek an immediate lifting of the “net metering caps” that limit the number of PV systems […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
House floats bill lifting solar net metering cap
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LEADERS ARE FLOATING a strategy to expand the solar industry in Massachusetts that would more than double the amount of installed solar capacity and eventually allow utilities to charge solar-producing customers a minimum service charge to cover the cost of maintaining transmission lines, poles, and wires. House Speaker Robert DeLeo […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
House to address solar cap before break
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO indicated Friday that the House would address the issue of the solar net metering cap separately from more comprehensive energy legislation that is likely to also speak to wind, hydro and other sources of renewable power. DeLeo, speaking to the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce on Friday […]