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 […]
Offshore Wind
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
Wind farm, utilities at odds on electricity contracts
COMMONWEALTH WIND on Tuesday told state regulators that the contracts for electricity it negotiated with the state’s utilities in May need to be renegotiated because of changed economic circumstances. But the utilities, in their own filing with the Department of Public Utilities, said they had no intention of renegotiating the contracts and they should be […]
Posted inThe Download
Wind farm developer seeks to reopen power contract
The Baker administration is in a bind on offshore wind. The state desperately needs the power from proposed wind farms off the coast, but the largest of those wind farms now says the contract price it agreed to in April and affirmed in May is no longer sufficient to build out the project. Commonwealth Wind […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Wind farm developer seeks to reopen power contract
A correction has been added to this story. THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is in a bind on offshore wind. The state desperately needs the power from proposed wind farms off the coast, but the largest of those wind farms now says the contract price it agreed to in April and affirmed in May is no longer […]
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
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 inOpinion
Now is the time to triple down on renewables
RECENTLY, BOTH branches of the Massachusetts Legislature approved a new compromise climate bill. This legislation, which now sits on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk for review, represents significant progress as the Commonwealth seeks to meet its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Equally encouraging was the Biden administration’s announcement at the shuttered Brayton Point […]
Posted inEnergy
Pricing announced for latest offshore wind farms
BAKER ADMINISTRATION officials say the two latest offshore wind procurements are in compliance with the state’s price cap even though their electricity will probably end up costing more. Under the cap, the price of electricity with each successive procurement must come in lower than the previous one. The cap has become somewhat controversial of late, […]