WHEN A ST. LOUIS company bought the massive coal-fired Brayton Point power plant in Somerset in 2018, the firm was viewed far and wide as a white knight riding to the town’s rescue. Commercial Development Co., which bills itself as North America’s leading brownfield developer, promised to raze the shuttered power plant and convert the […]
Offshore Wind
Posted inOpinion
3 Massachusetts myths about offshore wind
MASSACHUSETTS MADE headlines a few years ago when it secured the nation’s first large-scale procurement of offshore wind, the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project. The Commonwealth was leading the way, planning on developing 3,200 megawatts in total, recognizing the potential of offshore wind to address its carbon reduction goals while catalyzing a new industry and growing […]
Posted inEnvironment
Bernhardt eager for offshore wind ‘that works’
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR David Bernhardt flew into Boston on Tuesday where he defended putting Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first large-scale wind farm, on hold for more than a year and promised a key permitting decision on the project in December that will work for both wind developers and fishing interests. Bernhardt, whose boss, President Trump, […]
Posted inUncategorized
Perfect port an elusive goal for East Coast offshore wind
NORTHEAST SEAPORTS ARE inadequate to meet the needs of the offshore wind industry, and ideas for filling that gap could create tension between the sometimes competing goals of those overseeing the burgeoning sector. “Developers have studied all the ports up and down the East Coast several times now. What we’re really looking for is large […]
Posted inUncategorized
It’s time for power grid to look at benefits of offshore wind
The New England region is home to policies aimed at significant reductions in greenhouse gases. Each of the six New England states has renewable portfolio standards that set targets for how much energy should be procured from renewable sources by a given year. These have grown in recent years as the impacts of climate change […]
Posted inUncategorized
What if an offshore wind farm was up and running last winter?
Last year at this time, New England was gripped by a blast of unusually cold weather that went on for 16 days. The prolonged low temperatures increased demand for natural gas for both heating and electricity, which with the region’s pipeline constraints led to sharply higher wholesale electricity prices and forced power generators to burn more oil in the brief period than they had in the previous two years […]
Posted inThe Download
Cautionary offshore wind tale out of Va.
Massachusetts earned plaudits earlier this year for its handling of an offshore wind procurement, but not every state’s pursuit of renewable energy is getting rave reviews. Reports out of Virginia suggest the state may be getting hoodwinked by one of its leading utilities. The cautionary Virginia tale began innocently enough earlier this year. Angry about […]
Posted inThe Back Story
What’s the best bet on wind?
A clarification was added to this story after its original publication. TWO OF THE THREE COMPANIES vying to build offshore wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts say it would make sense for the state to select two companies to split an 800-megawatt procurement. The third company said an 800 megawatt procurement is the way […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Competing strategies emerge on offshore wind
TWO VERY DIFFERENT strategies are beginning to emerge as three offshore wind companies prepare to vie for up to 1,600 megawatts of contracts with the state of Massachusetts. The powerhouse partnership of DONG Energy and Eversource Energy, operating under the name of Bay State Wind, has adopted what might be described as a go-it-alone, bigger-is-better […]
Posted inEnvironment
Renewables not cheap
IN DECEMBER, A company called CleanChoice Energy mailed out a sales pitch to electricity customers in eastern Massachusetts. The letter acknowledged that 100 percent renewable energy from solar and wind would cost “a little more” than “polluting energy,” but said the added expense was worth it. “That’s because the energy you are choosing is better […]