A TOP OFFICIAL WITH EVERSOURCE ENERGY said on Wednesday that Massachusetts was in danger of not meeting its carbon emission reduction targets for 2020. In a conference call with financial analysts, Lee Olivier, an executive vice president with Eversource, said all of the New England states except for Massachusetts are on track to meet their […]
Plugging In
Posted inEnvironment
Eversource facing big Beacon Hill challenge
EVERSOURCE ENERGY FACES a monumental lobbying challenge this year – convincing Beacon Hill lawmakers to pass legislation allowing electric ratepayers to finance the construction of a natural gas pipeline into the region. The challenge is immense because the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in August that the novel financing scheme is not allowed under existing Massachusetts […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Eversource solar hikes unwarranted
I READ WITH INTEREST the story entitled “Eversource seeks higher fees on customers with solar.” In several instances, the utility’s stated reasons for its proposed fee hikes for customers with rooftop solar installations appear to me to be contrary to the facts. While Eversource argues that solar homes use the power grid just like any […]
Posted inUncategorized
Power auction goes smoothly for 2020-2021
NEW ENGLAND POWER GRID OFFICIALS said on Thursday that they easily secured enough electricity to meet the region’s energy needs three years from now. ISO-New England, the region’s power grid operator, said an auction on Monday secured commitments from generators to deliver 35,835 megawatts of electricity between June 1, 2020, and May 30, 2021. The […]
Posted inEnvironment
New solar plan cuts subsidies in half
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION UNVEILED a next-generation solar incentive plan on Tuesday that is expected to cut in half the subsidies paid by the state’s electric ratepayers while giving developers more certainty about how much money they will receive under the program. The state’s previous solar incentive programs, developed during the administration of former governor Deval […]
Posted inEnvironment
Governors can wield influence over pipelines
WITH NEW FEDERAL ENERGY POLICIES evolving to be starkly at odds with our priorities in Massachusetts, it is vital that we understand what authority our state has to influence controversial new natural gas infrastructure projects. Complicating matters, the Baker administration continues to promote an abstract vision of expanded interstate natural gas pipeline capacity in our […]
Posted inEnvironment
Eversource seeks big distribution rate hike
EVERSOURCE ON TUESDAY SOUGHT regulatory approval for a hefty increase in its distribution rates, a move that has the potential to sharply increase monthly utility bills in its service areas in eastern and western Massachusetts. Utility bills have four major components: customer service, distribution, transmission, and power supply charges. This rate filing only applies to […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Three cheers for natural gas
NATURAL GAS HAS BEEN a resounding environmental success story for Massachusetts that has delivered every benefit environmentalists predicted it would back in the 1990s. Continued access to reliable supplies of natural gas will be critical to fulfilling Massachusetts’ renewable energy revolution in the 2020s and well beyond. Those are two realities we believe far too […]
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 […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Boost the Renewable Portfolio Standard
AT THE SAME TIME president-elect Donald Trump has loudly promised job creation measures, he has also vowed to invest in fossil fuel expansion, including the coal industry. These two promises are incompatible in the long term. With renewables poised to take the place of a dying coal industry, promoting development of the renewable energy sector […]