AS REPORTED LAST WEEK, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a utility-proposed cost-recovery scheme – the “pipeline tax” that would have helped finance Spectra’s Access Northeast project – violated the 1997 Restructuring Act. In response to this ruling, the project’s developers, National Grid, Eversource, and Spectra Energy, represented by John Flynn, Lee Olivier, and […]
Plugging In
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Gas pipeline firm says it’s full-speed ahead
What follows is a letter from the three top officials of Access Northeast to New England policymakers on the need for new natural gas pipeline infrastructure in the region. LAST WEEK, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a ruling touching on the critical effort underway across New England to reduce the cost of electric […]
Posted inEnvironment
SJC nixes ‘pipeline tax’
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT ruled on Wednesday that the Baker administration can not authorize the state’s electric utilities to tap their ratepayers for the money to finance a new natural gas pipeline into the region. The decision carries enormous financial and environmental implications for the state of Massachusetts and the region. Existing natural gas pipelines […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Energy bill a solid step forward
IF YOU’RE DISGUSTED BY POLITICS in this country, take heart. This is Massachusetts. The state’s clean energy bill, passed in the wee hours of July 31, is an important step forward for the Commonwealth. The bill requires the state’s utilities to enter into long-term contracts for the purchase of 1,200 megawatts of primarily hydroelectricity and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
The inconvenient truth of energy policy
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE just enacted some of the most ambitious clean energy procurement legislation in the nation. It is a significant step to meet the Commonwealth’s emissions reduction goals and a major victory for the environmental community and offshore wind industry. It also was an important accomplishment for the Baker-Polito Administration to bring large-scale hydro […]
Posted inEnvironment
Energy bill: Winners & losers
The energy legislation approved by the Legislature late Sunday night radically reorganizes the state’s energy market in favor of clean energy, calls for hydroelectric and offshore wind power contracts worth billions of dollars, and gives Massachusetts a shot at building a new offshore wind industry. What’s unclear is whether the energy bill will drive up […]
Posted inEnvironment
Lawmakers give late-night OK to energy bill
HOUSE AND SENATE LAWMAKERS approved a compromise energy bill Sunday night that they hope will pave the way for an offshore wind industry and sharply increase imports of electricity from Canada, but they shied away from more aggressive measures to promote renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions. The compromise bill surfaced shortly after 9:30 p.m. […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
We must preserve nuclear power plants
The following is a letter sent to Gov. Charlie Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg by a group of scientists, environmentalists, and academics. As scientists, environmentalists and concerned citizens, we urge you to include nuclear power among the sources of clean energy eligible for support in Massachusetts law, particularly in the […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
No subsidies for gas pipeline projects
IT’S CRUNCH TIME when it comes to the Omnibus Energy Bill that is being debated on Beacon Hill. Lawmakers have to decide if they will continue to promote fossil fuel energy consumption or if they will instead help Massachusetts lead the way in building an economy based on clean, sustainable energy sources. They must decide […]
Posted inEnvironment
DPU-Eversource communications probed
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES is investigating whether one of its employees had improper communication with an attorney for Eversource Energy, which is seeking state approval to assess its electricity customers for the money to finance a new natural gas pipeline into the region. The issue first surfaced last week when Kevin Conroy, an […]