NORTHERN CALIFORNIA has some of the strongest offshore winds in the US, with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind turbines directly on the seafloor costly if not impossible. Once water gets more than about 200 feet deep – roughly […]
Plugging In
Posted inEnergy
Mass. again comes in 2nd on energy efficiency efforts
FOR THE SECOND year in a row, Massachusetts came in second behind California on a national scorecard of energy efficiency efforts. Massachusetts earned 44.5 out of a possible 50 points, coming in 2.5 points behind California and 5 points ahead of third place New York. Maine was the most improved state on this year’s list, […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, State House News Service
No consensus on timing for fossil fuel heat shift
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A COMMISSION that spent the last 11 months studying ways to help the state meet its emissions reduction requirements by shifting to cleaner buildings and addressing heating fuels that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions released its final recommendations Wednesday, but was not able to come to consensus around a timeline for […]
Posted inEnergy
Maine hydro project clears another hurdle
MASSACHUSETTS MADE some headway on its clean energy goals on Tuesday, but moving forward on key offshore wind and hydro-electricity projects remains an uncertain process. A Massachusetts-financed transmission line carrying hydroelectricity from Quebec into Maine cleared another legal hurdle on Tuesday as the Maine Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that had blocked the […]
Posted inEnergy
Eversource’s turn: Basic service rate up 62% over last winter
EVERSOURCE SAID its eastern Massachusetts basic service rate – the price it charges customers who direct the utility to procure electricity on their behalf – is going to jump to a record high on January 1. The electricity price is jumping to 25.6 cents a kilowatt hour, up from the current level of 17.9 cents […]
Posted inTransportation
Powering up highway charging stations
DRIVING ALONG the Massachusetts Turnpike, electric vehicle charging stations are popping up at the service plazas, a harbinger of a future without internal combustion engines. But a new study from National Grid suggests the charging stations are somewhat misleading indicators of the future. The real challenge will not be installing charging stations, but delivering the […]
Posted inEnergy
Avangrid refuses to budge on need for pricing changes
THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES was very clear a week ago, telling the state’s two leading offshore wind developers that they could either move forward with the pricing contracts they negotiated with the state’s utilities or withdraw from the proceedings and start over again. Mayflower Wind quickly responded that it would honor the terms of […]
Posted inEnergy
Clock ticking, Avangrid finds itself isolated
AVANGRID, the state’s leading wind farm developer, suddenly finds itself facing both economic — and political — headwinds. Avangrid told state regulators its 1,200-megawatt Commonwealth Wind project could not get built without a “very modest increase” in the price the company would get paid for the electricity. Avangrid blamed the war in Ukraine, rising interest […]
Posted inEnergy
Mayflower Wind to honor existing contract terms
MAYFLOWER WIND on Monday backed away from an effort to seek revisions in its contract to supply electricity to the state’s utilities, pledging to move ahead with the pricing in its existing power purchase agreement. The shift came after the Department of Public Utilities told Mayflower and Commonwealth Wind that it would not grant a […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
DPU rejects wind developer’s bid for contract relief
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 […]