THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION and much of the Legislature is trying hard to give the developer of a controversial proposed wood-fired “biomass” power plant in Springfield everything it wants—especially a regulatory change that could give the plant $175 million in additional cash from Massachusetts electric ratepayers over 20 years. To those wondering why Beacon Hill is doing […]
Renewable energy
Posted inEconomy
New voices, proposals emerging in Boston’s biz community
WINDS OF CHANGE are starting to blow through Boston’s business community. One clear signal came earlier this month, when close to 20 business organizations said they would heed an appeal from House Speaker Robert DeLeo to help develop a transportation policy that likely will call for additional revenues. “It’s time for a united voice from […]
Posted inThe Download
New voices, proposals emerging in Boston’s biz community
Winds of change are starting to blow through Boston’s business community. One clear signal came earlier this month, when close to 20 business organizations said they would heed an appeal from House Speaker Robert DeLeo to help develop a transportation policy that likely will call for additional revenues. “It’s time for a united voice from […]
Posted inOpinion
Businesses want stronger clean energy mandates
FOR CENTURIES, MASSACHUSETTS has been a national hub for innovation. With cutting edge academic institutions, a superb health care sector, and a thriving real estate market, the commonwealth is an excellent place to do business. Massachusetts is also home to a rapidly growing clean energy sector, which has allowed commercial real estate service providers like […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. citizens point the way on climate change
WE LIVE IN a time when the way we power our lives is literally putting our survival at stake. We’re seeing an increase in deadly natural disasters, glaciers melting at a worrisome rate, and American states and territories at risk of disappearing from the map due to rising sea levels. Yet the Trump administration seems […]
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 inPolitics, The Download
Let’s go renewable
More than a quarter of the Massachusetts Legislature has signed on in support of bills that would require the state to obtain all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035 and the rest of its energy from renewables by 2050. The goal of reducing reliance on fossil fuels is worthy, but the fact that […]
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, State House News Service
Study: Storage could deliver 600 MW in 10 years
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE RIGHT amount of encouragement, energy storage technology – a field that can range from batteries to more novel contraptions – could account for 600 megawatts of energy in Massachusetts by 2025, providing more than $800 million in savings and reducing greenhouse gases by the equivalent of removing 73,000 cars […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, State House News Service
Nearly 99,000 clean energy jobs in MA
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE CLEAN ENERGY SECTOR now employs nearly 99,000 workers in Massachusetts, after five consecutive years of growth, according to a report out Tuesday from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. A total of 6,439 clean energy companies across the state employ 98,895 workers, representing 11.9 percent growth over last year, the 2015 […]