Tension over the MBTA Communities Law was on display Wednesday night at a CommonWealth Beacon panel in Quincy as a state legislator who voted for the law – and feels it did not go far enough – clashed with a city council president who expressed reservations with the top-down nature of the state telling cities and towns what to do.
Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl oversees the production of content and edits reports, along with carrying out his own reporting with a particular focus on transportation, energy, and climate issues.
He previously worked at the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper.
Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Posted inTransportation
MBTA board approves low-income fare
The amendment by Tibbits-Nutt was unusual in that she publicly overruled T staff, who had argued against including premium service in the discount, and did so without any debate over the extra cost.
Posted inTransportation
MBTA hits ‘reset’ on deal with subway car manufacturer
The MBTA board voted on Thursday to waive $90.6 million in penalties and possibly nearly $40 million more if the cars are delivered on the new timetable. The T also agreed to pay CRRC, the world’s largest rail car manufacturer, $148 million to cover unexpected cost increases brought about by the pandemic and hefty tariffs on the cars imposed by the US government.
Posted inEnergy
New England’s last coal-fired power plant to close
Granite Shore Power said it reached an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency to close Merrimack Station in Bow, New Hampshire, as well as Schiller Station in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and transform them into what the company called “renewable energy parks.”
Posted inHousing
Milton says Campbell overstepping on MBTA Communities Act
In a filing with the SJC, Milton argues that it should not have to take any further action because the law’s guidelines were not promulgated properly and, even if that issue was rectified, the Legislature didn’t grant the attorney general the power to enforce the law.
Posted inEnergy
4 developers submit offshore wind bids in multistate procurement
Five companies own offshore leases off the southern New England coast. Avangrid, Ocean Winds, Orsted, and Vineyard Offshore submitted bids totaling 5,455 megawatts on Wednesday, while the fifth company, bp, decided to remain on the sidelines.
Posted inEnergy
Chairs of divided energy committee call a truce
The legislative workaround resolves a particularly nasty fight between the two branches that resulted in an unusual committee standoff, with House members holding hearings separately from Senate members and witnesses forced to testify before both groups.
Posted inEnergy
Beacon Hill is eyeing utility bill equity upgrades
But there are broader structural problems with utility rates that also need to be addressed, including one related to solar power development.
Posted inEnergy
Feds offer bonus tax credits for offshore wind
The new guidance expands eligibility for a bonus that would increase the investment tax credit for eligible offshore wind projects from 30 percent to 40 percent.
Posted inPolitics
Sen. Edwards apologizes for Milton comments
“The measure of our character and professionalism is not in the fervor with which we hold our positions, but in the respect and civility with which we express them. In this instance, I failed to uphold these standards.”