Plugging In

Energy and the Environment

No justification for proposed Peabody gas plant

Clean energy future doesn’t begin with a ‘dirty’ peaker

By Sarah Dooling Climate change, Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jun 19, 2021

THE MASSACHUSETTS Municipal Wholesale Electric Company and the staff at some participating municipal light plants say that building a new, 60-megawatt combined natural gas and oil peaker power plant in Peabody is absolutely necessary. The proposed peaker plant will run only when energy demand is high – and will cost ratepayers in 14 communities with(...)

Environmental League targets muni light plants

41 local utilities oversee 14% of the state's energy

By Meg McIntyre Electricity, Energy, Massachusetts politics 0 Comments Jun 19, 2021

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WHEN MARBLEHEAD voters get to the polls June 22, they’ll have their pick of candidates: 14 options for the Select Board, two choices for the School Committee and, perhaps most notably, four candidates vying for two seats on the Municipal Light Commission. In the 41 Bay State communities that own and(...)

Mass. should set 100% clean energy mandate

To reach climate goals, we need to keep thinking big

By Peter Rothstein and Jennifer Benson Climate change, Energy 0 Comments Jun 17, 2021

WITH LAST MONTH’S approval of the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, a clean energy future is within our grasp in the United States. Nowhere is that more evident than in Massachusetts. Our state is poised to deliver 800 megawatts of reliable, clean power to thousands of homes and businesses(...)

Time to prioritize offshore wind supply chain

Locally produced concrete foundations can be made here

By Patricia Haddad Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jun 6, 2021

THE TIME HAS COME to meet the promise of new jobs from the offshore wind industry. The main driver in my legislative support for offshore wind was the potential for job creation here in Massachusetts. I now fear the full potential will not be realized unless job creation is made a priority. I’m happy to(...)

Solar gone wrong

Technology is deforesting large swaths of Mass.

By Margaret Sheehan Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jun 6, 2021

JESSICA ROBERTSON and Daniel Berwick would be well-advised to take the advice they offer in their recent opinion piece that we should “shift the conversation from where solar shouldn’t go to where it should.” Borrego Solar, the company that employs them, must withdraw its current plans for another 200 acres of ground-mounted solar in the(...)

The municipal solution to climate change

Aggregation can play a big role in reaching goals

By Larry Chretien Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jun 4, 2021

AROUND THE WORLD, in the White House, and at our State House, leaders are finally beginning to respond to the climate challenge. Here in Massachusetts, we can take pride in bold new legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions. And the nation’s first large-scale off-shore wind project, Vineyard Wind, has been given the go ahead by(...)

Proposed Peabody gas plant, now on hold, makes sense

‘Peakers’ make sense as backup for renewable energy

By Ronald C. DeCurzio Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jun 1, 2021

IT SHOULD COME as no surprise that people have questions and concerns when one of the leaders in clean energy in Massachusetts proposes building a new gas-fired power plant in Peabody. But the answers aren’t all that complicated, and the concerns should be diminished when all the facts are known. Simply, the power plant, known(...)

Mayflower Wind strikes Brayton Point deal

Power from future wind farms would come ashore in Somerset

By Bruce Mohl Offshore Wind 0 Comments May 27, 2021

MAYFLOWER WIND, which is planning to bring ashore on Cape Cod the electricity generated by its first wind farm, said on Thursday that it intends to shift the landing point for the power produced by its future wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts to Brayton Point in Somerset. The announcement is good news for(...)

Without grid investments, clean power goals may not be met

Existing transmission systems lack enough capacity

By Brian Gemmell Electricity, Energy 0 Comments May 17, 2021

AT A TIME our nation and the New England area faces the challenge of fostering economic recovery in the wake of a global pandemic, investment in our electricity transmission system – the backbone of the US power grid – presents an opportunity to not only advance our nation’s fight against climate change, but to create(...)

Biomass is false solution to climate change

Recent state decisions are a step in right direction

By Philip Duffy and Alexander Rabin Electricity, Energy 0 Comments May 14, 2021

FOR TOO LONG, burning wood has been wrongly considered “clean” energy, when in fact it is bad for both the climate and human health. With two recent decisions, Massachusetts seems poised to reverse direction on this false solution and prioritize healthier communities and a safer climate. While these are steps in the right direction, they are(...)