Plugging In

Energy and the Environment

Who’s in charge of Mass. offshore wind procurements?

Recent decision shows utilities are calling the shots

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Nov 6, 2019

THE MOST RECENT offshore wind procurement exposed a major flaw in the selection process, as the state’s three utilities – and not elected officials and their staffers – were charged with making policy decisions about the direction of the Massachusetts offshore wind industry. The procurement, the state’s second, attracted three bidders – Mayflower Wind, Vineyard(...)

Zero energy buildings are not high cost

They make sense environmentally and economically

By Meredith Elbaum Energy 0 Comments Nov 3, 2019

MORE THAN 70 MUNICIPAL LEADERS, architects, engineers, advocates, and residents gathered last year in a room at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston ready to talk green building and eager to take action. Representing over 20 different urban, suburban, and gateway municipalities, many attendees already had impressive goals, including a push for zero energy building(...)

Mayflower’s lowest-price offshore wind option selected

Proposals offering more onshore investment rejected

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Oct 30, 2019

MAYFLOWER WIND WAS SELECTED as the winner of the state’s second offshore wind farm procurement with a proposal that the company said offered the lowest price and the least onshore investment of its three major offerings. Few details about the price or the onshore investment were revealed, but Mayflower said in its original bid that(...)

Decarbonizing economy requires lot more electricity

Big ramp-ups in solar, wind power are needed

By Jürgen Weiss Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Oct 19, 2019

THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS have brought into sharp focus the urgency of climate action. From 16-year-old Greta Thunberg sailing across the Atlantic to deliver a dramatic plea at the UN, to debates on Beacon Hill over what kind of energy and how much of it we need to meet regional compacts, there is broad consensus(...)

Colleges can lead on climate change

Good for students and good for the bottom line

By John Tourtelotte and Chris Warren Climate change, Energy 0 Comments Oct 5, 2019

AT THEIR BEST, American universities and colleges are problem-solving institutions whose work is rooted in a set of universal values. This is a unique position in our society, one that allows professors, students, and alumni to draw on diverse expertise and skills to address the world’s most pressing challenges. Few challenges are as daunting, complex,(...)

Baker’s latest solar goal called too small

Pacheco, advocates push administration to think bigger

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Oct 4, 2019

THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is calling for an 800 megawatt expansion of the state’s relatively new solar incentive program, but a state lawmaker and industry advocates say that amount is way too small. The so-called SMART program launched last November and demand for incentives quickly outpaced the supply. Nearly 15,000 applications for projects generating 1,100 megawatts(...)

DPU approves National Grid rate hike

Rejects grant program for Gateway Cities

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Oct 1, 2019

STATE REGULATORS on Tuesday approved raising National Grid’s monthly residential customer charge from $5.50 to $7 along with a yet-to-be-determined increase in the per-kilowatt distribution rate on residential customer bills. On a gross basis, the rate increase amounted to $90 million a year. The increase, the first since 2016, will take effect November 1. In(...)

Trump aide offers no guidance on Vineyard Wind

Refuses to say when review of project will be completed

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Sep 27, 2019

A TRUMP ADMINISTRATION official attending a conference in Boston on Friday repeatedly refused to say when the agency’s review of the Vineyard Wind project would be completed. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management put the offshore wind farm on hold indefinitely in early August while it tries to gain a better understanding of the cumulative(...)

Vineyard Wind limbo is chance for reset

Federal timeout on offshore wind could last a long time

By Edward N. Krapels Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Sep 22, 2019

THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT’S Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, the agency that issues permits for offshore wind projects in federal waters, has called a timeout on the rapidly expanding offshore wind industry in the US. The bureaucratic delay poses an unwelcome challenge for the Vineyard Wind project, the wider offshore wind industry, and states(...)

Mass. should accelerate solar development

State is facing a fork in the road on clean energy

By Peter Rothstein and Jeff Cramer Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Sep 5, 2019

MASSACHUSETTS IS IN THE MIDST of a success story when it comes to solar energy. At a time when the effects of climate change are becoming more obvious to us all, our state has made tremendous progress in lowering the cost of solar and expanding access to a broad spectrum of consumers. This week and(...)