Plugging In

Energy and the Environment

Mayflower Wind cutting its price 10%

Offshore wind tax credit triggers reduction

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jan 8, 2021

MAYFLOWER WIND is cutting its price for delivering electricity to Massachusetts customers by roughly 10 percent with the help of a new federal tax credit included in the recent COVID-19 stimulus package. Under the terms of its 20-year contract with the state’s three utilities, Mayflower agreed to an average price of 7.77 cents per kilowatt(...)

Baker is wrong to subsidize wood burning

4 scientists say using wood to generate electricity will worsen climate change

By William Moomaw, John Sterman, Juliette Rooney-Varga and Richard Birdsey Energy, Environment 0 Comments Jan 4, 2021

GOVS. CHARLIE BAKER of Massachusetts and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan were featured US officials at the fifth anniversary celebration of the Paris Climate Agreement. Their presence demonstrated that state leaders, from both political parties, are actively battling the climate emergency. It is therefore baffling that the Baker administration just released new regulations that directly undermine(...)

Climate bill would clear up solar tax confusion

Assessors, solar developers hammered out deal

By Shira Schoenberg Energy, Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Jan 4, 2021

THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE is set to clarify a confusing and outdated tax law, which had been stymying solar projects around the state. A compromise hammered out between the state’s assessors and solar developers has made it into the final version of a climate change bill. The bill was reported out of a conference committee on(...)

Baker emissions roadmap sets ambitious targets

Calls for energy retrofits of 1m homes, 750,000 electric vehicles over next decade

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, Climate change 0 Comments Dec 30, 2020

This story was updated at 2:30 p.m. THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Wednesday rolled out a draft plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade that calls for energy retrofits of 1 million existing homes, higher efficiency standards for all new construction, the deployment of 750,000 electric vehicles, preservation of the region’s nuclear power(...)

Wait, we’re number 2?

Time for Massachusetts to try harder on efficiency standards

By Charlie Harak and Josh Cutler Energy, energy efficiency 0 Comments Dec 19, 2020

LIKE THE FAMOUS Avis commercial says: when you’re number two, you gotta try harder! When it comes to energy efficiency policy, that is the unfamiliar position Massachusetts now finds itself in. For years –– nine years to be precise –– the Commonwealth led or tied as the most energy efficient state in the nation, according(...)

Solar revolution is stalled, needs to shift into gear

Lawmakers need to move on climate action bill

By Ben Downing and Ben Underwood Climate change, Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Dec 10, 2020

AFTER FOUR YEARS of denying climate science and downplaying its consequences, the federal government is on the cusp of a new era. Although deep political divides persist on many issues, there is one thing that Americans are united on – and that’s a desire for a national transition to clean, renewable energy. A resounding 82 percent of voters say(...)

Confusion over tax status stymies solar projects

Municipalities worry about lost revenue

By Shira Schoenberg 0 Comments Dec 10, 2020

AN OUTDATED LAW and a series of rulings by an obscure tax board are throwing the state’s landscape for solar projects into disarray. The question revolves around whether commercial solar projects should be exempt from paying municipal property taxes. The lack of clarity is threatening to take revenue away from municipal budgets – and stymie(...)

Weymouth settles compressor fight, collects $10m

Hedlund: 'The clock has run out on us'

By Chris Lisinski Energy 0 Comments Oct 30, 2020

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE TOWN OF WEYMOUTH will drop its ongoing legal fight against a controversial natural gas project, and energy giant Enbridge will pay the municipality $10 million as part of a newly reached host community agreement that immediately drew condemnation from opponents of the compressor station. With the compressor station already built(...)

DPU orders gas utilities to rethink their future

What is their role in net-zero emission future

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, Climate change, Energy 0 Comments Oct 29, 2020

THE MASSACHUSETTS Department of Public Utilities on Thursday ordered the state’s natural gas utilities to jointly hire consultants and come up with a way to dramatically phase down or eliminate their businesses over the next 30 years. The order is a response to Gov. Charlie Baker’s call for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.(...)

N.E. governors seek bigger say in power policies

Seek greater role in oversight of grid operator

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Oct 16, 2020

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER and four other New England governors made a push on Friday for a much bigger say in the way the region’s electricity markets are regulated and governed, although the vision statement they issued steered clear of the top recommendation put forth by the region’s power grid operator – a carbon tax. The(...)