Plugging In

Energy and the Environment

Our next plunge: Going big on wind

The state is poised to be a global leader in green energy

By Bob Durand 0 Comments Jul 29, 2020

IT WAS A PLUNGE I’ll never forget – into the Charles River with Gov. Bill Weld in 1996 to celebrate the passage of the Massachusetts Rivers Act. Let’s just say the Charles was a little murky that day at a time when clean, swimmable water in our rivers was not exactly the norm. The status(...)

Mass. in middle of Maine power fight

Maine lawmakers tell Hydro-Quebec to stop meddling in ballot campaign

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jul 29, 2020

A group of 25 current and former Maine state lawmakers sent a letter to Hydro-Quebec on Wednesday urging the provincial utility to stop meddling in a state election battle spawned by Massachusetts’ thirst for hydro-electricity from Canada. Massachusetts utilities, with the backing of the Baker administration, signed a nearly $1 billion contract to purchase electricity(...)

Healey reluctantly rejects Brookline bylaw

Measure banned most oil, gas pipes in new buildings

By Bruce Mohl Attorney General Maura Healey, Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jul 21, 2020

ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY’S office on Tuesday reluctantly shot down a bylaw approved by the town of Brookline that would have barred the installation of most fossil fuel infrastructure in any new buildings or significant rehabs of existing buildings. In a 12-page ruling, Healey applauded the town’s bid to start addressing greenhouse gas emissions but(...)

Mass. becomes dirty word in Maine referendum fight

Bay State hydro deal irks those opposed to power line

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jul 7, 2020

CORPORATE SURROGATES for Massachusetts have spent close to $17 million so far battling a referendum question in Maine that seeks to block the importation of hydroelectricity from Quebec using a power line running through wilderness areas in the western part of the state. The referendum battle is in some ways the dark underbelly of a(...)

New transmission infrastructure needed for offshore wind

Aging coastal grid must be upgraded for industry’s expansion

By Eric Hines Energy 0 Comments Jun 13, 2020

EARLIER THIS MONTH, Attorney General Maura Healey posed a fundamental question to the Department of Public Utilities. Now that Massachusetts has proclaimed a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, how do we get there? Implicit in Healey’s question is our recognition that the entire world must do this together. If we don’t, Boston and(...)

Putting land for solar off-limits could hurt farmers

70 projects already underway would be shelved

By Mark Amato Electricity, Energy, Solar power 0 Comments Jun 11, 2020

AT A TIME when our country is already in the grips of a global pandemic and social unrest, a disagreement over an obscure solar policy may seem unimportant – trivial even. But this summer, Massachusetts is threatening to tie the hands of its farmers by making it much more difficult for them to host solar(...)

Feds release Vineyard Wind environmental assessment

Project 2,000 turbines along E. Coast over next 10 years

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jun 9, 2020

FEDERAL REGULATORS on Tuesday released a detailed, 420-page environmental assessment of the proposed Vineyard Wind project that includes predictions about the future of wind energy along the East Coast and suggests the impact on commercial fishing of six possible wind farm configurations would be roughly the same. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management put Vineyard(...)

Mass. emission strategies all up in air

Referendum on power line challenged in court

By Bruce Mohl 0 Comments May 13, 2020

THE COMPANY SELECTED by Massachusetts to build a power line delivering large amounts of hydro-electricity from Quebec into the regional power grid at Lewiston, Maine, is asking a judge to block a voter referendum on the project. Avangrid, the corporate parent of Central Maine Power, which has won a series of approvals for the project(...)

Net-zero target gets mixed reviews

Senator calls it 'silly math' on Earth Day

By Matt Murphy and Michael P. Norton Energy, greenhouse gas emissions 0 Comments Apr 22, 2020

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides used the occasion of Earth Day on Wednesday to finalize the state’s new net-zero greenhouse gas emissions limit, but some environmental groups and legislators were disappointed. The new policy, which was announced by Gov. Charlie Baker in his State of the Commonwealth address back(...)

Healey calls for exploring expanded carbon pricing

Recommendation matches what grid operator has been saying

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Mar 9, 2020

ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY released a white paper on Monday that calls for the creation of a New England task force to explore expanded use of carbon pricing in electricity generation to achieve region-wide greenhouse gas emission reductions. The white paper’s recommendation is drawing attention because it mirrors what the region’s power grid operator has(...)