Plugging In

Energy and the Environment

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(...)

Report: Utilities raised concerns on Mayflower

Worried about failure or substantial delays of wind farm

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Feb 19, 2020

THE UTILITIES THAT SELECTED Mayflower Wind for the state’s second offshore wind procurement raised serious concerns at several stages of the process about the company’s ability to complete the project by 2025, according to a report by an independent firm hired to monitor the contracting process. The report by Peregrine Energy Group is heavily redacted(...)

Vineyard Wind facing lots of hurdles

Federal regulator suggests 2023 possible start date

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Feb 18, 2020

A FEDERAL REGULATOR speaking at a conference in Boston on Tuesday posted a slide suggesting Vineyard Wind would be operational in 2023, but the company itself is not saying whether its wind farm will be generating electricity by then. Vineyward Wind originally hoped to begin construction in 2019 and have half the 800 megawatt wind(...)

Good news, bad news on offshore wind

Mayflower price attractive; fed delay confirmed

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Feb 11, 2020

THE OFFSHORE WIND INDUSTRY took one step forward and one step backward on Tuesday. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said its review of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project would be completed by June 12 and a final decision on the project issued by December 18 – 15 months later than originally projected.(...)

Mass. lawmakers, Trump administration spar over Vineyard Wind review

Double-standard claim dismissed as unfounded, uninformed

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Feb 6, 2020

NINE MEMBERS of the Massachusetts congressional delegation asked the General Accountability Office to investigate whether the Trump administration’s extended environmental review of the Vineyard Wind project reflects a bias against renewable energy – an allegation a spokeswoman for the Department of Interior dismissed as “unfounded and uninformed.” In a letter to the General Accountability Office,(...)

For offshore wind, expect more delays

Theoharides: Vineyard Wind's federal review won't be done until December

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Feb 3, 2020

FEDERAL AGENCIES ASSESSING the environmental impact of Vineyard Wind are now expecting the long-delayed process to wrap up sometime in December, according to a top Baker administration official. The Vineyard Wind project was put on hold indefinitely in August 2019 when the federal government decided to supplement its environmental impact review with a study of(...)

Picking apart Rep. Kearney’s fishy argument

Jones Act could strangle offshore wind industry

By Lloyd Mendes Energy 0 Comments Jan 31, 2020

YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED a fishy odor from a recent CommonWealth article. It was the smell of red herring, served in an opinion piece by state Rep. Patrick Kearney. On its face, his argument seems reasonable enough: protect American merchant marine jobs by continuing to exclude foreign vessels from serving offshore wind power platforms. Kearney(...)

Healey: Stop individual residential electricity sales

‘The problem is only getting worse,” AG says

By Maura Healey Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Jan 29, 2020

THE COMPETITIVE ELECTRIC SUPPLY INDUSTRY has overcharged Massachusetts consumers for far too long. We’ve all seen these companies in action. They go door-to-door, send letters in the mail, and call over and over with promises of cheaper electricity, or a locked-in low rate that they claim will save you money. They promise if you sign(...)

Mayflower Wind, without contract, moving ahead

By CommonWealth Staff Climate change, Environment 0 Comments Jan 15, 2020

Mayflower Wind still doesn’t have a final contract for its offshore wind farm off the coast of Nantucket, but it appears to be moving ahead with the project anyway in a bid to tap federal investment tax credits. A press release issued by a joint venture of two Danish companies on Wednesday indicated Mayflower has(...)