Plugging In

Plugging In

Energy and the Environment

Mass. puts wind power in gear

Mass. puts wind power in gear

Vineyard Wind’s low price due to synergies

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TWO MAJOR EVENTS LAST WEEK have augured a new era for offshore wind in Massachusetts. The Legislature passed the Clean Energy Future Act on July 31, officially laying out a path to doubling Massachusetts’ procurement of offshore wind to 3,200 MW. The next day, Gov. Charlie Baker’s Department of Energy Resources publicly released the pricing(...)

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Eversource offered to drop out of offshore wind procurement team

Eversource offered to drop out of offshore wind procurement team

Feared participation on both sides of table would undermine confidence in selection process

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EVERSOURCE ENERGY in February offered to withdraw from the team evaluating the bids of companies seeking to supply electricity from wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts because the utility was also involved in bidding on the contracts. According to the report of an independent evaluator hired to monitor the fairness of the contracting process,(...)

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Offshore wind prices look competitive

Offshore wind prices look competitive

Vineyard Wind contract filed with state regulators

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THE DEVELOPER OF THE NATION’S first major offshore wind farm is promising to deliver wholesale power to Massachusetts at prices that are far below what Cape Wind was offering nearly a decade ago and not much more expensive than hydro-electricity just procured from Canada. According to contracts filed with the state Department of Public Utilities(...)

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Breaking down the new clean energy bill

Breaking down the new clean energy bill

Eversource, AIM call it a ‘measured approach;’ one rep calls it ‘terrible’

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THE CLEAN ENERGY BILL approved by the Legislature on Tuesday adopted the go-slow approach favored by many of the state’s business groups and utilities, leaving a price on carbon and stronger support for solar and wind on the cutting room floor while greenlighting a number of less flashy provisions designed to give renewable energy a(...)

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Energy legislation makes it out of conference

Energy legislation makes it out of conference

Sierra Club official complains bill represents only 'baby steps'

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STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE .Just like two years ago, the Legislature is poised to consider a substantial piece of clean energy legislation on the final day of formal sessions. The conference committee that since July 17 has been working to reconcile a Senate bill and four House bills related to clean energy filed its report(...)

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Lawmakers should embrace clean energy

Lawmakers should embrace clean energy

Say no to gas pipelines financed by electric ratepayers

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STARK NEW ESTIMATES of the potential cost of climate change to Massachusetts’ homeowners should make the Legislature act more urgently than it already has to halt the state’s consumption of fossil fuels and resulting release of greenhouse gases. According to a June analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists, 89,000 buildings in the Commonwealth worth(...)

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Inaction on environmental justice has consequences

Inaction on environmental justice has consequences

Lawmakers need to act on solar access legislation

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THERE’S AN OLD SAYING in politics: elections have consequences. Well, inaction has consequences, too. And every day that Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez, Sen. Karen Spilka, and their Ways and Means colleagues fail to rein in pollution and recognize that environmental consciousness is growing is another day that our most vulnerable residents are left breathing dirty air.(...)

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MA solar hurting, needs legislative help

MA solar hurting, needs legislative help

Industry lost more than 3,000 jobs last year

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AT THE END OF THIS MONTH, Massachusetts legislators will break for the remainder of the summer. That leaves just a couple days for them to act on key bills that could bring thousands of jobs back to the Bay State. At risk is the state’s solar industry — a sector that’s been helping Massachusetts grow(...)

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3 utilities seek $426m for negotiating hydro contracts

3 utilities seek $426m for negotiating hydro contracts

Firms say payments needed to recognize their ‘financial obligation’

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THE THREE UTILITIES that negotiated hydro-electricity contracts on behalf of the state are seeking compensation equal to 2.75 percent of the deal, a total of nearly $426 million over 20 years or an average of roughly $21 million a year. In a filing with the state Department of Public Utilities accompanying the contracts, officials from(...)

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Baker officials tout hydro contract benefits

Baker officials tout hydro contract benefits

At 5.9 cents per kilowatt hour, customer bills expected to decline

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BAKER ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS said a massive purchase of hydro-electricity from the Canadian province of Quebec will be priced at a levelized flat rate of 5.9 cents a kilowatt hour for 20 years, resulting in a 2 to 4 percent reduction in Massachusetts customer bills over that period and total direct and indirect savings of as(...)

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