Plugging In

Energy and the Environment

Baker signs climate change order

Senator says the measure is too little too late

By Bruce Mohl Energy 6 Comments Sep 16, 2016

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER, who six years ago expressed skepticism about the science of climate change, signed an executive order on Friday setting the state on a course to develop a comprehensive plan to mitigate and adapt to the fallout from rising greenhouse gas emissions. The order requires the Baker administration to pursue reductions in greenhouse(...)

Offshore wind firms eye New Bedford

May rent state marine terminal for $5.7m a year

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 1 Comment Sep 6, 2016

STATE OFFICIALS ON TUESDAY signed a non-binding letter of intent with three companies who all agreed to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as a staging area if they succeed in building wind farms 14 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. DONG Energy, Deepwater Wind, and OffshoreMW, the three offshore wind developers that(...)

Some say Baker's new approach faces legal hurdles

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker 5 Comments Sep 1, 2016

ONE OF THE BIG MYSTERIES on Beacon Hill is how Gov. Charlie Baker is going to accomplish one of his top remaining energy priorities – building a new natural gas pipeline into the region. His original plan was dealt a mortal blow a couple weeks ago when the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that existing state(...)

Baker is right; we need gas pipeline

Renewables-only approach won’t work

By Carl Gustin Electricity, Energy 7 Comments Aug 31, 2016

Gov. Charlie Baker is right to push for a new natural gas pipeline. His support for renewable energy – solar and wind – is fully compatible with his support for more natural gas. They are two halves of the same energy foundation supporting a structure that is both more affordable and better for the environment.(...)

MIT dean talks fusion with govs, premiers

'There's a reason to be optimistic,' he says

By Andy Metzger Electricity, Energy 0 Comments Aug 29, 2016

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AN ACADEMIC’S IDEAS about what the future might hold inspired Gov. Charlie Baker to invite him to speak to Canadian premiers and New England governors. Speaking to the international assembly in Boston on Monday, MIT School of Engineering Dean Ian Waitz said in two decades or more the technology of electricity(...)

Baker still wants new natural gas pipeline

Hassan of New Hampshire raises environmental concern

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 5 Comments Aug 29, 2016

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is continuing to push for a new natural gas pipeline into the region, but at a conference on Monday with fellow New England governors and Canadian premiers he got some mild pushback from Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Recently passed energy legislation in Massachusetts gave Baker the opportunity to pursue imports(...)

Time to turn page on natural gas

Debunking the Access Northeast letter to policymakers

By Eugenia Gibbons Electricity, Energy 6 Comments Aug 26, 2016

AS REPORTED LAST WEEK, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a utility-proposed cost-recovery scheme – the “pipeline tax” that would have helped finance Spectra’s Access Northeast project – violated the 1997 Restructuring Act. In response to this ruling, the project’s developers, National Grid, Eversource, and Spectra Energy, represented by John Flynn, Lee Olivier, and(...)

Gas pipeline firm says it’s full-speed ahead

In wake of SJC ruling, ‘do nothing scenario is untenable’

By John Flynn, Lee Olivier and Bill Yardley Electricity, Energy 12 Comments Aug 24, 2016

What follows is a letter from the three top officials of Access Northeast to New England policymakers on the need for new natural gas pipeline infrastructure in the region. LAST WEEK, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a ruling touching on the critical effort underway across New England to reduce the cost of electric(...)

SJC nixes ‘pipeline tax’

Says Baker administration order violated intent of earlier laws

By Bruce Mohl Electricity, Energy 4 Comments Aug 17, 2016

THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT ruled on Wednesday that the Baker administration can not authorize the state’s electric utilities to tap their ratepayers for the money to finance a new natural gas pipeline into the region. The decision carries enormous financial and environmental implications for the state of Massachusetts and the region. Existing natural gas pipelines(...)

Energy bill a solid step forward

Still, it could have been better

By Ann Berwick Electricity, Energy 2 Comments Aug 3, 2016

IF YOU’RE DISGUSTED BY POLITICS in this country, take heart. This is Massachusetts. The state’s clean energy bill, passed in the wee hours of July 31, is an important step forward for the Commonwealth. The bill requires the state’s utilities to enter into long-term contracts for the purchase of 1,200 megawatts of primarily hydroelectricity and(...)