Electricity

Raise the Renewable Portfolio Standard

Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

Raise the Renewable Portfolio Standard

A boost is needed to help state meet emissions goals

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AS THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION draws to an end, state lawmakers are considering bills that would increase the annual growth rate of the Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). As these proposals move ahead, it is important that decision-makers not be deterred by unsubstantiated claims made by opponents that an RPS increase is incompatible with procurements of hydroelectricity required by statute (Section 83D) or will undermine compliance with the state’s Clean Energy Standard (CES). This argument(...)

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Raise the Renewable Portfolio Standard II

Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

Raise the Renewable Portfolio Standard II

Boost is needed to keep up with other states

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WIND HAS POWERED Massachusetts’ economic prosperity before, and it is poised to do so again. Two hundred years ago, whalers harnessed wind off the coasts of New Bedford, Cape Cod, and Cape Ann, charting a course for whale oil to light up our region and economy. Today, our communities are again racing into the wind(...)

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Electricity trick or treat?

Economy/ Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

Electricity trick or treat?

Pro and con: Do competitive electricity suppliers help or hurt in Massachusetts?

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Well-intentioned law has been corrupted by con men BY DANIEL STEVENS AS SUMMER SWINGS into high gear, our electric bills do, too. Modern life dictates that we need power to keep us cool. To try and reduce electricity prices for people living in Massachusetts, a few years ago, the state Legislature created a program called(...)

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Putting a price on carbon gains momentum in Mass.

Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment

Putting a price on carbon gains momentum in Mass.

Senate approves legislation, National Grid lends its support

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CLARIFICATION: The original version of this story twice likened putting a price on carbon to putting a tax on carbon, but a sponsor of the legislation said it is not a tax. To read his point of view click here. MASSACHUSETTS MOVED CLOSER to embracing an economy-wide price on carbon, as the Senate approved an(...)

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Clouds over Mass. solar industry

Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

Clouds over Mass. solar industry

Clear, bold leadership needed from Beacon Hill

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IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT, just a decade ago, seeing solar panels was a novelty in neighborhoods across Massachusetts. Today, that’s all changed.  Solar projects are ubiquitous across the Commonwealth – from the rooftops of homes, schools, and office buildings to solar canopies in parking lots and community solar farms. What’s been dubbed a “solar revolution”(...)

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On clean energy, we need a 7th inning stretch

Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

On clean energy, we need a 7th inning stretch

Time to take stock of where we are and where we’re going

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HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS we guard against exuberance and premature celebration.  We know no lead is safe at Fenway Park, that it’s wrong to put away snow shovels on March 1, or rejoice in dodging a single Route 1 pothole. But while reticence may be a welcome part of our New England DNA, self-reflection can often(...)

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Senate bill would ramp up clean energy development

Energy/ Environment/ Politics

Senate bill would ramp up clean energy development

Business groups fret about cost, say some provisions unwise

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THE SENATE IS PREPARING to take up legislation that would dramatically ramp up the state’s development of clean energy, but many of the provisions in the bill have been derided as costly or unwise by the business community. The bill, which is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate next week, would(...)

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Region’s power grid is changing dramatically

Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

Region’s power grid is changing dramatically

Increase in solar reducing need for new pipelines

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APRIL 21, 2018 was an historic date for the New England power grid: It was the first time that mid-day peak energy demand from the power grid was lower than typically low overnight demand. The reason for this historic first is the effectiveness of energy efficiency and the combined output of 130,000 small, medium, and large solar(...)

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Is Baker getting carried away with offshore wind?

Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment/ The Back Story

Is Baker getting carried away with offshore wind?

Governor predicts ‘terrific pricing’ on Vineyard Wind contract

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GOV. CHARLIE BAKER may have gotten a little carried away on Wednesday talking about the “terrific pricing” the state is going to get for offshore wind power. “People are going to be really surprised, I think, because the argument has always been, ‘Well, renewable and clean energy sources are great but, jeez, they’re more expensive.’(...)

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