By Michael Kuser WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — State and regional officials last week updated the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBCNE) on the rapid progress of renewable energy development across the region. EBCNE President Daniel Moon welcomes regional state energy officials to update his members at the Massachusetts Division of...

By Michael Kuser HARTFORD, Conn. — New England regulators are struggling to deal with how rapidly public policy is transforming the region’s wholesale electricity markets, state officials said Monday at the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners’ (NECPUC) 72nd annual symposium. As if to drive home the point about...

By Michael Kuser Maine regulators on Friday suspended hearings on Central Maine Power’s proposal to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England grid via a 145-mile transmission line across the state. The move by the Maine Public Utilities Commission poses a significant setback for the Avangrid subsidiary’s New England Clean...

FERC on Thursday approved Emera Maine’s proposal to provide discounted transmission service to two ReEnergy biomass plants in northern Maine (ER18-2123, ER18-2124). The commission’s Sept. 27 order also found that a protest from Maine Gov. Paul LePage lay outside its jurisdiction. LePage alleged that Emera would recover the cost of...

By Michael Kuser BOSTON — This year’s legislative sessions in New England produced clean energy developments ranging from Connecticut’s “most important energy bill” in seven years, to Massachusetts taking “baby steps,” to Rhode Island taking what might turn out to be a “regrettable pause.” Vermont even passed a bill requiring...

CAPE NEDDICK, Maine — The future of the grid, electric vehicles, high costs, and the tension between state and federal jurisdiction were among the topics discussed at the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners’ (NECPUC) 71st annual symposium last week. Katz | © RTO Insider New England faces “some...

By Michael Kuser The leaders of two key Maine legislative committees told Massachusetts regulators Friday that they oppose a proposed transmission project that would cross Maine to deliver a large amount of Canadian hydropower to Massachusetts. In a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, the chairmen of Maine’s...

By Michael Kuser Massachusetts on Wednesday revoked its selection of Northern Pass as the sole winner of a massive clean energy solicitation, saying it will instead enter contract negotiations with the rival New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project. The decision capped a tumultuous two months since the state chose...

By Michael Kuser Three top generators in Maine have asked the state’s Public Utilities Commission to allow them to intervene late as full parties in the proceeding on New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), the 1,200-MW HVDC transmission line proposed by Central Maine Power (CMP) and Hydro-Quebec. The 145-mile project...

By Michael Kuser Eversource Energy and Hydro-Québec were the big — and only — winners in a solicitation to provide Massachusetts with 9.45 TWh of renewable energy each year, state officials revealed Thursday. The selection of the companies’ joint Northern Pass transmission project means that an additional 1,090 MW of...