Massachusetts

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New England Supplies Deemed Adequate New England electricity supplies should be sufficient to meet consumer demand this winter, but constraints on the region’s natural gas pipelines could pose a challenge to reliable fuel supplies for generators, according to ISO-NE. (See ISO-NE: Little Room for Error in Winter.) The region will once...

By William Opalka Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Wednesday released a study that said additional interstate natural gas pipelines are not needed to guarantee the reliability of New England’s electric grid over the next 15 years. Instead, reliance on demand response and energy efficiency would protect consumers and also...

ADEQ Begins Gathering Feedback on CPP Compliance The Department of Environmental Quality conducted the first of four conference calls Nov. 18 for stakeholders to submit data and feedback for the department’s final comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. (See MISO, SPP Join in as Ark. Begins Crafting...

Allen Harim Building 6-Acre Solar Installation Chicken processor Allen Harim broke ground last week on a 1.57-MW solar installation. The 6-acre solar farm will supply about 11% of the energy used by its Harbeson processing facility. The project, which will be connected with Delmarva Power & Light’s grid, will be owned...

Report: EV Use not Growing Fast Enough to Meet State Goals A report by three environmental groups says usage of electric vehicles is growing, but not fast enough to meet goals set in a 2013 memorandum of understanding signed by officials in eight states in the Northeast and Midwest. “Charging...

Naperville Muni Showing $13.2 Million Shortfall Naperville’s municipal power provider has a $13.2 million shortfall, officials said. Since 2011, according to records, Naperville’s energy costs have exceeded projections every year, and by as much as 16% during fiscal 2014. Much of the overrun can be traced to the utility’s membership...

By William Opalka Entergy announced Tuesday it will close its Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Mass., no later than June 1, 2019, marking the company’s exit from the New England market. The company blamed “poor market conditions, reduced revenues and increased operational costs” for the planned closure. The plant...

By William Opalka The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has ruled that electric distribution companies can sign contracts for natural gas capacity and pass the costs on to electric ratepayers (15-37). Proponents of building gas infrastructure to supply electric generation have argued that the increasing reliance on natural gas requires...

By William Opalka Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said last week that long-term contracts for hydropower are the quickest and most cost-effective way for the state to reduce rising energy costs and reach greenhouse gas reduction goals. The first-term Republican testified before the legislature’s Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy...

Entergy Gets PSC Approval for 20-Year PPA with NextEra Solar The Public Service Commission has approved Entergy Arkansas’ request to enter into a 20-year power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy, which is building an 81-MW solar plant near Stuttgart. The facility, which will cover more than 400 acres, will be the...