The Energy Consumer's Bulletin- a New England energy news blog

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Pipeline Tax Dead: State’s highest court rules in favor of ratepayers and the environment

Boston, MA – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a decision on Wednesday morning affirming what consumer and environmental advocates have maintained all along: the utility-proposed ‘pipeline tax’ violates Massachusetts law. The unprecedented scheme proposed by National Grid and Eversource and approved last fall by the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) would have allowed utilities to recover costs of long-term gas capacity contracts by applying an additional charge on consumers’ monthly electric bills.

Picture of Eugenia T. Gibbons Eugenia T. Gibbons

3 Ways to Prepare for this Heating Oil Season

As non-profit consumer advocacy organizations that have been running a Discount Heating Oil Service for 34 years, Mass Energy and People’s Power & Light want our members to save money. Savings that could be put towards making your home more energy efficient and reducing its carbon footprint. Here are some steps you can take to maintain your heating system’s efficiency, reduce your home’s energy consumption, and spread out your oil bills into predictable monthly payments.

Sophia Wright

MA Legislature passes energy bill shortly before end of session deadline

Late Sunday (July 31) night the Massachusetts Legislature passed H.4568, paving the way for the country’s largest offshore wind procurement ever. We want to thank the nearly 200 members who reached out to members of the Energy Conference Committee urging them to act to make the bill as comprehensive as possible. Although the final version does not include all the provisions we wanted, it is a step forward for renewable energy in Massachusetts. Here’s what you need to know about what passed.

Picture of Eugenia T. Gibbons Eugenia T. Gibbons

Poll shows strong opposition to consumer financing of gas pipelines

The People Over Pipelines march, which began on Thursday, July 14, culminated this morning in a rally at the State House. Nearly 200 people turned out in support of legislative action that would protect electric ratepayers from being saddled with costs from the proposed Spectra Energy Access Northeast project and others like it. At the same time that this rally was taking place, Mass Energy released the results of a survey of Massachusetts adults conducted by YouGov.com, an independent, bipartisan polling firm that conducts public opinion surveys worldwide.

Picture of Eugenia T. Gibbons Eugenia T. Gibbons

The Natural Gas Pipeline Tax is Not Dead Yet. We Have Work to Do.

Last week, the Senate overwhelmingly passed S.2400: An act to promote energy diversity. Included in the bill was Amendment #1, a unanimously adopted prohibition of the proposed “pipeline tax.” Readers of this blog are aware that Mass Energy is strongly opposed to proposals by Eversource and National Grid to increase rates on Massachusetts electricity customers in order to finance Spectra’s Access Northeast $3 billion gas pipeline. We are thrilled that the State Senate has done its part to kill this bad idea, but the game is not over.

Picture of Eugenia T. Gibbons Eugenia T. Gibbons

MA Senate energy bill released, Members expected to vote as early as Thursday, June 30

UPDATE AS OF JULY 1, 2016

Ma senate passes energy bill, including unanimous adoption of amendment prohibiting “pipeline tax”

As expected, the Massachusetts Senate took up S.2372, An act promoting energy diversity, on Thursday morning. With over 100 amendments to consider, debate on the bill ran late into the evening. But, when it was all said and done, Senate lawmakers unanimously passed a comprehensive energy bill that stands to bring a substantial amount of hydroelectricity and offshore wind into the region, incentivizes electric vehicles, addresses gas leaks, enhances energy efficiency, and protects ratepayers from paying for unnecessary fracked gas pipelines.

Updates on key ammendments listed in red below.

The bill now moves to conference committee where designees from the House and Senate will reconcile both versions before a final version is adopted and sent to the Governor to be signed.

 


Late last Friday, lawmakers in Senate Ways and Means released S.2372 – An act to promote energy diversity. Similar to the House bill that passed recently, this Senate bill addresses the purchase of large amounts of hydroelectricity and offshore wind. However, S.2372 does even more to promote clean energy in the Commonwealth. Here is a quick breakdown.

Picture of Eugenia T. Gibbons Eugenia T. Gibbons