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

Boston’s Renewable Energy Play

Earlier this month, Boston's Mayor Walsh called for cities around the country to explore a group purchase of renewable energy, apparently for municipal buildings and streetlights. The hope is that a lot of purchasing power could support the construction of large-scale and low-cost clean energy. According to news accounts, the cities might jointly buy from one or more facilities that could be located anywhere in the U.S. Boston City Hall plans to finalize a list of partnering cities and issue a request for information to renewable energy developers late in the summer.

More and more renewable energy comes with batteries included

For over a hundred years, the rap on electricity was that you could not store as usefully as you could store oil, gas, coal, and wood. That has made matching power supply with demand a challenge. More recently, we have been told by New England utilities and their ally, the so-called “Independent Operator of New England” (ISO-NE) that increasing amounts of wind and solar, intermittent resources, will make the challenge even harder.

Big Step Forward for Offshore Wind

Massachusetts has selected Vineyard Wind to develop an 800-megawatt wind farm — about 100 turbines — in federal waters about 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The project is expected to be completed in 2021. Not to be outdone, Rhode Island has chosen Deepwater Wind for a 400-megawatt project to be located south of Little Compton and is expected to be operating in 2023. The two states worked together on the procurement process, but chose different developers.

Where are the new renewables coming from?

If you’ve looked at our local resources map recently you’ve noticed that Mass Energy/People’s Power & Light is now supporting more renewable energy sources than ever before. This has been made possible thanks to the contribution of our members who made the switch to green electricity, and to the commitment of seven (7) communities that wanted their electricity to come from local, clean energy resources and made it happen through a process called Green Municipal Aggregation.

Working Toward a Clean, Reliable Electric Grid

On January 17, 2018, ISO New England (“ISO”) released a draft of its Operational Fuel Security Analysis. This study lays out many different possibilities for a 2024/25 winter, assessing the electric grid’s reliability under a varying array of assumptions. ISO’s main finding is clear: adding more renewables and more imports, and increasing the availability of LNG deliveries and backup oil during supply emergencies, will all contribute to improved system reliability.

Your solar questions answered: Mass Solar Connect webinar

There are less than two months left to take advantage of the Mass Solar Connect price savings on solar panels for your home or business. The deadline for participating is Oct 31. Learn more during our short webinar recording below.

Great feedback about Mass Solar Connect

Our members and friends are surprised at how easy it is to get the information you need to consider solar on the Mass Solar Connect web platform (powered by EnergySage), without a big sales pitch or a big demand for research or study. More than 300 people have now signed up for Mass Solar Connect information and we're getting great feedback.  (Rhode Islanders, we'll soon be offering you a similar program, but until then you can use EnergySage for great information and solar shopping.)

Why Massachusetts needs both a Clean Energy Standard (CES) and an increase in the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)

On August 11th, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) finalized several long-awaited regulations intended to help Massachusetts comply with the 2020 GHG emission reductions mandated by the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA). The regulations, which were supposed to take effect on January 1, 2013, are several years overdue. That they come now is the result of a May 2016 decision by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) and Executive Order 569 signed by Governor Baker last September.  

This online solar comparison platform is what you’ve been looking for: Mass Solar Connect is back

Mass Solar Connect is going to simplify your solar shopping. This statewide initiative, directed by the Mass Clean Energy Center (Mass CEC), pairs Mass Energy’s strong social network with the rich on-line resources of our new partner, EnergySage. (Note: Rhode Island readers can also use EnergySage, but do not have access to the Mass Solar Connect program).

New study confirms benefits to strengthening the Massachusetts’ Renewable Portfolio Standard

 An Analysis of the Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard, prepared by Synapse Energy Economics and Sustainable Energy Advantage, demonstrates that increasing the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard by 2% to 3% per year better positions the state to comply with the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), while reducing costs to consumers and creating jobs.

Press Release and full report are available online.