Energy News for week ending December 1, 2017

The next big thing | An unlikely partnership | Heating assistance en route

Good afternoon. For this week’s recap we’re focusing on some positive stories.

Starting on the renewables front, NBC News brings us a story of how wave power may be “the next big thing in green energy.” One of the technologies to harness wave power is called the “Lifesaver.” It’s described as a “hulking device, as wide as a school bus is long, [and] looks a bit like a massive buoy or life raft.” The benefits they say are that, “Like solar and wind power, wave power harnesses energy that comes ultimately from the sun. Solar radiation causes air pressure gradients that cause wind, and wind gives its momentum to the ocean surface, producing waves.” They note that a square meter of a solar panel receives 0.2 to 0.3 kilowatts of solar energy, however every meter of the California coast receives 30 kilowatts of wave energy. Further, wave energy has another advantage over solar and wind. Waves are easy to forecast… and unlike solar, wave energy can be harnessed 24/7.

This week WGBH reports that environmentalists and gas companies in Massachusetts are doing something unusual — they’re teaming up to try to fix something they both agree is a problem. That problem is gas leaks. Audrey Schulman, founder of HEET talks about dealing with the utilities, “The relationship in the past was really, really contentious,” Schulman said. “In general, HEET would — my nonprofit — would release some sort of report in the press and the utilities would come back with some angry statement, and I would respond with some angrier statement, and we would both cast aspersions upon each other’s facts, knowledge, clothing. Like, anything we could.”

But one day, a utility executive responded differently, saying more information on gas leaks could help his company. “And I was so startled by that, that I think that that was the moment when I began to realize we might be able to all work together,” Schulman said.

Last upbeat note for this week the MetroWest Daily News reports that, “Despite threats that funding would be eliminated in President Donald Trump’s preliminary budget, the state’s home heating program will continue to keep low-income families warm this year, just as temperatures are beginning to drop.” Nice!

As always, be sure to check out Northeast Energy News for more stories and events. Have a great weekend.

Natural Gas/Pipeline

In An Unlikely Partnership, Local Environmentalists And Utilities Work Together To Reduce Gas Leaks, WGBH

Eight energy companies commit to reduce methane emissions within natural gas industry, Penn Energy

Opening of 1-GW Burrillville Power Plant Pushed Back to 2021, Penn Energy

Gas rush: FERC’s pipeline approvals underline persisting controversy over permitting, Utility Dive

Fire reported at natural gas power plant (CT), Penn Energy

Kinder Morgan says holding tank is source of contamination of 547,000 gallons of pipeline test water, Berkshire Eagle

Opponents of LNG facility in Providence say look to the future, The Providence Journal

Opponents Bring Passion, Scrutiny to LNG Hearing, ecoRI news

Vermonters join suit over alleged electricity price-fixing, vtdigger.org

Gas rush: FERC’s pipeline approvals underline persisting controversy over permitting, Utility Dive