Santa & Solar Panels | Energy Storage | Blockchain Investments
Holiday Alert: We’ve found a few stories with great gift ideas for the energy geeks in your life. Prices range from $30-50 for a thermal leak detector to $5,500 for a solar panel package and Tesla Powerwall that can handle the energy needs of an entire house, depending on where you live and your energy usage. The panels, combined with a 13.5 kilowatt-hour Powerwall might let you go off the grid, or sell power back to your utility company. Plus they offer protection against power outages by giving you days of backup.
And in more holiday season giving, 26 energy storage projects in Mass. are sharing $20M in grants to grow the energy storage market. WBUR reports these pilot projects represent a quarter of Massachusetts’ 200-megawatt-hour grid storage mandated target, set for 2020. The state currently has seven megawatt hours of advanced energy storage installed.
Finally, if you haven’t been paying attention to blockchain, a distributed, digital transaction technology, now might be the time. GreenBiz reports that as we transition to a decentralized, digitized and decarbonized energy world, blockchain technology may be the ‘missing link’ to spur on renewable energy investments.
As always, be sure to check out Northeast Energy News for more stories and events. Have a great weekend.
Green Gift Guide for Energy Geeks
Energy Adviser: Geeky energy gifts on a budget, The Columbian
HybridCars.com Green Holiday Gift Guide, Hybrid Cars News
Natural Gas/Pipeline
In Massachusetts, Protesters Balk At Pipeline Company’s Payments To Police, HuffPost
Kinder Morgan payments for state police details at nearly $1 million, Berkshire Eagle
Liberty Proposes Gas Pipeline To Run From NH Seacoast To Manchester, New Hampshire Public Radio
Narragansett Tribe plans to sue FERC over gas pipeline approval in Berkshire County, MassLive.com
As more elected officials call for resignation of CRMC chair, Governor Raimondo remains silent, Uprise RI
Community members protest gas plant, The Brown Daily Herald
Weymouth compressor review could take a year, state says, The Patriot Ledger
12 Anti-Pipeline Protestors Will Face Criminal Charges In Court, WAMC
PCBs, fracked gas pipelines endanger human and planetary health, warns author activist, theberkshireedge.com
Leaked PowerPoint Reveals The Gas Industry’s Playbook For Waging Pipeline Fights, HuffPost
Renewable Energy
Mass. Gives Out $20M In Grants To Grow Energy Storage Market, WBUR
The missing link for renewable energy investment? Blockchain, GreenBiz
Maine Utility: Our hydro project has lowest cost, Commonwealth Magazine
Surge of Carbon Pricing Proposals Coming in the New Year, MIT Technology Review
As Cape Wind dies, offshore wind picks up steam in Massachusetts, MassLive.com
Energy chairman Golden gets tour of Greenfield, The Recorder
CAS Scientists Develop ACES to Monitor Greenhouse-Gas Emissions, BU Today
Koch-funded network targets New Hampshire’s renewable energy policies, ThinkProgress
To-the-point: Avangrid touts best cost proposal in Massachusetts RfP, Renewables Now
Energy Efficiency
The Hidden Gem of Wholesale Energy Markets: Energy Efficiency, Energy Collective
A bipartisan message of clean energy progress, MIT News
Clean energy slashed in new budget, Yale Daily News
US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Rejects Energy Efficiency Restrictions, CleanTechnica
Nuclear
Millstone shares data with DEEP, PURA, theday.com
On 75th anniversary of first nuclear fission reactor, MIT stages tribute to seminal experiment, MIT News
Saudis invite US firms to develop multi-billion-dollar nuclear power projects, CNBC
Christie Hints He Might Sign Bill to Subsidize PSEG’s Nuclear Plants, NJ Spotlight
Weighing 75 years of the nuclear age, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Markets/Grid/Policy/Prices/Etc.
ISO-NE Preparing for Energy Storage Growth, RTO Insider
Eversource, National Grid Complete Transmission Line From Mass. To NH, WBUR
Aquarion Water Co. sale to Eversource approved, Seacoastonline.com
Energy fights loom in conference talks, E&E News
As grid modernization accelerates, which states are in the lead, and why?, Utility Dive
Massachusetts approves Eversource rate increase to help boost EV, storage investment, Utility Dive
National Grid to install back-up battery system as electricity demand grows, Nantucket Island Inquirer
National Grid report defends storm response, Gloucester Daily Times
Decision on Eversource rate hike drawing criticism, The Recorder
Why Mergers and Acquisitions Will Define the Distributed Energy Boom,, Greentech Media
One Trump Buzzword to Seal Fate of $700 Billion Power Trade, Bloomberg
Efficiency Vermont rates rise for residents, down for businesses, vtdigger.org
CMP touts its bid to build transmission line through Maine, Press Herald
ExxonMobil opposes ALEC’s attempt to fight EPA climate policy, The Hill
Rethinking the utility company as solar power heats up, PBS NewsHour
Editorial/Opinion
Cape Wind: A blown opportunity, Cape Cod Times
Sandra Levine: An innovative climate policy for Vermont, vtdigger.org
Who Will Fund Clean Energy? Familiar Faces, Bloomberg
Letter: RI Energy Challenge helps town, residents, The Independent
Northeast Energy News 