Billions needed | Sometime in May | Horror Story
Happy Friday afternoon.
Let’s start off with a climate change story from today’s Boston Globe that shows the region is in for some serious costs when it comes to climate change mitigation. Globe reporter Milton Valencia writes, “A report to be released Friday by the University of Massachusetts points to the challenges the city and the region face in funding solutions to combat climate change, with local neighborhood projects expected to amount to $2.4 billion…A separate UMass team is looking at the feasibility and usefulness of a 4-mile barrier wall that would be constructed in the Boston Harbor that could protect the city’s coastal areas from storm surges. Estimates for that project range from $7 billion to $15 billion.”
One of Massachusetts’ efforts to increase the amount of renewable energy to combat climate change will be a bit delayed. From South Coast Today, “A decision on the state’s first offshore wind contract could come in May, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday. ‘That decision will probably happen, I’m guessing, sometime in May,’ Baker said during a stop at The Standard-Times while he was visiting the South Coast. ‘If the date slips, it will slip a little; it won’t slip a lot.’”
What do you think – is it a horror story here or is this just a bunch of hyperbole? A story from the Washington Examiner states, “New England is struggling to keep the lights on as it pursues aggressive clean energy goals, a dilemma that is so troublesome that the region’s power grid operator warns of blackouts if something doesn’t change. ‘I am getting nervous in New England,’ said Robert Powelson, a Republican commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees wholesale power markets, during a recent event hosted by the American Council on Renewable Energy. ‘It is almost like a horror story.’”
OK – that’s the recap for this week. You can find more news and events at Northeast Energy News.
Enjoy the long weekend (if you’re fortunate to have the day off). And here’s wishing good luck to all those running Monday’s Boston Marathon.
Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling
Whitehouse preps bill directing study, pilot program for natural gas demand response, Utility Dive
Final Hearings Begin For Proposed Natural Gas Power Plant In Burrillville, Rhode Island Public Radio
Burrillville, Invenergy settle dispute over alleged misrepresentations about power plant proposal, The Providence Journal
Witness: Burrillville plant could cost ratepayers $14M more, The Providence Journal
What Will It Take to Keep Up With Shale Gas Boom? $170 Billion, Bloomberg
Prometheus Energy And National Grid Complete A Successful Winter Peaking Project In Rhode Island, Oil and Gas Online
Natural Gas Expansion Project Underway In Darien, Patch.com
Renewables Policy/Climate Change/RGGI
UMass report cautions billions needed for local climate change preparations, Boston Globe
RGGI states call for tighter cap, consistent language in Virginia cap-and-trade programme, Carbon Pulse
Carbon taxes could make significant dent in climate change, study finds, MIT News
Federal Power Rules Threaten New England Renewable Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council
How The New England Aquarium Seeks To Urge Visitors To Act On Climate Change, WNPR News
Advocates ask Red Sox to go green, Metro US
Apple’s Entire Business Is Now Being Powered With Clean Energy, Bloomberg
Exeter town council tables hearings on renewable energy, RICentral.com
Wind
Baker: Offshore wind decision likely in May, South Coast Today
24-MW New Jersey Offshore Wind Farm May Be Online By 2020, Renewable Energy World
Fishing industry wants limits, delay on offshore wind rollout, Worcester Business Journal
Vineyard Wind plans operations facility on island, Cape Cod Times
The Biggest Problem for Offshore Wind in the United States Might Be the Ports, gcaptain.com
Hoping for a state contract, Bay State Wind offers more than $2 million in environmental research grants, SouthCoastToday.com
President Trump Expands Wind Leases Off Martha’s Vineyard, The Vineyard Gazette – Martha’s Vineyard News
UMass Dartmouth to study economic impact of offshore wind on Bay State, Boston Business Journal
The US Wind Sector Toasts Trump’s New Love of Offshore, Greentech Media
To See Offshore Wind Energy’s Future, Look on Shore – in Massachusetts, InsideClimate News
Fishing Industry Wants New Bedford Port Authority to Facilitate Offshore Wind, wbsm.com
Solar
Westport Announces New Partnership With Windham Solar, LLC, Patch.com
Rain won’t go through solar panels, so Concord plan gets nixed, Concord Monitor
Massachusetts Nonprofit Makes The Switch To Solar, Solar Industry
Solar Incentives to be Phased Out in Maine, Power Engineering
Energy Efficiency/Storage
A Plug for Plug Load: NY Needs Appliance Efficiency Standard, Natural Resources Defense Council
Town Meeting says ‘no’ to stretch code, Wicked Local Falmouth
Building Energy Codes Can REV Up NYS Energy Efficiency, Natural Resources Defense Council
America Leads Global Energy Storage Development, But China’s Catching Up, Greentech Media
Estimating the Value of Energy Efficiency to Reduce Wholesale Energy Price Volatility, (Report) ACEEE
Nuclear
NRC Wants More Financial Details Before Approving Vermont Yankee Sale, VPR
New Jersey Takes a Big Step Toward Renewable Energy (and Nuclear Gets Help, for Now), New York Times
Nuclear Regulatory Commission OKs repairs to Indian Point reactor after leak, The Journal News | LoHud.com
Riverkeeper pledges legal action against efforts to replace Indian Point energy with gas, The Journal News | LoHud.com
Budget Plan Allocates $24 Million for Closing Power Plants ,Westchester Magazine
Feds OK emergency planning changes at Vermont Yankee, Brattleboro Reformer
As Fossil Fuels Melt the Planet, Could Climate Change Cause a Nuclear Meltdown?, Climate Science Watch
Environmentalists split on letting carbon-free nuclear power die, Washington Examiner
First Small-Scale Nuclear Reactor May Be Just Eight Years Away, Bloomberg
Lawmakers, advisory panel plot Pilgrim’s future, Cape Cod Times
EVs
Volkswagen’s Dieselgate Settlement Billions Are Funding Electric Vehicle Charging Corridors. Can They Help Overcome Range Anxiety?, The Energy Collective
Why PG&E, National Grid and Enel are charging up to power EVs, GreenBiz
Markets/Grid/Policy/Prices/Etc.
CMP’s Kennebec River Gorge deal never came to fruition, Maine Public
Rick Perry: Emergency Action May Not Be the Way to Save Coal and Nuclear, Greentech Media
NYPA proposes rebuilding North-South transmission lines to bolster renewable energy, Utility Dive
New Hampshire utility proposes virtual power plant with Tesla Powerwalls, Utility Dive
Independent audit of soaring CMP bills may not yield answers until end of this year, Press Herald
Tesla delivered massive batch of 2,000 Powerwalls to Vermont electric utility, only ~10% installed, Electrek
Document: 97000 accounts part of Central Maine Power investigation, WABI
New England faces ‘horror story’ of expensive power, Washington Examiner
MISO states push for authority over DER in electricity markets at FERC meeting, Utility Dive
Franklin County: National Grid gouged broadband fund, Glens Falls Post-Star
Eversource: Connecticut customers’ data not compromised in cyberattack, New Haven Register
New Transformer Will Enhance Reliability for Eversource Customers, Londonderry News
Independents and Utilities at Odds Over Who Builds Microgrids in Maryland, Microgrid Knowledge
NYPA continues digital transformation as New York funds grid upgrades, Utility Dive
Editorial/Opinion
Hats off to North Attleboro, Mansfield electric departments, Sun Chronicle
Go bigger with offshore wind procurement, CommonWealth Magazine
Turbines Not By-Right Use – Letter, Capenews.net
Tom Sullivan: Environmental activists ignore energy security realities, Concord Monitor
Letter: New England needs solar and hydro, Concord Monitor
Opposition to power plant is widespread, Valley Breeze
Northeast Energy News 