For many years, energy efficiency companies and consumer advocates have argued that the forecasts by ISO New England of energy growth were overstated because they did not fully reflect the impact of efficiency programs implemented by the New England states. Now, a major breakthrough has occurred. The most recent ISO long term forecast of growth […]
About a year ago, we reported on an arcane but no less important problem of the inadequate supply of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) for Class II resources. To its credit, the state has moved to address this – through legislation, research and, recently, a new proposal that bears examination. Class II resources are the renewable […]
The New England energy community recently had the opportunity to hear from the newest member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Tony Clark. Appointed in June from his position on the North Dakota public utilities commission, Clark said that he had held off doing any public speaking until he had had a chance to […]
It’s been more than a year since Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, several other consumer advocates and groups across the region, including PowerOptions, filed a complaint at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) urging it to lower the fixed rate of return on equity (ROE) earned by the transmission owners (TOs) in New England. (The […]
New England’s strong and increasing reliance on natural gas is well documented, with almost half of electricity currently generated by natural gas, up from just 15 percent in 2000, according to ISO New England. That trend line will only increase in coming months and years with more and more homes and businesses converting to natural […]
The sale of two coal-burning mainstays of Massachusetts’ power generation fleet has rightly contributed to the concerns about the growing use and cost of natural gas and the state’s role as a beacon for encouraging clean energy. Predictably, environmentalists lauded the sale of Brayton Point Station in Somerset and the Salem Harbor Station as the […]
