News Articles
The Herald News: Gov. Gina Raimondo: Forget Mass., R.I.'s real competition is south states (8/7/15)
"As the governor of the smallest state in New England, Rhode Island's Gina Raimondo on Thursday said she doesn't see her state in competition with her coastal cousin to the north for jobs and businesses."
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Maine Public Broadcasting: Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan Wins Praise in Maine (8/3/15)
"For the first time ever, power plants must limit carbon emissions under a Clean Power Plan released today by the Obama administration. The plan sets a target of reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030."
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Foxborough Patch: Mass. is Nearly the Priciest State for Energy Costs (7/14/15)
"Since July is the time when most Americans relocate to start a new career, and also the time when energy consumption is high, WalletHub chose the month to conduct its in-depth look at 2015’s Most and Least Energy-Expensive States. Coming in “ahead” only of Connecticut and Wyoming, Massachusetts ranked at number 49 on the list, which ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia on costs of energy."
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Providence Journal: Editorial: We need energy (7/2/15)
"The experts continue to warn: New England faces a severe energy crunch, with skyrocketing prices in the winter, for the next several years. That is why the region must continue to work to expand its pipeline capacity."
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Lowell Sun: Institute sees economic benefit to Kinder Morgan pipeline (6/24/15)
"Analyzing a controversial pipeline that would bring Pennsylvanian natural gas into New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the Beacon Hill Institute found it would bring substantial benefits in construction jobs and lower energy costs to Massachusetts."
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The Recorder: Workers say support of pipeline not just about jobs now, but future development (and more jobs later) (6/22/15)
"For unionized construction workers around western Massachusetts, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.’s planned Northeast Energy Direct project could represent paydirt, and then some, say two representatives for the Holyoke-based union local representing laborers.Even though the estimated 3,000 jobs on the project would only be about 18 months, the pipeline could lead to other gas-based industrial development that in turn would create other jobs, according to a local labor leader."
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ECT.coop: Electric Bills to Rise This Summer (6/16/15)
"The good ol’ summertime is going to be a little warmer and a little more expensive, the federal government says. The Energy Information Administration said June 9 that it foresees a rise of about 4.8 percent in the typical residential monthly electric bill during summer 2015."
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iBerkshires.com: Congressmen Kennedy, Neal: Electric Rates Threaten Berkshire Economy (6/8/15)
"Rising electric rates could threaten the local economy and federal and state lawmakers are seeking a long-term strategy to reel those costs in."
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Telegram & Gazette: As I See It: Meeting our energy needs (5/26/15)
"The May 10, 2015 editorial “Power Surge” provided an excellent expose on how certain industries, like manufacturing, are seeing their futures threatened by the cost of energy in Massachusetts."
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Boston Herald: Gas pipeline part of DPU plan to lower energy prices (5/26/15)
"The state’s Department of Public Utilities is laying the groundwork to develop a new natural gas pipeline in Massachusetts, a move that officials say will help curb high energy prices."
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Taunton Daily Gazette: Guest Opinion: Addressing the high cost of energy in Massachusetts (5/20/15)
"A major issue impacting businesses in Massachusetts is the high cost of energy. Cheap energy is available throughout much of the United States. It is not the case in Massachusetts. To the contrary, electricity and natural gas prices in Massachusetts are the highest in the continental United States."
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Boston Globe: National Grid sees only a limited role for LNG (5/20/15)
"In “Distrigas says its deals should prevent shortages” (Business, May 11), Distrigas implies that its new contract with National Grid indicates that we are increasingly relying on imported liquefied natural gas to serve our customers. That’s not true.
For decades we’ve contracted with Distrigas for LNG to refill our storage tanks to replace what we delivered the previous winter. The new contract is for the same purpose but for a longer term. Distrigas’s LNG comes from far-off foreign countries. Pricing and availability depend on global energy markets and politics. We signed another contract because there’s a limited role for imported LNG to offset price spikes on the coldest winter days."
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BusinessWest: Pipeline Proposal Makes Economic Sense (5/19/15)
"When asked to study how a shortage of natural-gas capacity in Massachusetts will affect future power needs, Synapse Energy Economics didn’t mince words."
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BusinessWest: Natural-gas Issues Could Hinder Economic Development (5/19/15)
"Rick Sullivan acknowledged the obvious: No one likes paying more for heating their home. “It’s a very real pocketbook issue. The average resident saw what happened to their electric bill this winter; it went up drastically because of the availability and price of natural gas,” said Sullivan, president of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council (EDC). “Right now, natural gas is setting the price for power in this region.” "
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The Hill: Time to upgrade U.S. energy infrastructure (5/14/15)
"It’s no secret that America’s infrastructure is in need of a tune-up. While this debate understandably focuses on traditional projects from roads to bridges to ports, we must acknowledge the same sense of urgency and purpose for expanding pipelines to ensure communities across the country can take full advantage of the U.S. shale revolution."
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Telegram & Gazette: Power surge (5/10/15)
"Paid a utility bill recently? Some local industries are being squeezed on energy costs despite what you may be hearing about new sources of domestic oil and natural gas, government incentives toward renewable energy, and efforts to support conservation. While energy costs to industries may be down across the country, they’re up significantly for at least some industries in New England. And it threatens to kill opportunity."
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New Hampshire Union Leader: More energy needed to power NH (5/9/15)
"Most New Hampshire citizens are aware of a troubling fact regarding energy costs: they are going up. The reason for this is a classic case of supply and demand. Our region's ability to produce reliable, affordable power is diminishing, and efforts to replace it are not keeping up with the need."
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CommonWealth Magazine: Mass. once again playing catchup on energy (5/5/15)
"Right now, it seems like Massachusetts remains on the slow boat to natural gas pipeline expansion, which is impacting prices for customers and reliability for power generators. The region needs an expedient solution to avoid an energy crisis which may only have been tempered by the recent drop in oil prices that made LNG more affordable (even though New England paid the highest prices in the world for LNG this past winter). Must we wait for real action to be taken until we are in the midst of even more severe price spikes and scrambling to maintain grid reliability?"
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The Recorder: Gas pipeline promoted for economic development potential (5/1/15)
"A Houston energy company executive told a Connecticut business group that a regional natural gas pipeline would keep businesses from moving to states where energy is cheaper."
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Fox Bangor: King Presses Energy Secretary to Help New England Expand Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure (4/28/15)
"During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) pressed Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to use his department as a “federal quarterback” to help coordinate federal and state efforts to expand natural gas pipeline throughout New England."
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The Recorder: Berkshire Gas rep. makes case for pipeline (4/24/15)
"Berkshire Gas Co. spokesman Christopher Farrell made a case with the region’s business leaders Friday for what he called a “critical need” for Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s proposed Northeast Energy Direct project, saying it’s needed not only to grow the economy but to keep businesses from leaving."
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Boston Globe: Can we make the tough decisions about energy? (4/24/15)
"Despite the recent rise in gasoline prices, Massachusetts households are still paying far less -- about $1 a gallon -- than they did a year ago. But whatever energy savings they may have enjoyed have been at least partially offset by soaring electricity costs."
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CommonWealth Magazine: New England governors vow to boost natural gas capacity (4/23/15)
"The New England governors met behind closed doors on energy issues in Hartford on Thursday and vowed afterwards to work collaboratively to expand the region’s natural gas pipeline capacity."
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MassLive.com: Gov. Charlie Baker meeting with other New England governors in Hartford to talk energy policy (4/23/15)
"Gov. Charlie Baker is meeting in Hartford Thursday with four other New England governors to discuss regional energy infrastructure. In a private discussion, the governors will talk about the need for investment in new natural gas infrastructure, for investment in energy efficiency and for the integration of clean energy resources into the energy mix in New England. According to Baker's office, they will talk about regional solutions and individual state efforts that can help reduce energy costs and reduce carbon pollution, while not hurting New England's economic competitiveness."
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New Hampshire Union Leader: New England governors meet to discuss energy issues (4/21/15)
"Five of the six New England governors will gather in Connecticut on Thursday at the invitation of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for an energy summit designed to address the region’s high electricity prices."
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New Hampshire Union Leader: PUC: Why are utility bills so big in NH? (4/21/15)
"The Public Utilities Commission has ordered an investigation into the high winter electric rates and the “price volatility” affecting energy markets in New Hampshire."
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Bangor Daily News: Natural gas exists today and can lower the cost of manufacturing in Maine (4/20/15)
"As our economy continues to rebound from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, it is important to understand that one of the primary costs of manufacturing is the cost of energy. Manufacturing in this country began in New England and the Northeast by taking full advantage of our many rivers. If manufacturing is to remain a feature of our economy and provide good jobs for our workers, it is critical that our region have access to cheap energy, just as it was critical 200 years ago."
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New Hampshire Business Review: Opposition to proposed gas pipeline is misguided (4/17/15)
"Opponents of the Northeast Natural Gas Pipeline are mobilizing to try to stop construction of the line, which would bring inexpensive shale gas to New England from Pennsylvania."
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CommonWealth Magazine: New England needs 2 new natural gas pipelines (4/16/15)
"We New Englanders are a hardy bunch. We put up with nasty winters, brutal traffic, and we waited nearly a century for our beloved Sox to beat the dreaded Curse of the Bambino. But now many of us are saying uncle to one thing (OK, maybe two if you count this winter) – high energy bills. In fact, according to the Energy Information Administration, only Hawaii and Alaska had higher electric rates than New England this January."
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New Hampshire Union Leader: Debate rages over whether there's an energy crisis in NH (4/16/15)
"The winter of 2014-15 goes into the history books as one of the coldest on record, but it did little to help settle the debate over large-scale energy projects now on the drawing board for New Hampshire."
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WBJournal.com: STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE: Mass. officials eye new energy sources (4/15/15)
"Utilities and Massachusetts energy officials hope to tap into renewable energy from the north while opening the spigot of cheap natural gas from the south and west, they told lawmakers Tuesday."
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Boston Globe: Massachusetts energy costs well above national average in 2014 (4/13/15)
"Massachusetts electricity costs were well above the national average in 2014 for households and businesses, according to federal data. Year-end data from 2014 recently highlighted by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts showed the supply cost of electricity was 39 percent higher for households and 79 percent higher for industrial customers than the national average. Residential ratepayers averaged 17.4 cents per kilowatt-hour in Massachusetts and 12.5 cents nationally, and industries paid an average of 12.6 cents in Massachusetts and 7.0 cents nationally."
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Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Businesses are in hot pursuit of ways to cut power costs (4/12/15)
"This winter's sharpest increase in electricity rates in years has hit some businesses hard. As one Worcester business owner put it, it's like the Wild West: 'Prices in Massachusetts are out of control.' "
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Halt to New Gas Hook-Ups Hurts Western MA Economy; Moratorium Needs to Be Resolved, Lt. Governor Declares (4/8/15)
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Boston Globe: As New England gains from natural gas, pipeline must keep up (4/4/15)
"Ann Berwick fails to account for the many benefits New England consumers have enjoyed over the past 15 years as a result of increased use of natural gas (“Pitfalls with natural gas,” Op-ed, March 29). The use of natural gas in power generation has more than tripled and now accounts for nearly half the electricity generated in the region. Not only does natural gas help reduce greenhouse gas emissions when used for power generation, but the industry has substantially cut methane emissions from production."
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MassLive.com: Berkshire Gas announces moratorium in Amherst, Hadley, Hatfield and Sunderland (3/27/15)
"Berkshire Gas announced Friday evening that it will not allow any new gas hook-ups or expansions of existing gas service in its Hampshire County territory until the controversial Kinder Morgan Tennese Gas pipeline is built."
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Daily Hampshire Gazette: Electric rate shock even worse than expected for some (3/26/15)
"This has been a hard winter for many, not only because of historically cold temperatures, but also because they’ve seen electric bills shoot through the roof."
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Worcester Telegram: Pipeline pinch (3/25/15)
"For electricity consumers served by National Grid, the last few months have seen steep rate increases that have meant dramatically higher bills, throwing a budget worry on top of a record-breaking winter season that already meant higher power consumption."
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WickedLocal Natick: Linsky, House panel looking into electric rate spike (3/24/15)
"Citing recent increases in electricity rates, the chairman of a House oversight committee plans to start digging into the reasons behind those higher prices. "Every member of the House has received concern from multiple constituents in our districts about the unusually high spike in electric rates over the past year," House Post Audit and Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. David Linsky told the News Service Tuesday."
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Utility Dive: 5 charts that explain U.S. electricity prices (3/23/15)
"Last month, the Energy Information Agency (EIA) released its data on residential electricity prices in the United States for 2013, and the numbers speak volumes about the state of the American electricity system. In general, what customers pay for power depends on where they are."
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MassLive.com: National Grid electricity, gas customers to see rates cut May 1 (3/23/15)
"National Grid announced rate cuts Monday for its nearly 1 million power customers and about 900,000 natural gas customers in Massachusetts starting May 1 due to falling energy prices. But even with the rate cuts prices are only going down compared with this winter's costs. Prices are still higher than the May 2014 prices, the utility said."
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MassLive.com Gas constraints may lead to moratorium on new hook-ups in Holyoke; 3 to 5 years estimated (3/20/15)
"The same supply constraints keeping new customers from getting natural gas service in Hampshire and Franklin counties may lead to a similar moratorium on new hook ups in Holyoke in three to five years depending on how big energy users opt to switch excursively to natural gas."
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MassLive.com: Berkshire Gas imposes Hampshire County hookup moratorium blocking projects in Amherst, Hadley while calling for Kinder Morgan pipeline (3/19/15)
"Berkshire Gas Co., worried about pipeline capacity and its ability to obtain sufficient supplies of natural gas, is already turning down requests for new gas service in Amherst, Hadley and Hatfield. The freeze on new piped-in gas service has many developers scrambling to find alternatives, such as costly tanks for trucked-in propane."
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WGGB: Local Electric Customers Fed Up with Higher Bills (3/17/15)
"The winter may be coming to an end soon, but complaints continue over high electric bills. It’s a familiar cry: how come my electric bills are so high this winter?"
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WBUR: As Winter Electricity Prices Jump, Mass. Debate Over Natural Gas Pipelines Heats Up (3/10/15)
"If you’re shocked by your current electric bill, you’re not alone. In the coming weeks, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is planning to host fellow New England governors for an energy summit. Topic one for the Boston gathering will be the soaring cost of electricity."
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Concord Monitor: Business president: Electricity supplies key to lowering prices (3/8/15)
"The president of New Hampshire’s Business and Industry Association says that creating new electricity supplies remains the key to lowering electricity prices. Businesses and homeowners have seen dramatic increases in their electricity bills this winter. Jim Roche said the average price of wholesale power for February came in at about $119 a megawatt-hour, about twice what it was in January. He also said a lack of supply continues to be the driving factor in high electricity prices."
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Cape Cod Times: Install gas pipelines (3/8/15)
"In many ways, we are glad there is an Energy Facilities Siting Board. The nine-member review board is charged with ensuring a reliable energy supply for Massachusetts with a minimum impact on the environment at the lowest possible cost. The board's primary function is to license the construction of major energy infrastructure in Massachusetts, including natural gas pipelines."
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Boston Globe: Natural gas consumption to hit record high today (2/20/15)
"The Northeast is burning a record-breaking amount of natural gas this week amid numbing cold and unending snowstorms. Bentek Energy, a Denver-based analysis company, said the demand for natural gas in 14 northeastern states hit 43.1 billion cubic feet on Monday, about 3 percent more than the peak demand recorded during last year’s brutally cold polar vortex."
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Gloucester Daily Times: Letter: Pipeline extension plan a good deal for northeastern Mass. residents (2/19/15)
"This winter, Massachusetts has had the coldest weather in years, with near-zero temperatures across the state. Residents and businesses, already reeling from the impact of increased energy prices to heat and light their homes and power their companies, are facing a costly heating season."
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CapeNews.net: Feeling The Heat: Energy Costs On The Rise For Cape Residents (2/17/15)
"Cape residents serviced by the Cape Light Compact will continue to pay unusually high energy bills for the duration of the winter. According to Stephan Wollenburg, who is the senior power supply planner for the compact, energy bills have spiked from nine cents to 15 cents per kilowatt hour since December. Mr. Wollenburg says the average household uses about 550 kilowatt hours per month, which translates to an average monthly increase of $33 per customer."
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The Recorder: Housen/My Turn: Why this pipeline makes sense (2/2/15)
"In early January, most of Massachusetts experienced the coldest temperatures in years, with below-zero temperatures in many parts of the state. Residents and businesses, already reeling from the impact of increased energy prices to heat and light their homes and power their companies, are facing another costly heating season."
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CommonWealth Magazine: Natural gas is a bridge (1/27/15)
"When Vermont Yankee stopped producing electricity for the grid last month, it achieved a major policy goal for advocates of deactivation but it also removed a major clean energy source from our region’s mix of power generation. This deactivation comes in the midst of a time of crisis for our region’s energy consumers, a crisis caused by significant challenges to grid reliability and severe spikes in electric utility costs. This recent change in Vermont only highlights the reality of New England’s energy situation, a confluence of multiple factors, which can no longer be ignored."
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New Hampshire Union Leader: Dave Solomon's Power Plays: Power man sounds alarm on system's demands (1/22/15)
"The man responsible for keeping the lights on in New England chooses his words carefully, but on Wednesday he was unrestrained in a conference call with reporters from the six-state the region.'There is an urgent need for more energy infrastructure,' said Gordon van Welie, president and CEO of ISO New England, the independent system operator for the region."
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RTO Insider: Gas Price Spikes Likely Through 2019, Study Says (1/19/15)
"Massachusetts needs additional natural gas pipeline capacity to avoid severe energy shortages in the next few decades, a study commissioned by the state concluded. Even if the capacity is built, winter price spikes caused by severe cold and competition for gas as a heating fuel will remain through 2019, according to the “Massachusetts Low Gas Demand Analysis” study by Synapse Energy Economics."
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The Lowell Sun: It's time for answers to state's energy crunch (1/15/15)
"Gov. Charlie Baker's picks to mold the state's energy policy all possess the practical business experience to plot a course that recognizes both the long-range goal of renewable energy and the more immediate need to relieve Massachusetts residents from the high cost burden they now endure."
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Portland Press Herald: Madison mill to shutter for weeks, idle some employees (1/13/15)
"Madison Paper Industries will lay off an undetermined number of employees for at least two weeks starting this month during a short-term halt in paper production. The news was disclosed Tuesday in a letter from the company’s president to Maine’s congressional delegation, citing competition from Canada’s Port Hawkesbury Paper and rising energy costs as challenges at the Madison mill. It follows a steep drop in the mill’s property tax valuation and growing concerns about the state’s paper industry."
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The Lowell Sun: Beaton shakes up DPU team, hires former National Grid exec (1/12/15)
"Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton has tapped a former National Grid executive to help handle the new administration's energy policy, and appointed new leaders to the agency overseeing utilities in Massachusetts."
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Boston Globe: State-funded report recommends big increase in gas pipeline capacity (1/8/15)
"A report commissioned by the Patrick administration and released Thursday, less than an hour before Charlie Baker’s inauguration as governor, shows the need for a significant increase in natural gas capacity to help fuel local power plants on cold days."
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CommonWealth Magazine: A warning on natural gas (1/8/15)
"Just minutes before Charlie Baker became governor, the Patrick administration released a $250,000 study suggesting winter electricity prices are likely to remain very high for the next four years and additional natural gas pipeline capacity is needed to address the problem."
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Valley News: N.H. Electricity Rate Increases Shock Residents (1/5/15)
"The electricity bill that arrived Friday brought bad news for Chip Crawford, owner of Chiplin Enterprises, a real estate company in West Lebanon: energy costs for the company’s units had skyrocketed, doubling from $4,000 a month to $8,000."
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Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Pipeline politics (12/31/14)
"The debate over whether New England needs more natural gas supply was supposed to be clarified by the release of a "Massachusetts Low Demand Analysis" study, conducted recently by Synapse Energy Economics at the direction of the state's Department of Energy Resources. Instead, the study seems likely to simply add fuel to an already raging debate between those who insist that more gas is needed to meet the region's energy appetite, and those who insist that the demand can be met with an aggressive push for alternative energy sources."
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New Hampshire Union Leader: Pipeline push gets a second wind (12/25/14)
"When the governors of the six New England states announced a plan in January to get a new natural gas pipeline built at ratepayer expense, it looked like the deadlock between pipeline builders and the owners of power plants might finally be broken."
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WMTW: Massachusetts report sparks natural gas debate in Maine (12/23/14)
"The cost and volatility of crude oil has prompted many Mainers to switch to natural gas heat. Advocates of expanding natural gas are pointing to the results of a new study as proof that New England needs a bigger natural gas supply to meet its current demand."
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CommonWealth Magazine: Patrick administration says state needs gas capacity (12/22/14)
"A new study commissioned by the Patrick administration has tentatively concluded that Massachusetts and all of New England need to expand the supply of natural gas coming into the region to meet demand."
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Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Trade unions endorse Kinder Morgan pipeline (12/22/14)
"The push for natural gas got two big endorsements Monday, one from Coalition to Lower Energy Costs and the other, a group of New England building trade leaders."
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Portland Press Herald: Advocates of natural gas pipeline say Massachusetts report shows need for expansion (12/22/14)
"Supporters of expanding the pipelines that deliver natural gas to New England are hailing a preliminary report from Massachusetts as evidence that the region needs more natural gas to reduce future energy costs. The report, commissioned by Massachusetts, suggests energy costs in that state will rise without an increase in natural gas supplies, which are currently constrained by limited pipeline capacity."
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MassLive: Proposed Kinder Morgan gas pipeline wins support from New England construction leaders (12/22/14)
"Construction leaders in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine on Monday endorsed the concept of building a natural gas pipeline from New York to the Merrimack Valley as proposed by Kinder Morgan as a way to create jobs and reduce the cost of living in New England."
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Journal Inquirer: Mass. move ensures lower energy bills aren’t in pipeline (12/18/14)
"New England’s energy bills are the highest in the United States. This does not come as a surprise. Our utilities blame everyone but themselves for these rates, and especially blame the inability to bring new pipelines into New England to carry natural gas."
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New York Times: Even Before Long Winter Begins, Energy Bills Send Shivers in New England (12/13/14)
"John York, who owns a small printing business here, nearly fell out of his chair the other day when he opened his electric bill. For October, he had paid $376. For November, with virtually no change in his volume of work and without having turned up the thermostat in his two-room shop, his bill came to $788, a staggering increase of 110 percent. 'This is insane,' he said, shaking his head. 'We can’t go on like this.' "
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ISO NEWSWIRE: How wholesale electricity costs factor into your retail bill (11/14/14)
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WCVB: NSTAR asks for sharp increase in electric rates (11/7/14)
"NSTAR electric customers will join those of National Grid in seeing significantly higher bills this winter, NSTAR said Friday in filing with the state for a rate increase."
Boston Globe: Power prices to stay high, report says (11/5/14)
"New England consumers will see high winter electricity bills for the next three to four years, but blackouts are highly unlikely, according to a special report from the investor’s service Moody’s."
Daily Hampshire Gazette: Citing pipeline capacity, natural gas companies poised to turn away new customers in Valley (11/4/14)
"A natural gas pipeline that feeds much of the Pioneer Valley is nearly at capacity, a development that will force at least one gas company to turn away new customers in its Franklin County territory by the end of this year and extend the moratorium to Hampshire County areas by the middle of next year."
Forbes: Job Opening: Political Scapegoat For New England's Out Of Control Energy Prices (10/17/14)
"On Wednesday, more than a dozen federal lawmakers from Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to undertake 'a fundamental re-examination of capacity market rules' in New England and 'consider alternatives that are less costly to ratepayers, drive investment, and produce competitive price outcomes.' "