U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels last week to 504.1 million barrels, a new weekly record high, the Energy Information Administration said. In monthly data, which don’t line up exactly with weekly data, inventories last exceeded 500 million barrels in 1930.   Brought to you by your MassMEC Market Research Team.

On Monday, January 25, the Supreme Court reaffirmed a mandate created in 2011 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that requires utilities to pay energy consumers for reducing their electricity usage during peak demand. Electricity generators and utilities challenged the rule, asserting that FERC was overstepping its boundaries, but Justice Elena Kagan confirmed the….

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will be closed no later than June 2019, said operators on Tuesday, October 13th. Pilgrim is the last nuclear power plant in Massachusetts and the announcement comes one month after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission labeled the plant as one of the nation’s three least-safe reactors citing a timeline of mishaps….

On August 9th, 2015, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station was forced to reduce power due to the water in Cape Cod Bay being too warm.  The changing climate continues to affect Pilgrim as this is not the first time the nuclear power station has had to power down, having done so on two former occasions. The….

Project Sunroof, Google’s new solar mapping service, is now online and operational for the Greater Boston Area.  The goal of the application is to simplify the process of figuring out the savings realized from decking one’s roof out with solar panels.  Project Sunroof utilizes Google’s already expansive data mapping and computer resources to help calculate….

For the sixth year in a row, EarlyBird Power has arranged and sold carbon emission offsets for Teton Gravity Research’s filming operations. A ski film company, TGR’s carbon emissions mainly come from air travel, helicopter and snowmobile use. Carbon offsets are sold in order to promote clean energy practices where it is feasible, while enabling carbon….

courtesy of Colin Young, of the State House News Service BOSTON – As solar energy advocates rallied on the steps of the State House Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker said at a different event that his administration will file legislation concerning the solar power net metering cap “probably sometime next week.” Details of the governor’s planned….

From Cynthia McCormick of the Cape Cod Times: Open around the clock every day of the year, hospitals have some of the highest electrical bills around. Now organizations such as Cape Cod Healthcare, the parent company of Falmouth and Cape Cod hospitals, are partnering with solar energy developers to slash costs. For more than a….

According to the EIA’s most recent Electric Power Monthly, natural gas is now the largest source of electricity generation in the United States. Comprising 31% of the power generation, natural gas recently surpassed coal, which comprises 30%, for the first time on the national level. This change comes as predicted because it is a result….

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center forecasts that the current El Niño event will persist through winter 2015-16 and into spring 2016. The El Niño began in June 2015, with a minimal impact but will grow in intensity until it peaks by early next winter. El Niño occurs when the surface water temperatures of….