Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company d/b/a Unitil recently filed electric basic service rates with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) for the upcoming winter. The utility is set to charge Residential and Small General customers $0.09704 per kWh for December 2016 – May 2017, a 23 percent increase from the current rate of….

On Tuesday, September 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. heard arguments for the appeal of the Clean Power Plan, an EPA-issued regulation designed to abate power-plant carbon-dioxide emissions. The regulation, announced last August by the Obama Administration, requires significant reductions from 2005 levels by 2025 (26-28 percent) and 2030 (32 percent). President Obama….

Last week, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) detailed a blueprint for the state to increase its energy storage to 600 MW by 2025. The report represents significant progress in the state’s efforts to taking advantage of energy storage. In May 2015, the Baker-Polito Administration introduced the $10 million Energy Storage Initiative to investigate….

After weather adjustments, U.S. natural gas storage was 4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) tighter year-over-year during last winter’s El Niño. Despite a surge in recent storage figures – for example, a 62 Bcf increase for the week ending September 9, 2016 – relatively low summer storage increases have been the norm. This development….

Earlier this week, Eversource Energy predicted that its 300,000 natural gas customers in Massachusetts would pay an average of $144 per month for heat, water, and cooking this winter, down from $148 per month in 2015 and $171 per month in 2014. The decrease stems from decline in the price Eversource pays for natural gas…..

Last Wednesday, August 17, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled against a Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities proposal that would have charged customers for new natural gas pipeline projects. The Court intimated that the subsidy bid would unfairly expose consumers to higher energy costs. The proposition was made to expand natural gas supply and avoid high….

Discussions between the Massachusetts Senate and House over the energy bill H.4568 came to a conclusion late Sunday, July 31. The mandate requires Massachusetts to solicit long-term contracts for 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power. This figure marks a halfway compromise between the proposals from the House (1,200 megawatts) and the Senate (2,000 megawatts) put….

On Monday, August 1, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) unanimously agreed to a bill that requires the state to obtain 50 percent of its power by renewable energy sources by 2030. After Governor Andrew Cuomo called on the PSC late in 2015 to commit to the ambitious 50 percent goal, thousands of New….

With hot temperatures expected in ISO-NE, NYISO, and PJM in second half of this week, particularly on Thursday, we may see peak energy days. If you can, we recommend that you limit your electricity usage as much as possible during this timeframe, especially during peak usage hours (2:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.). This reduction can….

In a near unanimous vote last Wednesday, the House backed a bill that would require utilities to enter into long-term contracts (15-20 years) for large-scale (1,200 megawatts) hydroelectric and offshore wind power in an effort to reduce the state’s reliance on natural gas and reduce carbon emissions. According to Rep. Thomas Golden of Lowell, the….