NE Power Plants Prepared to Match this Summer’s Peak Electricity Demand

ISO New England VP and COO Vamsi Chadalavada announced recently that New England power plants should handle this summer’s peak electricity demand, despite losing 570 MW worth of generation after closing Mount Tom Power Station and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station: “The New England power grid is prepared to meet consumers’ needs for power this […]

Kinder Morgan, Berkshire Gas anticipating Northeast Direct Project Start

Richard Kinder, CEO of the country’s largest midstream company, Kinder Morgan (KMI), spoke  with CNBC last week and affirmed the possibility of starting the Northeast Direct Project soon with a “I think we will. ” “And the main problem here is it’s just ironic that the highest price for electricity and natural gas in the […]

Massachusetts 2015 Solar Net Metering Projects to Halt with Caps Hit

In March, public projects within National Grid service areas reached the 256.6 MW (megawatt) net metering cap for 2015. Massachusetts net metering caps are based off each utility’s historical peak MW energy demand, with a small percentage cap allocated toward private (4%) and public (5%) solar projects, falling short from the State’s 1600 MW goal. NGrid […]

MA DPU Waives Recalculation Fees for Residential and Small C&I, Establishes Tracking Mechanism

On April Thirteenth, MA D.P.U. ordered  utilities to eliminate the recalculation fees for residential and small C&I customers who switch from their electric utility to supplier, keeping the fees for medium-large C&I customers and tracking when utility-supplier switches are made. In their investigation beginning last year, the D.P.U. argued that waiving the fees would open […]

MA DPU Orders Investigation for Basic Service Procurement

On April Ninth, the MA Dept. of Public Utilities ordered an investigation into the pricing and procurement of basic service electricity, affected by two key issues: High Costs: Massachusetts faced historically high basic service costs over the past two winters, and the DPU will review a full range of possibilities for basic service procurement and […]

National Grid MA Files Spring/Summer 2015 Electric Rates

On Saint Patrick’s Day March 17, National Grid (Massachusetts and Nantucket Electric Companies) filed May-July 2015 industrial rates, along with May-October 2015 residential and commercial rates. Thanks, EarlyBird Power Team National Grid Massachusetts Basic Service Rates Residential (R-1, R-2, R-4, E) Commercial (G-1, Streetlights) Industrial NEMA (G-2, G-3) Industrial SEMA (G-2, G-3) Industrial WCMA (G-2, […]

Prime Time

Pro-nuclear advocates welcomed a historic announcement last week when Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s largest operator of data centers, made a decisive move that all but validated the inevitable: “One of the US’s largest nuclear power plants will directly power cloud service provider Amazon Web Services’ new data center. Power provider Talen Energy sold […]

Natural gas prices soar 11%, bouncing after Chesapeake cuts production outlook

Natural gas futures jumped sharply Wednesday, bouncing after ending the previous session at the lowest in more than 3½ years after Chesapeake Energy, a major shale producer, cut its production outlook. Meanwhile, crude oil futures ticked slightly higher in rangebound trading as investors monitored developments in the Middle East and weighed the outlook for global […]

Eversource Energy posts quarterly loss, to sell stake in two wind projects

Eversource Energy on Tuesday, February 13th, reported a loss in the fourth quarter, as the utility recorded after-tax impairment charges of about $1.62 billion related to its offshore wind projects. Eversource plans to sell its stake in two offshore wind projects – South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind to Global Infrastructure Partners – for $1.1 […]

ISO New England proposes capacity market changes, further 2-year delay for upcoming auction

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in January approved a 1-year delay to New England ISO’s Forward Capacity Auction 19. Now, the grid operator has asked for a further 2-year delay to develop a new approach to procuring resource commitments. ISO New England on Thursday, February 8th, said it wants to shift from its annual Forward […]

Biden Administration delaying thought of new natural gas export terminals in U.S.

The Biden administration said Friday it is delaying consideration of new natural gas export terminals in the United States, even as gas shipments to Europe and Asia have soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The decision by President Joe Biden, announced as the 2024 presidential election year kicks off, aligns the Democratic president with environmentalists […]

Caterpillar Demonstrates Hydrogen Fuel Cells as Backup Power for Data Centers

Caterpillar (CAT) said on Friday, January 19th, that it demonstrated the performance of a hydrogen fuel cell system at high altitudes and below-freezing temperatures during a simulated 48-hour backup power event at Microsoft’s (MSFT) data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The company said the demonstration provided insights into the use of large-format hydrogen fuel cells for […]

Regulators say loss of Everett LNG terminal threatens New England energy reliability

A possible loss of the Everett Marine LNG terminal can jeopardize the reliability of New England’s energy supply during extreme cold weather, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) said on Monday. Constellation Energy , a U.S. energy firm, owns the 1,413-megawatt Mystic natural gas-fired power plant and […]

Oil prices gain 3% on supply concerns after oilfield shutdown in Libya

Oil prices climbed about 3% on Wednesday after a disruption at Libya’s top oilfield added to fears that tensions in the Middle East could reduce global oil supplies. Brent futures rose $2.44, or 3.2%, to $78.33 a barrel by 11:06 a.m. EST (1606 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.45, or 3.5%, […]

BP Pauses Oil Shipments Through Red Sea Amid Fears of Attacks

Global oil prices jumped on Monday after the energy giant BP said it had stopped sending tankers through the Red Sea, a vital shipping lane which has become an increasingly dangerous route because of drone and missile attacks targeting merchant ships launched by the Houthi armed group in Yemen. The announcement by BP raised fears […]

Papua New Guinea in advanced talks with Chinese banks to fund its stakes in LNG megaprojects

Papua New Guinea’s state-owned petroleum company is in advanced talks with Chinese banks to help fund its stakes in the two major liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the country, a senior executive said on Monday. Kumul Petroleum is holding talks with banks in the U.S., Europe, and Australia, but its managing director Wapu Sonk […]