New England is expected to have enough electricity to meet peak demand for air conditioning on hot days this summer, grid operator ISO New England said Wednesday. This summer, typical weather conditions mean electricity demand would peak at 25,323 megawatts. An extended heat wave could push demand up to 27,212 megawatts, ISO said.
Mark Kempic will assume the role of president of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts on May 1. The role of president is in addition to his current role as chief operating officer of Columbia Gas, which he has held since January 2019. From September 2018 to January 2019, Kempic was a key part of the leadership team for the Greater Lawrence recovery efforts. Since January, he has led the team focused on restoring the communities of Andover, Lawrence, and North Andover, including overseeing the introduction of the Columbia Gas Equipment Repair Plan, the Heating Equipment Replacement Program, and the private-property restoration ...
With more than 25 years of business-development and public-relations experience, Joe Mitchell has joined Eversource as its newest community-relations and economic-development specialist. He will serve as the company’s liaison for communities in Hampden and Hampshire counties. His focus is supporting Eversource’s electric service business. Mitchell is a past co-chair of the Economic Development Partners of Western Massachusetts, executive director of the Westfield Redevelopment Authority, and a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Jennifer Tabakin is a believer in using public investment to spur private investment. After six years as Great Barrington’s town manager — she’s stepping down in June — she has seen plenty of evidence to back up that philosophy. “We’ve talked a lot about the investments we’ve made in Bridge Street, which is one of our side streets off Main Street,” she told BusinessWest. “Over the years, the public money put into it has been significant, and we’ve been able to see private development come along in response to it.”
Syncarpha Solar plans a 17-acre, 4-megawatt facility off Park Hill Road on land near the Easthampton border. The site is near two existing solar facilities on former landfills, and is also near farmland and rural residential parcels. Syncarpha will be before the Northampton Planning Board tonight, seeking a minor amendment to a special permit they gained in October. The developers hope to gain clarified language around a setback reduction agreement that stemmed from a conservation land donation to the city, documents show.
Eversource is on track to deliver 62 megawatts of carbon-free, renewable energy to Massachusetts residents and businesses having completed 19 new solar power projects across the state. The projects include a canopy-style solar site at Eversource’s East Springfield maintenance depot that it connected to the grid last summer and a ground-mounted solar site on Performance Boulevard in the Smith & Wesson Industrial Park that Eversource connected last fall, said spokeswoman Priscilla Ress in an email.
SolarFlair Energy, Inc. has been selected as the installer for the Solarize Mass Springfield-Longmeadow program, according to a press release. The community-based education and outreach program is run by local volunteers and supported by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the state Department of Energy Resources to offer residents and businesses pre-selected solar photovoltaic systems at lower costs, the release states.
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) today announced the state’s clean energy sector has continued its trend of upward growth, adding more than 1,500 workers to the clean energy workforce between 2017 and 2018. The figures, released as part of MassCEC’s 2018 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report, found that the industry now employs more than 110,700 workers in the Commonwealth, an increase of 1.4% since 2017 and 84 percent since 2010. “Massachusetts’ clean energy industry is a critical sector for the Commonwealth’s nation-leading leading innovation economy and we are pleased to see continued job ...
The owners of Hickory Ridge Golf Club want to build a solar farm on the golf course property. This is according to the agenda for an Amherst Conservation Commission meeting set for 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at Town Hall. Course owner Dave Wasenda of Appliedgolf in Millstone, New Jersey, he plans to build a 5.2-megawatt solar array at the 150-acre property sometime next year. "It's no secret that the golf industry has been contracting, he said. "You used to have a steady flow, the working population golfed a little, then when they retired the kept golfing and ...
Green Street Power Partners will soon put online its 4.8-megawatt solar array at the intersection of Routes 10 and 202 with Summit Lock Road in Westfield. The company hosted a ceremonial ribbon cutting Friday. It'll be the fourth large-scale solar project in Westfield providing power to Westfield Gas & Electric and its customers, general manger Anthony Contrino said in interview this week. The rates Westfield Gas & Electric pays for the power are a confidential part of its contract with solar developer Green Street power, but he said the price is matched with market rates for power.
A four-year moratorium on new or expanded natural gas accounts in parts of Franklin and Hampshire counties won't be lifted any time soon. Berkshire Gas Co. president Karen Zink on Nov. 16 sent a letter to more than 300 people and businesses on a waiting list for service. The letter said the moratorium "will have to continue indefinitely due to the limitations on the capacity of the delivery system," and that investments to lift the moratorium would "drive our natural gas service rates well beyond those of competing fuels."
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. has properly delineated wetlands and buffer zones along its proposed 2.1-mile pipeline corridor, according to a third-party consultant's report. Wetland scientist John Prenosil of Belchertown conducted an "unbiased peer review" of wetland boundaries recently defined by Tennessee, and found "two minor issues" which have since been resolved, Prenosil wrote in an Oct. 24 letter to the Conservation Commission.
Join UMass Amherst and Western Mass EDC for an event on this quickly growing sector, and how Western Mass and UMass Amherst are taking a lead in innovative developments. Water technologies offers business and employment opportunities stemming from water innovation. Network and make connections between UMass Amherst, other colleges, businesses and students.
Keynote Speaker: Matthew Beaton, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Palmer Renewable Energy is planning a spring groundbreaking for the $150 million biomass energy plant it wants to build in East Springfield, an attorney representing the company said Monday. The move comes more than two years after the last time the wood-to-energy project was in the news and follows more than a decade of litigation, regulatory approvals and neighborhood protests. Palmer Renewable Energy and its 35-megawatt plant will be a tenant on the Palmer Paving site at 1000 Page Blvd., said Frank P. Fitzgerald, a lawyer for Palmer Renewable Energy.
Holyoke's got sunshine on a cloudy day. Or at least Holyoke Gas & Electric does. The city's municipal power utility is storing solar-generated electricity at property that was once part of the Mount Tom Power Station coal-and-oil fired electricity plant. The state's largest utility-scale energy storage system had its grand opening Tuesday, playing host to officials from the city, state and ENGIE North America.
With its rounded top and the two crescent-shaped handles at its side, the electric vehicle charging station on display Wednesday bears an odd resemblance to an old-fashioned gas pump. But the charger, which will be installed permanently in the Union Station parking garage in the next few weeks, is more the future than the past, said Jim Hunt, Eversource senior vice president and chief communications officer. Hunt hosted a news conference with Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who pointed to the charger's retro look, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, and others.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline must prepare an Environmental Impact Report for its natural gas expansion projects in Agawam and Longmeadow, the Baker administration has ruled. Tennessee, a Kinder Morgan subsidiary, hopes to increase horsepower at its Agawam compressor station, build a new, 12-inch two-mile pipeline loop in Agawam, and construct a "West Longmeadow Meter Station," a delivery gate which would feed a new Columbia Gas pipeline backbone to Springfield. Energy and environment secretary Matthew A. Beaton on Aug. 17 signed a certificate under the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act, or MEPA, requiring better information about air pollution, rare species and wetlands, stream ...
Members of the Planning Board are digging in their heels scrutinizing a proposed solar farm off Gulf Road, saying the project requires an unprecedented level of study. The board must determine whether the nearly 8-megawatt facility would, or would not, be detrimental to the community prior to voting whether to approve it.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. plans to expand its Agawam compressor station and install a new two-mile pipeline loop to help Columbia Gas of Massachusetts grow its customer base in the Pioneer Valley. Tennesee hosted a site visit in July; plans are described in a 315-page environmental notification form Tennessee filed with Massachusetts regulators in June; and the deadline for public comment was today. Tennessee's new 12-inch diameter buried pipeline would start at the 1615 Suffield Street compressor, cross the road, head north, and cross Shoemaker Lane, Gold Street, and Silver Street before terminating at a tie-in for Columbia's ...
In May, a Nebraska company finalized purchase of Berkshire Power Company, LLC, and its 229-megawatt natural gas generator off Shoemaker Lane. Wednesday night, representatives from Tenaska assured the City Council they plan to prioritize safety and the environment in running the 18-year-old power plant, while also giving back to the community. "We have a reputation for safe, reliable, environmentally responsible operation," said Jason Behrens, Tenaska's vice president of strategic development and acquisitions.
There is controversy about clear-cutting many acres of trees to make them happen, but three proposed solar farms could net the town nearly $6 million over a 20-year period, data provided by the selectmen's office shows. The projects are expected to generate a total of 18 megawatts, should the Planning Board approve site plans for them and other permitting requirements. Three solar farms already online -- a 5.4-megawatt project off Route 181, a 1.5-megawatt facility on Ware Road and a 1.25-megawatt operation on Springfield Street -- will bring revenue totaling $1.8 million over a 20-year period, Town ...
Marin Goldstein has been tapped to lead electricity and renewable-energy programs at HCG as director of energy operations, sales, and innovation. In his new role, he will oversee Hampshire Power, Hampshire Renewables, and HCG’s Renewable Energy Credit brokerage program. “We are thrilled to have Marin join our team,” said Todd Ford, executive director of HCG. “With a strong background in solar and sustainability, Marin will be a huge asset to Hampshire Power as we continue our work in local, renewable energy.”
Krish Thiagarajan, an expert on marine renewable energy and energy-producing offshore structures, has been appointed to the endowed chair in Renewable Energy in the UMass Amherst College of Engineering. The chair was established in 2014 with $2.5 million in funding from the state Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to attract a preeminent scholar in the field to provide leadership in positioning both the university and the Commonwealth to take advantage of opportunities in emerging areas of renewable energy. Thiagarajan will collaborate with DOER staff on renewable-energy research and projects.
The economic progress our region is seeing is undeniable. From the construction of MGM Springfield, to production of subway cars for the MBTA at the North American headquarters for CRRC Massachusetts Rail Co., to the renovated Union Station, with nearly $2 billion in economic development initiatives, Springfield and its surrounding communities are moving in the right direction. But even as our communities begin to band together to spur innovation, rebuild our manufacturing base and create good paying jobs for the future, that progress is undermined by a lack of clean, reliable, affordable energy.