Tag Archives: Energy and Environmental Affairs

MA DPU Approves Significant Investments and Upgrades to State’s Grid Modernization Technologies

On May 10, 2018, the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued an Order approving significant grid-facing investments and upgrades to the state’s electric grid. Specifically, the DPU’s Order authorizes Massachusetts’ utility companies to make $220 million in grid-facing investments in grid modernization technologies over the next three years to upgrade their distribution systems to improve the efficiency and reliability of the electric grid. In the Order, the DPU noted that the Order establishes the platform and the method for the electric distribution companies to make initial investments in grid modernization technologies to upgrade their current infrastructure and to increase the use of renewable energy,… More

Is There a Future for Community Wind In Massachusetts?

442255_41859791Last week, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard Sullivan announced an “inter-agency initiative . . . to provide support and guidance to municipalities, developers and stakeholders for land-based wind projects.”

Readers who have followed the issue of local opposition to wind turbines in Massachusetts know that over the last few years small wind-generation projects have come under increasing fire from nearby residents and advocacy groups complaining of health and other impacts from the operation of wind turbines. … More