MA DPU Chairman memo and comments to the ISO New England

Lisa

June 11, 2008 8:48:06 AM

Memo from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Chairman, Paul Hibbard, to the ISO New England. Chairman Hibbard expresses his concerns over the push to regionalize costs for building expensive transmission lines to service renewable projects (wind) built far from load centers. Current FERC rules are unclear on how to justify distribution of the costs across all ratepayers within the region unless it can be shown such transmission is needed to ensure the reliability and integrity of the grid.

Cape wind draft environmental impact statement

Lisa

January 14, 2008 4:26:36 PM

The Minerals Management Service released the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the Cape Wind offshore wind energy facility proposed for Nantucket Sound. The DEIS can be accessed by downloading the file from the below link.

NE ISO Interconnection queue active requests -- Oct 2007

Lisa

September 30, 2007 8:00:00 PM

Cape Cod Commission Staff Report - Cape Wind Energy Project

Lisa

September 04, 2007 12:34:30 PM

The Cape Cod Commission (CCC) has asserted that the Cape Wind energy project qualifies as a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) under Section 12(i) and 13(b) of the Cape Cod Commission Act. The CCC staff report can be accessed from this page.

DOER Approves Hydro Quebec Wind RECs for MA's RPS REC Market

hughkemper

June 12, 2007 7:24:17 AM

On Jun 12, MA DOER granted Hydro Quebec approval for 108MW of wind to be eligible for the MA Rec market. There is an additional 212MW of wind that is already operating and may soon follow. DOER's decision is attached. A number of folks familiar with the New England REC market believe this decision, to be followed by others, will seriously depress REC values.

Model Zoning By-Law relating to the installation of Small Wind Energy Systems.

hughkemper

December 31, 2006 7:00:00 PM

The implementation of consistent statewide standards to achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of small wind energy systems is a matter of statewide concern. It is the intent of the Legislature that this section apply to all local agencies, including, but not limited to, towns, cities and counties.

Editor's Note: This small wind zoning statute, drafted by Paul Gay (Westport, MA) is currently in joint committee in the MA state legislature. The author describes himself as a proponent of small wind with an interest in promoting regulations that are drafted in such a way as to insure a properly functioning system while protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public.

Model Amendment to a Zoning Ordinance or By-law: Allowing Wind Facilities by Special Permit

hughkemper

December 31, 2006 7:00:00 PM

As interest in wind energy spreads throughout the Commonwealth, it becomes clear that there is a need within the cities and towns of Massachusetts for suitable zoning by-laws that accommodate wind projects. To help address this need, the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources and Executive Office of Environmental Affairs developed this Model Amendment to a Zoning Ordinance or By-Law to assist cities and towns in establishing reasonable standards for wind power development. The by-law is developed as a model and not intended for adoption without review by municipal counsel:

MTC: Notice of Availability of Two 1.65 MW Wind Turbines

Lisa

December 07, 2006 10:47:01 PM

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a quasi-public agency, presented this announcement in 2006 seeking to site two 1.65 megawatt turbines originally slated for the Town of Orleans.

Subsidies to a Wind Farm in Nantucket Sound

hughkemper

May 01, 2006 12:00:00 AM

In November 2001, Cape Wind Associates, filed an application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permission to construct the nation’s first offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound. The project would consist of 130 wind turbines, each approximately 420 feet tall, arrayed over a 24 square mile area of the Sound known as Horseshoe Shoals. The wind farm would be sited five miles off the coast, in federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) waters. From there, undersea cables would transmit power through state waters to an onshore distribution grid. The project, according to Cape Wind, would have an installed nameplate capacity of approximately 468 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

The Challenge of Energy Policy in New England

hughkemper

April 01, 2006 12:00:00 AM

Renewable energy sources have disadvantages as well as advantages, however. Although their costs have decreased in recent years, many renewables are still more costly than traditional sources. Some are also available only intermittently; for example, wind can be variable and hydroelectric is seasonal. And while many people are in favor of renewables in principle, many are also unhappy when faced with the prospect of a windmill or a trash-burning power plant in their neighborhood. These facilities face the same siting and investment difficulties that any electrical facility would, as the developers of a proposed wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod have discovered in recent years.