Canadian hydropower and offshore wind projects would become more prominent pieces of the state's overall energy landscape under a long-awaited bill House lawmakers unveiled Monday. Members of a legislative committee that oversees energy issues were expected to endorse the bill, in a vote taken by email, setting the stage for debate in the full House next month. Renewable energy advocates have said the bill does not go far enough.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The energy bill may be introduced as early as this month and is expected to require utilities to purchase power from offshore wind farms, according to Rep. Thomas Golden, one of the Democrats who control the state legislature. Still to be determined is how much power utilities would be forced to buy under the bill and, crucially, whether the state’s Republican governor -- who has already opposed one offshore project -- will sign it.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

A state board on Tuesday issued a tentative decision denying the extension of permits that would allow Cape Wind to build an electricity transmission line to connect its proposed offshore wind farm to land, further complicating the beleaguered project's already grim prospects.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

A Massachusetts state board has issued a draft decision denying the extension of permits that would enable Cape Wind to build an electricity transmission line to connect its proposed offshore wind farm to land. The draft decision offers an informative discussion of the now historical events leading to the denial. The full decision can be accessed by clicking the link on this page. 

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

A representative from Denmark’s largest energy company had a cold reception in Chilmark this week as commercial fishermen and others discussed a proposed wind farm south of the Vineyard. Andy Revill, a fishermen’s liaison for Dong Energy, traveled from the U.K. to meet with fishermen. ...But fishermen who gathered at the Chimark town hall on Tuesday said that would almost surely interfere with gillnetters in the area.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The long-stalled offshore wind project planned for the coastal waters off Massachusetts could face even more legal roadblocks. Federal appeals court judges today signaled skepticism about whether the government had properly determined how to minimize the project's impact on migratory birds.

Impact on Birds Offshore Wind USA Massachusetts

Few share Gordon’s optimism, although no one is willing to say so on the record. His critics say Cape Wind is out of date and out of sync with the times, and faces an uphill battle in the courts and on Beacon Hill. William Koch, the billionaire Osterville homeowner who has funded countless court challenges to the project over the years, is not going away. And Gordon’s patron saint, Deval Patrick, is gone from the governor’s office, replaced by Charlie Baker, who has never been a fan of Cape Wind.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

Six months ago, few New Englanders had heard of DONG Energy. But that is likely to change soon as the Danish company with a quirky acronym for a name pursues its plans to build a massive offshore wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

Offshore wind industry leaders, environmental advocates and several state legislators gathered Thursday in a Statehouse hearing room to make their case for the inclusion of offshore wind in state energy legislation.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

A major European energy company is proposing what could be North America’s largest offshore wind farm 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, outlining its plans less than a year after the proposed Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound suffered a stunning financial setback.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The president of Cape Wind developer Energy Management Inc. has not given up on the controversial wind farm project in Nantucket Sound. Cape Wind suffered what many saw as a death blow in January when Gordon and his team missed a crucial financing deadline and lost major contracts from utilities Eversource Energy and National Grid as a result, making it nearly impossible to attract the investment needed to start construction

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

FRAMINGHAM – While prospects are growing dim for the Cape Wind project to take shape in Nantucket Sound, advocates for offshore wind say the technology still has untold potential to create new jobs and satisfy the region’s energy needs.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The Baker administration inherited the project from Patrick, who prioritized it as a way to create clean energy jobs while providing a boost to a city in need of some economic help. “It was a very big gamble,” said Beaton, whose role in the administration requires him to serve as chairman of the clean energy center’s board. “Unfortunately, the dice didn’t roll our way on this one.”

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

Clouds have gathered and a little of that pre-storm feeling of electricity is in the air, but whether the offshore wind industry in Massachusetts will grow into a hurricane of turbine-spinning development or simply blow over, with barely a breeze, remained uncertain at a Wednesday meeting of wind power players in Falmouth.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

Dong Energy, however, is willing to test the U.S. waters for now and is encouraged by a piece of legislation currently in the Massachusetts state legislature that supports conditions for future offshore wind projects. Leupold also likes the east coast environmental conditions because he says they are similar to some of their ongoing projects in northwestern Europe.

Offshore Wind USA Massachusetts

Matthew Beaton, the new state energy secretary, ...says he wouldn’t make that investment today. “I don’t know if, given the uncertainty of Cape Wind at that time, and the overall question marks of offshore wind development, is a $100-plus million investment the appropriate use of those funds? Could we have used those monies in a more well-suited manner?”

Impact on Economy Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The saga of Cape Wind has gone from simply wrong-headed — not to mention expensive beyond belief — to downright pathetic. ...So now Gordon is once again putting his hopes in the public sector, in particular a bill filed by Rep. Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset) that would require utilities to purchase stated amounts of offshore wind power and hydropower.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center said Monday that the agency and Cape Wind “mutually agreed” to end Cape Wind’s lease of 28 acres of heavy-duty waterfront industrial space in New Bedford. The $4.5 million lease was supposed to run through the end of 2016.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

The wide-sweeping bill meant to revamp state energy policy includes a provision that would require utilities to solicit competitive bids on long-term power contracts with offshore wind farms. The contracts would eventually have to amount to 8.5 million megawatts of power and last at least 15 years.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

Demonizing his critics worked for Gordon for more than a decade, but in the end the NIMBY charge lost its sting when the public recognized Cape Wind as a classic bait and switch. Developers promised cheap, clean energy, and then planned to sell 77.5 percent of the power they were going to produce to NStar and National Grid for some two times the average cost of power generated by US suppliers.

Offshore Wind USA Massachusetts