Energy News Roundup: February 4-February 10

This week in regional energy news …

• The Salem Harbor Power Station in Massachusetts proposes to convert to natural gas from coal and oil.  The conversion would be part of a deal, currently being negotiated, in which Virginia-based Dominion would sell the plant to Footprint Power of New Jersey.
• Vermont’s senate is considering purchasing a majority interest in transmission lines in the state.
• Environment Maine expresses its opposition to the recently announced reorganization of Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission, while supporters from the LePage Administration maintain that the changes are necessary to ensure local control.
• A USDA official met yesterday with Maine wood pellet interests to discuss wood pellets as a heating alternative and the importance of the industry to the state’s economy.  The Maine Pellet Fuels Association, Corinth Wood Pellets, and others were represented at the meeting, where the issue of federal subsidies for fuel sources was raised.

Energy News Roundup: January 14-January 20

This week in regional energy news …

• NGL Energy Partners LP announced on Monday an agreement to purchase North American Propane’s assets in New England and the Mid-Atlantic.  NAP has over 50,000 customers.
• Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushes for more Canadian control and say over the Keystone DL pipeline.
• On Wednesday, New Hampshire’s Senate delayed its vote on a bill that would create problems for the Northern Pass transmission project’s efforts to acquire land by eminent domain.
• First Wind’s petition to expand its Oakfield wind farm to 50 turbines from 34 won the unanimous approval of the Maine DEP.

Energy News Roundup: December 31-January 6

This week in regional energy news …

• The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority announced on Wednesday that it will review a proposed merger between NStar and Northeast Utilities, which may scuttle the utilities’ deal.
• The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently upheld a power purchase agreement between Cape Wind and National Grid.  A joint group of parties, including trade groups and other energy companies, had challenged the PPA, arguing that with a 18.7 cents-per-kWh price and 3.5% annual price escalator, it was not in the public interest.
• A new group called the End User Alliance is requesting that ISO New England look into the impact on prices of new EPA regulations that the group argues could lead to the shut-down of Vermont Yankee, Seabrook, and other nuclear generators.
• Northern Pass Transmission, LLC, hopes to purchase a 5,800-acre parcel of land from the Balsams Wilderness Resort, while a New Hampshire nonprofit is collecting donations in an effort to purchase the same land.
• PSNH has entered into power purchase agreements with five independent biomass power producers in New Hampshire.

Energy News Roundup: December 10-December 16

This week in regional energy news …

• Despite some setbacks, the clean tech industry in Massachusetts is gearing up for growth.  Employment in clean energy in the state increased by 7 percent from July 2010 to July 2011.
• Following the most recent standard offer bidding process in Maine, the Maine Public Utilities Commission announces that electricity customers will see lower bills beginning in March 2012.
• Four U.S. Senators from New England—Richard Blumenthal (CT), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), John Kerry, and Scott Brown (both of MA)—are calling for a review of the reliability of the nation’s electric grid.  A Halloween weekend snowstorm left millions without power in New England.
• Renewable Properties, Inc., a company acquiring land for the Northern Pass project, is paying a premium for at least one parcel: $2.35 million, or three times the assessed value, for a 118-acre property in Franklin, NH.
• Down East LNG, which is seeking approval to construct a liquefied natural gas terminal in Robbinston, Washington County, Maine, is facing local opposition.  Save Passomoquoddy Bay has asked FERC to reject Down East LNG’s application.

Energy News Roundup: December 3-December 9

This week in regional energy news …

• Statoil, a Norwegian energy company, is seeking federal approval for an offshore floating wind farm off of the Maine coast.  The four-turbine pilot project, which would be located south of Boothbay Harbor, could be operating by 2016 and generating 12 MW of electricity, if the application (PDF) is approved.
• The Concord Monitor has created a section of its Web site devoted to full coverage of the Northern Pass Project, which would bring 1200 MW of hydroelectricity from Canada to New England.  Recently, the State Senate Judiciary committee voted for new protections for property owners facing eminent domain taking but rejected legislation that would have attempted to prohibit projects like the Northern Pass from using eminent domain powers.
• Cate Street Capital, the new owner of the Millinocket and East Millinocket, Maine, mills, recently also purchased the exclusive North American rights to biocoal technology.  Biocoal is a wood-derived fuel that would replace coal-burning at electric plants.
• A proposed new propane import terminal in Searsport, Maine, has incited local opposition.
• According to ISO New England’s winter electricity demand outlook, the region should have ample electric production to meet demand, even in the event of any extreme winter weather.
• An ethanol plant in Prince Edward Island that would produce the technology to create ethanol from sugar beets retains the support of the provincial government even though the Alantec plant will be selling the technology rather than the ethanol product itself.
• An exploratory panel has recommended that Maine’s Land Use Regulatory Commission give Maine’s 16 counties more power over land use decisions.  Among the 12 committee members present (out of 13), the vote was unanimous.  Other recommendations include letting the governor nominate only three LURC commissioners, rather than seven, and letting counties take on minor permitting issues that are now handled by LURC.

Energy News Roundup: November 27-December 2

This week in regional energy news …

• Madison Electric Works announces that it is looking into installing a natural gas generator to serve its customers.
• The North American Electric Reliability Corporation has issued a report demonstrating that New England and other areas in the country have a significant need for more generation resources in order to meet demand.
• Canada’s CBC reports on the effect of falling natural gas prices on hydraulic fracturing developments.
• The Vermont Electric Power Company, or VELCO, has no plans at this time to pursue construction of transmission lines through Vermont to transmit hydro-power from Quebec to New England.
• Maine Gov. Paul LePage looks to make a deal with Canadian energy providers to help lower electricity rates in Maine.
• Beginning on the first of the year, ISO New England’s multiple region cost allocation method will be modified.  Read the details on the Newswire.

Energy News Roundup: November 12-November 18

This week in regional energy news …

• Between 2004 and 2009 Maine residents cut their heating oil use by 45 percent.  Maine remains, however, the country’s most oil-dependent state for home heating.
• Anbaric Transmission, a Massachusetts company, has filed a request with ISO New England for interconnection of a proposed transmission line that would carry up to 2,000 MW of offshore wind energy to land.  The offshore generation projects that would interconnect with the line are each over 25 miles from the coastline.
• In an effort out of its Brunswick, Maine, office, the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences reminds us of the naturally carbon-reducing power of trees.  The center’s new program, the Clean Water Carbon Fund, gives the public the chance to purchase trees for $6 to be planted along the shores of waterways that are overexposed to carbon.
• On Thursday, December 15, E2Tech will host a breakfast forum with Efficiency Maine representatives to discuss residential and commercial energy efficiency programs.  Event details are available at E2Tech’s Web site.