For the past two years, New England has seen its energy rates rise from $.036 per kWh in 2012 to $.056 per kWh in 2013— more than a 50% increase. New England ratepayers paid an additional $3 billion for the energy we consumed last winter and as a result of capacity shortages in the most […]
NESCOE Proposal Unnecessary and Would Repeat Mistakes of the Past
Recently, the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE), which represents the six New England states and its Governors on regional electricity issues, proposed an initiative that would socialize the cost of natural gas pipeline expansion as well as transmission lines associated with large-scale hydropower imports from Canada. The initiative has been rightfully met with […]
Municipal Fiber not the Right Path
On its May 2nd editorial page, the Concord Monitor opined that “Concord should embrace municipal fiber optic network”. The question residents need to ask themselves is: Why? Concord currently has several broadband providers that serve its residents. Why would taxpayers foot the bill to duplicate existing networks? The Monitor offers a quote from a former […]
Why Northern Pass Matters
Hysteria, rhetoric and falsehoods aside—New Hampshire needs the Northern Pass Project. New Hampshire businesses and residents pay the sixth highest electricity costs in the nation and the only change on the horizon is higher prices. New England’s electricity grid is regional—which means that what happens in one state affects the cost of electricity in all […]
Cape Wind’s cost (to ratepayers) keeps rising
When Cape Wind was first proposed in 2001, offshore wind projects were believed to be far more cost effective than onshore alternatives, or even some traditional generation. Early estimates pegged the cost of Cape Wind at a little more than $1 billion. Although developers have been working on the project since then, formal cost estimates […]
The Electricity Grid and Markets Need Fixing
This has been a cold winter—and ratepayers shouldn’t expect their electricity costs to thaw anytime soon. Wholesale electricity prices have exploded as frigid temperatures have driven up demand for natural gas for home heating purposes. This results in most natural gas generators paying a premium for what little gas remains in the pipe. This in […]
Already High Electricity Rates Getting Higher
Winter hasn’t officially commenced yet, but the early returns don’t bode well for New England’s electricity market and its ratepayers. In the past month we have seen wholesale electricity prices climb to 30 cents per KWh for four-hour stretches—and natural gas prices at New England zones have exceeded seven times the national average. On Thursday, […]
Already High Electricity Costs are Rising
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: (603) 369-4301 December 12, 2013 CONCORD, NH – Today, the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) weighed in on high wholesale electricity prices in the region, which have recently topped 30 cents per KWh. Marc Brown, President of NERA, made the following statement regarding the recent spike in electricity rates: “New England […]
Continued over-reliance on natural gas will raise electricity rates
National Grid of Massachusetts recently submitted a tariff request that will raise electricity rates for its residential customers by nearly 20% and its industrial customers by 30%. These increases will have a major impact on jobs, as a 30% increase in electricity rates to all Massachusetts’ industries would result in $600 million dollars in addition […]
Wind power not competitive with conventional sources
It has been recently reported that Massachusetts’ utilities National Grid, Northeast Utilities and Unitil have negotiated power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 565MW of electricity capacity from existing and proposed wind-farms in New Hampshire and Maine that would provide electricity at wholesale rates of approximately eight cents per kilowatt-hour. These agreements were lauded by the Boston […]
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