New England Ratepayers Association

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Entergy’s recent decision to decommission Vermont Yankee’s 620MW of nuclear electricity generation by the end of 2014 brings to light a growing problem for New England’s electricity grid—reliability. Since 2003, New England has increased its reliance on natural gas for electricity generation by 30%. The Vermont Yankee announcement means that New England ratepayers will be […]

The Northern Pass Transmission project has engendered much controversy over the past few years—most of it centered on the location of transmission lines through New Hampshire’s North Country. One thing that can’t be debated is the low-cost electricity and reliability that the 1200MW hydro-generated project will bring to New England’s electricity grid. Opponents of the […]