“With two of the three projects in trouble, Massachusetts will not meet its clean energy goals, and when they do, the power prices will be higher than expected…. The energy chaos in the state is getting interesting with significant implications for the offshore wind business.”

The ongoing saga of Commonwealth Wind’s future took another twist in late January when it filed with the Massachusetts Supreme Court a petition to set aside the order by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (PUC) issued on December 30, 2022, approving the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) prices negotiated with the three local utilities purchasing the electricity.

The challenging, worsening economics have upset the future of the project. Avangrid, the developer of the Commonwealth Wind project, wishes to renegotiate the PPA prices or to have them rejected by the PUC which would then allow Avangrid to rebid the project’s output in the next Massachusetts wind power solicitation scheduled for this spring.…

“We are fast approaching the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission.” (Ayn Rand)

“What the bill is really about is giving more artificial advantage to electric vehicles over the internal combustion engine. Higher the prices, the better, while deflecting the blame to Big Oil.”

When it comes to energy, the California government has termite aspirations. Having wounded its electricity grid with centrally planned wind and solar reliance, the state is legislating vile-and-spite toward the mainstays of the transportation sector: gasoline and diesel.

Consumer preference for the most affordable, plentiful, dependable energies? No standing in this state. Taxpayer neutrality? Absent. Government knows best, with today’s intervention adding to the issues created by prior intervention.

Already, taxes and other mandates have made the Golden State’s pump prices the highest in the country: $4.83/gallon, almost 40 percent higher than the national average.…

“Fossil fuel-supporting Chicken Littles have done their best to spread fear of renewable energy, warning that relying on wind, solar and storage would lead to blackouts and economic devastation.”  (Tomlinson, pre-Storm Uri)

“The Republicans’ goal [with new legislation] is to keep coal plants open and burn more natural gas … [and] wreck the climate….” (Tomlinson, today) 

Chris Tomlinson rides again–bashing gas/coal-based grid reliability in favor of more wind, more solar, enormous battery reliance, and government demand-side management to ration demand to (wounded)  supply.

The latest is his editorial in the Houston Chronicle last week, “Lawmakers to Send Electric Bill Much  Higher” (March 22, 2023). Rather than admitting that the unreliables have wounded (and will further wound) the reliables because of government intervention and planning (see here, here, and here), he  fusses at fossil fuels and muckrakes (hypocritically [1]) against the rich.…

Ed. note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnightly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** Subsidized Green Jobs Killing 6x as many Real Jobs
Renewables cost to explode as Brussels plans to curb imports of Chinese green tech
Sticker shock awaits New Yorkers’ utility bills to fund renewables

Renewables (General):
*** Communities must have a say in local energy projects
*** California is Binging on Renewables — but Emissions Aren’t Falling
*** Renewables are not Sustainable
*** New Book: The Unpopular Truth about Electricity and the Future of Energy
NY’s Build Public Renewables Act Could Cut the Power
Greens refuse to discuss recycling renewables and restoring mining locations to pristine condition

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** Critically Thinking about Offshore Wind
*** As Whales Wash Up Dead, Feds Push Forward With “Green” Energy
*** Exploding the Cheap Offshore Wind Fantasy
*** ‘Take’ authorizations prove NOAA is lying about whale deaths
*** Video of NJ Hearing 3-16-23: An Examination Into Offshore Wind Industrialization
The Latest Casualties of the Climate Change Industry in Denial
As turbines rise, small-scale fishermen have the most to lose
NOAA and Green Activists Condone Whale Sacrifice By Offshore Wind Industry
8 Dolphins Died in One Day Off NJ Coast, Potentially Linked to Offshore Wind
Another Dead Whale Washes Up – This Time In Ocean City, N.J.…