CommonWealth Magazine: "Vocational school admissions debate at center of New Bedford stand-off"

"CRITICS OF VOCATIONAL school admissions in the state are now literally making a federal case of the issue with yesterday’s filing of a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Education alleging discriminatory practices in the admissions policies at Massachusetts vocational high schools. 

It’s another step in a long-running debate that started at the local level, and nowhere has that debate been more contentious than in New Bedford, the place where the push to reform state admission policies first began more than five years ago – and where it continues to inflame passions.

State regulations allow vocational schools to rank applicants based on middle school grades, attendance, and other factors. Admission to the schools has become increasingly competitive, with more than 18,000 applicants vying for 10,616 seats in the 2020-21 school year. "

Continue reading the article at CommonWealth Magazine ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/the-download/vocational-school-admissions-debate-at-center-of-new-bedford-stand-off-2/

Franklin Observer also covers this topic with input from Tri-County Superintendent Karen McGuire and Tri-County School Cmte member Jen D'Angelo

https://franklinobserver.town.news/g/franklin-town-ma/n/143024/local-voc-leaders-question-need-lawsuit

the cost options for the Tri-County building proposal

CommonWealth Magazine: "Mass.-financed power line from Quebec clears another NextEra hurdle"

"THE COMPANY seeking to build a Massachusetts-financed transmission line carrying hydro-electricity from Quebec to Maine cleared another hurdle on its comeback trail when federal regulators dismissed objections raised by the nuclear power plant Seabrook Station.

In a 52-page ruling, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled on Wednesday that Seabrook must upgrade a circuit breaker at the nuclear power plant to accommodate hydro-electricity expected to come into the region from Canada.

FERC also ruled that Seabook’s owner, NextEra, can only charge Avangrid, the company building the power line, for the cost of replacing the circuit breaker and not for “opportunity costs” of $560,000 a day or legal fees.

Avangrid and NextEra are big competitors in the New England energy market and have been battling each other for years on a variety of fronts."

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/mass-financed-power-line-from-quebec-clears-another-nextera-hurdle/

 

This has been a thread in our ongoing series Making Sense of Climate ->

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html

Seabrook Station

“which we do expect to reverse in the second half of this fiscal year”

"STATE REVENUE collections missed the mark by nearly 5 percent in January, with the $3.834 billion that the Department of Revenue reeled in landing $192 million, or 4.8 percent, shy of the previous January’s collections and $185 million or 4.6 percent below the monthly benchmark.

It is the first time since June 2020 that DOR has announced that tax collections have failed to live up to the administration’s monthly expectation. The $21.643 billion that DOR has collected through seven months of fiscal year 2023 is $229 million, or 1 percent less, than actual collections in the same period of fiscal 2022. Tax receipts are the primary source of funding for this year’s state budget, which grew by 10 percent.

The sluggish January numbers may affect the appetite of the Healey administration and the Legislature for tax cuts this year."

Continue reading the article online at CommonWealth Magazine ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/uncategorized/state-tax-revenues-miss-mark-for-first-time-since-june-2020/ 

Some of the variability in forecast vs. actual is due to the "pass thru entity" or PTE accounting for which there is a good explanation of in this article.

The golden dome of the State House. (Photo by Andy Metzger)

CommonWealth Magazine: "Advocates file federal civil rights complaint over vocational school admission policies"

"MORE THAN FIVE YEARS after sounding the alarm over admission policies at the state’s vocational high schools that they say are locking out students who would benefit most from hands-on education, advocates are taking their case to the US Department of Education, filing a federal civil rights complaint aimed at forcing the state to revamp the admissions system at the schools. 

In a filing Thursday with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, lawyers say the state is allowing the use of selective admission criteria to award seats at vocational schools that “disproportionately and unjustifiably exclude students from vulnerable populations” who are “protected from discrimination under federal law.” The complaint calls for the withholding of federal funds to Massachusetts vocational schools until they come into compliance with civil rights laws."

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/advocates-file-federal-civil-rights-complaint-over-vocational-school-admission-policies/

Given the Tri-County building proposal presented Wednesday evening to the Town Council, this will be an item to watch. One aspect of the building is the size is being proposed to remain at a 1000 student capacity. 

Students at New Bedford's high-performing regional vocational technical high school. (Photograph by Mark Ostow)

non-MBTA team assigned to examine the production issues in Springfield

"GOV. MAURA HEALEY said on Thursday that she is putting together a team of non-MBTA technical and legal experts to review the troubling situation at the Chinese-owned Springfield assembly plant for new Red and Orange Line trains.

Healey said she learned about the problems in Springfield a couple weeks ago, apparently at roughly the same time the public learned about them in detail from a presentation by acting General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville to the MBTA board of directors.

On Monday, Healey seemed shaky on details of the situation in Springfield. On Thursday, she seemed much more up to speed.

“The project is way behind schedule. Some alarming details have emerged about the quality of the production process,” Healey said."

Continue reading the article online -> 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/transportation/healey-appointing-non-mbta-team-to-review-crrc-situation/ 

Boston Globe coverage of this topic ->    https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/02/metro/new-consultants-hired-expedite-red-orange-car-delivery-crrc-healey-says/

From left, Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca, Gov. Maura Healey, Transportation Undersecretary Monica Tipbits-Nutt, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, and acting MBTA General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville. (Photo by Bruce Mohl)

Some hybrid aspects in new MA House rules set for this next session

"THE HOUSE on Wednesday unanimously adopted its rules for the two-year term that began four weeks ago, agreeing to eliminate a pandemic-era policy that allowed representatives to participate in sessions and vote remotely.

The rules package also outlines a new hybrid committee hearing structure that will allow for both in-person and remote participation from most legislators and the public.

The reforms headlined a package assembled by House Democrats, who rejected amendments offered during debate to give representatives 60 minutes, rather than 30, to review large floor amendments and to publish how representatives vote on bills in committee.

The House rejected nearly every proposed amendment that was not withdrawn and opted to largely stick with the package rolled out by top Democrats on Tuesday."

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/under-new-rules-house-returns-to-in-person-sessions/ 

Some hybrid aspects in new MA House rules set for this next session

CommonWealth Magazine Beacon Hill Recap: Healey files for shelter & school lunch programs; MA GOP changes leadership

"Healey seeks funding for shelters, school meals"

"REVIVING DEBATE on an issue that lawmakers left untouched at the end of last session, Gov. Maura Healey on Monday filed a $282 million spending bill she said is necessary to manage a surge in demand for emergency shelter and prevent the free school meals program from running out of money.

Healey called on top House and Senate Democrats to make quick work of her new supplemental budget bill, which would steer $85 million toward an emergency shelter “crisis,” allocate $130 million to keep expanded nutrition assistance in place for a few more months, and appropriate $65 million to ensure a universal school meals program remains afloat through the end of the academic year.

Her bill (H 47) targets the same growing shelter strain, fueled in part by an influx of migrant arrivals to Massachusetts, that prompted Gov. Charlie Baker to unsuccessfully seek $130 million in November."

Continue reading the article in CommonWealth Magazine ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/healey-seeks-funding-for-shelters-school-meals/

"Carnevale wins state GOP chair post by 3 votes"

"AMY CARNEVALE of Marblehead won a second-ballot victory Tuesday night to become chair of the Massachusetts Republican arty, edging incumbent Jim Lyons by a margin of 37-34.

Carnevale’s victory gives her control of a party that took a drubbing in November and faces a long road back to both financial and political relevance in Massachusetts. She is hopeful that Republicans who deserted the party under Lyons will now return with financial and political support. She said many have promised to do so."

Continue reading the article in CommonWealth Magazine ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/politics/carnevale-wins-state-gop-chair-post-by-3-votes/

"House panel votes 2-1 to seat Kassner over Mirra"

"THE TWO DEMOCRATS on a three-member special House committee concluded that the chamber should officially seat Kristin Kassner, a Hamilton Democrat who topped five-term Republican Rep. Lenny Mirra by a single vote in a contested recount.

Reps. Michael Day of Stoneham and Daniel Ryan of Charlestown submitted a majority report to the House clerk’s office recommending Kassner be declared “the properly elected and qualified Representative for the Second Essex District,” a move that would allow her to join the House nearly a month after the two-year term began and would spell the end of Mirra’s decade-long tenure."

Continue reading the article in CommonWealth Magazine ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/politics/house-panel-votes-2-1-to-seat-kassner-over-mirra/

The golden dome of the State House. (Photo by Andy Metzger)

Consensus on the MA revenue forecast remains to be set but 2 hours of hearing updates gets it started

"TOP BUDGET OFFICIALS from the Legislature say they intend to abide by the will of the voters and make sure all revenue from the new millionaire tax goes to “new initiatives” in transportation and education.

Exactly what would qualify as a “new initiative” hasn’t been decided yet (is a new bus or subway car a new initiative?), nor has any decision been made on whether the money would be evenly split between education and transportation.

“That’s all to be discussed,” said Sen. Michael Rodrigues, the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee."

Continue reading the article

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/special-treatment-considered-for-revenue-from-millionaire-tax/

"STATE REVENUES are expected to rise slightly in the coming fiscal year, but top budget officials from the Legislature and Healey administration say it’s still unclear whether there is enough money to enact permanent tax cuts.

At the end of last year’s legislative session, former governor Charles Baker and Senate leaders wanted to press ahead with $500 million in permanent tax cuts in addition to nearly $3 billion in one-time refunds from the state’s tax cap law."

Continue reading the article

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/top-budget-officials-still-undecided-on-tax-cuts/

"State revenue officials said Tuesday they could collect at least $1.4 billion — and perhaps up to $1.7 billion — next fiscal year from Massachusetts’ newly enshrined tax on its wealthiest earners, kick-starting months of debate over how to steer the new injection of tax money.

The projection, offered Tuesday in a legislative hearing, marked the first official estimate state officials have provided on what they think the so-called “millionaires tax” will contribute to coffers in its first year since taking effect Jan. 1. Narrowly passed by voters on the November ballot, the measure increases the state’s 5 percent income tax rate to 9 percent on annual income exceeding $1 million."

Continue reading the article in the Boston Globe (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/24/metro/new-millionaires-tax-could-generate-least-14-billion-next-year-state-officials-project/

The 2 hour hearing that generated these articles is available for video replay on your schedule  https://malegislature.gov/Events/SpecialEvents/Detail/403/Video1

The Big 3 on budget issues: From left, Matthew Gorzkowicz, Gov. Maura Healey's secretary of administration and finance; Sen. Michael Rodrigues, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee; and Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. (Photo by Bruce Mohl)

MA News round up: wind developers stalling for time, housing position at cabinet level, Harvard Medical Sch incorporates climate into curriculum

"Mass. offshore wind developers stalling for time"

"THE STATE’S TWO leading offshore wind developers appear to be stalling for time as they explore whether the cast of new players on Beacon Hill may be more receptive to letting them back out of or tweak their existing power purchase agreements.

Avangrid, the company behind Commonwealth Wind, filed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging a December 30 decision of the Department of Public Utilities approving the wind farm developer’s power purchase agreements with three Massachusetts utilities even though Avangrid said the pricing is no longer sufficient to obtain financing for the project.

Mayflower Wind, being developed by Shell New Energies and Ocean Winds, filed a request with the DPU seeking a greater say in deliberations over the power contracts and more time to respond."

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/the-download/mass-offshore-wind-developers-stalling-for-time-2/ 

 

"Governor Healey kicks off effort to establish state housing chief with new executive order"

"Governor Maura Healey, who made housing a central theme of her campaign, announced Friday that she filed an executive order to create a working group to establish the role of a new Cabinet-level housing secretary.

She announced the news in front of local leaders at the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s annual meeting in Boston — the first public step the governor has taken toward her campaign promise of creating the role. Healey committed early in her campaign to elevate the post as a way to increase focus and resources on housing production during a time when housing has become increasingly less affordable.

Traditionally, the job of housing and economic development secretary has been one role in state government. So far Secretary Yvonne Hao has been serving in both capacities in the new Healey administration, though she will ultimately focus on economic development when the new housing post is filled.:

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required) ->   https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/20/metro/governor-healey-kicks-off-effort-establish-state-housing-chief-with-new-executive-order/ 

Text of the Executive Order can be found on the Governor's page ->   https://www.mass.gov/executive-orders/no-605-establishing-a-working-group-to-envision-the-creation-of-a-housing-secretariat

"Harvard Medical School votes to embed climate change in its curriculum"

"Raised by two psychologists, Madeleine Kline had wanted to become a doctor since she was little. And when she learned in high school how human activity was fueling climate change, she concluded “it felt fundamentally like a health problem.

So it seemed the most natural thing for her to go into medicine. And once at Harvard Medical School, she combined her two interests to help produce a novel undertaking at the 350-year-old institution: embed teaching about the effects of climate change into all four years of the medical degree curriculum.

“I realized that the world then,” she said of her youth, “was not the world that I was going to inhabit as an adult or raise my children in. And, if I wanted to help take care of people, I needed to understand the challenges my patients were going to face.”

Now in her third year, Kline was among a small group of students and faculty who helped convince school leaders to adopt the new curriculum, which was approved earlier in January. It will include instruction on the effects of climate change on human health, the role health care systems play in contributing to climate change, and how physicians can work to be part of the solution."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required) -> 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/20/metro/harvard-medical-school-votes-embed-climate-change-its-curriculum/

Student Julia Malits (left), Dr. Gaurab Basu (center), and student Madeleine Kline championed the integration of climate change into Harvard Medical School's curriculum. JONATHAN WIGGS/GLOBE STAFF

CommonWealth Magazine: "Region’s aging nuclear power plants drawing interest"

"Rep. Jeffrey Roy of Franklin, a Democrat who chairs the Legislature’s Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Committee, is a big supporter of offshore wind and solar. But he, too, sees a need for nuclear power plants. 

Roy, who toured the Seabrook and Millstone plants last year, said he intends to file legislation shortly that would allow the Healey administration to pursue the purchase of electricity generated by Millstone. 

He acknowledges the concerns about nuclear waste, but says the plant already exists so it makes sense to take advantage of its emission-free power to help address climate change. “It would be a shame if we didn’t at least take a look at it,” he said."

Continue reading the article ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/regions-aging-nuclear-power-plants-drawing-interest-2/

And via https://twitter.com/MassPolProfMo/status/1616406108263878657  it is insightful to "follow the money"

"New Englanders are wearing tank tops and shorts in January and @massfiscal  is hosting a climate change denial summit. See any connection?" 

Read money about who is funding these folks   - >   https://www.masspoliticsprofs.org/2023/01/20/massachusetts-fiscal-alliance-brings-kochs-circus-to-town/ 

Listen to the recent "Making Sense of Climate" episode here ->

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/01/making-sense-of-climate-ted-i-start.html

 

Millstone Nuclear Station

MA State News Roundup: MLK monument; Wu leaves Twitter; cannabis pricing plummets

(1) Today "The Embrace" is scheduled to be unveiled on the Boston Common. Good timing for the Martin Luther King Jr holiday weekend. This will be a new excuse for a day trip into Boston on a good weather day.

Boston Globe article (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/12/arts/embrace-is-tribute-love-justice-unsung/

Commonwealth Magazine article

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/raceracism/healey-calls-king-statue-important-given-bostons-narrative/

Artist Hank Willis Thomas, who conceived "The Embrace," is seen in his studio in Brooklyn, N.Y. JENNIFER S. ALTMAN

(2) CommonWealth Magazine runs a headline "Citing increasingly toxic climate, Michelle Wu turns away from Twitter"

A sad state of affairs for anyone using social media tools these days. You can read the full article here -> https://commonwealthmagazine.org/politics/citing-increasingly-toxic-climate-michelle-wu-turns-away-from-twitter/

(3) Common Wealth Magazine also provides some insights into the cannabis market. Why does this matter to Franklin? Given the change in the host community agreements, the Town of Franklin is still schedule to get a percentage of the revenues from cannabis sales and we have both growth facilities as well as retails facilities. With the budget cycle starting, these changes will perhaps show up in a lesser amount anticipated on the revenue sheet.

"ON A RECENT DAY, a Brockton customer looking for some marijuana could have bought one-eighth of an ounce of LA Kush Cake flower for just $20 at Commonwealth Alternative Care. Nearby, Legal Greens was advertising one-eighth of an ounce of Jet Fuel flower for $25, according to the marijuana marketing website Leafly.

The prices are way down from the $50 or $60 that a decent strain of marijuana was going for just two years ago. That’s good news for consumers tired of paying some of the highest prices for marijuana in the nation, but it’s bad news for the state’s legal marijuana industry. Just four years after cannabis shops opened, the price decline is destabilizing the industry and threatening to force companies out of business. Policy makers are being urged to consider radical action, including placing a moratorium on the granting of new cultivation licenses."

Continue reading the article ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/marijuana/plummeting-prices-destabilize-mass-marijuana-market/

The Codcast: "Lawmakers walk tightrope on wind power contracts" (audio)

"The Legislature’s energy experts say it makes sense to penalize CommonWealth Wind and Mayflower Wind if they default on their recently approved power purchase contracts, but the lawmakers don’t want the penalties to include a ban on participation in an upcoming offshore wind procurement.

The House and Senate chairs of the Legislature’s Utilities, Telecommunications, and Energy Committee say the state needs to walk a fine line between penalizing the companies but not penalizing itself. "

Continue reading the article at CommonWealth Magazine 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/podcast/lawmakers-walk-tightrope-on-wind-power-contracts/

Listen to the podcast episode here -> https://on.soundcloud.com/qsmnM

CommonWealth Magazine · Lawmakers walk tightrope on wind power contracts

Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington (left) and Rep. Jeffrey Roy of Franklin, the chairs of Legislature's Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy Committee.

CommonWealth Magazine: "Overcoming the restrictions on multi-family housing"

"CITIES AND TOWNS of Greater Boston have a long history of using zoning to restrict development of multi-family housing that might accommodate families with children. The systematic restrictions have disadvantaged multi-generational households seeking homes in condo or apartment buildings. The restrictions have also undermined the housing market’s dynamism and its ability to meet the region’s housing needs.

In response to these problems, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopted the MBTA Communities zoning law requiring cities and towns served by the MBTA to zone for transit-oriented multi-family housing “without age restrictions” and “suitable for families with children.” Once implemented, the reform should enable the market to meet the needs of diverse households.

For decades, municipalities have been limiting development of family-suitable apartments and condos through a few zoning mechanisms, including age-restrictions for occupants (typically for residents who are at least 55 years old), bedroom restrictions, and discretionary approval processes. I studied these practices in a 2018 survey of zoning bylaws and ordinances in 100 cities and towns across Greater Boston."

Last of the 5 part series

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/overcoming-the-restrictions-on-multi-family-housing/

 

Part 4 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/where-should-new-multi-family-housing-go/

Part 3   

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/seeking-predictable-permitting-for-new-housing/

Part 2 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/solving-the-mbta-communities-zoning-puzzle/

Part 1

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/01/commonwealth-magazine-understanding-new.html

New multi-family housing in Sudbury, Mass. (Photo by Amy Dain)

CommonWealth Magazine: "Seeking predictable permitting for new housing" (part 3 of 5)

 

"IF YOU LIVE in an affluent suburb of Boston, your municipality is probably not using as-of-right zoning to permit construction of apartments or condos. If your community is served by the MBTA, then the Massachusetts state Legislature has mandated that your municipality zone for multi-family housing as-of-right. The clock is now ticking on implementation.

The mandate was adopted because Boston’s suburbs have not allowed enough transit-oriented home development to meet the region’s needs for housing and transit-accessibility. Discretionary review processes are part of the problem. As-of-right zoning can help."

Part 3 of the 5 part series  

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/seeking-predictable-permitting-for-new-housing/

Part 2 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/solving-the-mbta-communities-zoning-puzzle/

Part 1

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/01/commonwealth-magazine-understanding-new.html

A public plaza within a private development, Trio, in Newton. (Photo by Amy Dain.)

CommonWealth Magazine: "Where should new multi-family housing go?" (part 4 of 5)

"WHERE SHOULD new multifamily housing go? This is a fundamental question facing 175 communities across eastern Massachusetts as they work to implement a new law intended to address the region’s housing shortage. The MBTA Communities law requires cities and towns served by Greater Boston’s public transit agency, the MBTA, to enact zoning that allows multifamily housing near transit.

If history is any indication, communities will seek to locate this new multi-family housing away from existing residential neighborhoods when possible. In recent decades, the largest portion of new housing in Greater Boston has been built in isolated areas on municipal and metropolitan peripheries. As an example, the town of Wellesley approved the construction of a 262-unit complex called The Nines on a spit of land separated from the rest of town, tucked between Routes 95 and 9 and the Charles River. The towns of Needham and Stoneham permitted similar “across the interstate” developments, and other examples abound."

Part 4 of the 5 part series

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/where-should-new-multi-family-housing-go/

Part 3   

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/seeking-predictable-permitting-for-new-housing/

Part 2 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/solving-the-mbta-communities-zoning-puzzle/

Part 1

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/01/commonwealth-magazine-understanding-new.html

Residential construction in Waltham, MA. (Photo by Amy Dain)

CommonWealth Magazine: "Solving the MBTA Communities zoning puzzle" (part 2 of 5)

"IN 2021, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopted the MBTA Communities zoning law requiring municipalities served by the MBTA to zone districts “of reasonable size” for multi-family housing at a “gross density” of 15 dwelling units per acre. The law applies to 175 cities and towns. Some may already have zoning that meets the requirements. For most of the municipalities, compliance will involve local legislative votes, at town meetings and city councils.

In the process of local reform, thousands of public officials, constituents, and advocates will have to become familiar with the law’s novel, complicated, and flexible concept of gross density. I am writing this article to give people a head-start in understanding it."

Part 2 of the 5 part series 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/solving-the-mbta-communities-zoning-puzzle/

Part 1

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/01/commonwealth-magazine-understanding-new.html

Multi-family development in Winchester, MA. (Photo by Amy Dain.)

CommonWealth Magazine: "Understanding the new concept of zoning capacity"

The first of a five part series by CommonWealth Magazine on the MBTA community zoning changes underway in Franklin (and elsewhere). The Economic Development Subcommittee is leading this effort which is active. 

Any proposed changes got to the full Town Council for referral to the Planning Board before coming back for discussion and vote to approve. There is plenty of time for asking questions or providing input but the time is NOW. 

"THERE IS A NEW concept in zoning, invented this year by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In promulgated guidelines, the concept has been dubbed “minimum multi-family unit capacity.” I refer to the concept as “zoning capacity.”

If you live in a community served by the MBTA, the concept may soon animate discussions at your town or city hall, or in local on-line forums, or between neighbors about how much multi-family housing the community should allow."

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/what-the-mbta-communities-law-means-for-your-town/

The recent discussion between Town Councilors Melanie Hamblen and Cobi Frongillo is insightful on this topic. Listen here ->   https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/12/downtown-zoning-discussion-with.html

examples of current Franklin housing from Cobi's bike ride around Franklin

CommonWealth Magazine: "Mass. shows interest in financing Maine wind project"

A 1,000 MEGAWATT onshore wind project planned for northern Maine and an associated transmission build-out “would provide benefits to Massachusetts and the region,” the Mass. Department of Energy Resources said as it determined that it makes sense to have Bay State ratepayers cover 40 percent of the project costs as part of a multi-state clean energy effort.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission selected the two projects — Longroad Energy’s King Pine 1,000 MW land-based wind generation project and LS Power Base’s 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission line project — in October to fulfill that state’s clean energy law requirements. The anticipated net cost of the two projects is $1.7 billion over 30 years, but the Maine PUC directed its staff “to look to other states to assess if there are partnerships that could reduce the costs to Maine.”

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/mass-shows-interest-in-financing-maine-wind-project/

CommonWealth Magazine: "Mass. shows interest in financing Maine wind project"

CommonWealth Magazine: "DPU approves wind farm contracts despite financing concerns"

"THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES  on Friday approved 20-year power purchase agreements between the state’s three major utilities and the offshore wind developers behind Commonwealth Wind and Mayflower Wind, rejecting claims and concerns raised by the developers that the contracts are no longer adequate to finance their projects.

Avangrid, the developer behind Commonwealth Wind, had asked the DPU to dismiss its power purchase agreements because rising inflation and interest rates as well as supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine had driven up costs to a point where the existing pricing was no longer sufficient to finance and build the project."

Continue reading the article online -> 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/dpu-approves-wind-farm-contracts-despite-financing-concerns/

Listen to the Making Sense of Climate episode discussion the wind contracts

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/11/hear-about-green-banking-and-more-in.html

CommonWealth Magazine: "DPU approves wind farm contracts despite financing concerns"

"a very ambitious undertaking, simplistic in concept but very difficult in execution"

"THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Wednesday released a 168-page climate plan for 2050that follows the same general playbook that’s been outlined in the past – increase production of clean electricity; use that electricity to electrify the energy-intensive transportation, building, and industrial sectors; and achieve net-zero emissions by removing additional carbon from the atmosphere using natural and engineered approaches. 

The state’s goal for 2050 is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent compared to 1990 levels, and achieve the net-zero target by removing additional emissions from the atmosphere. 

It’s a very ambitious undertaking, simplistic in concept but very difficult in execution. The climate plan wrestles with all the variables, and comes to some tentative conclusions."

Continue reading the article in CommonWealth Magazine 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/baker-administration-fleshes-out-2050-climate-plan/

Get the full 168 page plan here ->  https://www.mass.gov/doc/2050-clean-energy-and-climate-plan/download

Boston Globe coverage of the report ->   https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/21/science/with-new-report-massachusetts-charts-path-net-zero-emissions-by-2050/

"a very ambitious undertaking, simplistic in concept but very difficult in execution"