Showing posts with label Wind power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wind power. Show all posts

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Town of Franklin, MA: Quarterly Aggregation Report


"The ToF's Quarterly Aggregation Report provides a summary of the Nov & Dec electrical savings vs National Grid rates. Franklin chose a 100% green product that supports renewable energy, with 100% of the power supply being offset by National Wind Renewable Energy Certificates. " https://t.co/saIwgNIsmO

 

"This report has been prepared by Colonial Power Group with information/data being provided by the Competitive Supplier and National Grid. The purpose of the report is to provide information about the Town of Franklin's Community Choice Power Supply Program, which currently provides competitive power supply to approximately 9,850 customers in the Town. The data provided by the Competitive Supplier is not available until three months after the month it is used. For example, power is Used in January, Invoiced in February, Paid in March and Reported in April" 

Read the full report on the Town of Franklin page:   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/uploads/franklin_quarterly_aggregation_report-q4_2020.pdf

By my calculations, for the simple act of not opting out, Franklin residential rate payers saved approx. $12 in Nov and $11 in Dec 2020. Not bad at all. Even if there is a more conservative savings estimate of $10/month, that works out to be $1200/year for green (wind) electricity.

(Understanding oi course, that some residential electric user have existing contracts from which they could not change. Once those agreements reach their end of life, the option to opt in will still be available.)


Town of Franklin, MA: Quarterly Aggregation Report
Town of Franklin, MA: Quarterly Aggregation Report113602


Friday, March 26, 2021

MA State News: wind energy and commission report on special taxes

Mariano pledges to turn South Coast into ‘hub of wind energy’ 

"MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano on Thursday pledged to make major investments to turn the South Coast into “a hub of wind energy for the region.” 

Mariano, in a virtual speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, envisioned using the nascent offshore wind energy industry as a way to create jobs in Massachusetts while positioning the state to be a leader in a growing field."

Continue reading the article online

Commission raises flags on film, alcohol, Fidelity tax breaks
"A COMMISSION ESTABLISHED to review the effectiveness of special tax breaks issued by the state of Massachusetts raised serious concerns in its initial report about measures benefitting the film, alcohol, and mutual fund industries.

The Tax Expenditure Review Commission, in a first-of-its-kind report, tried to rate the effectiveness of 26 of the more than 200 tax breaks that in some cases have been on the state’s books for decades and never been subjected to any scrutiny even though they represent billions of dollars in foregone revenue."
Continue reading the article online

Friday, October 9, 2020

Municipal Aggregation - Information Session Video

The recent Information Session on the Municipal Aggregation agreement the Town of Franklin has implemented for Franklin residents was recorded and available for video replay.
 
 
Town Administrator Jamie Hellen at the Town Council meeting announcing the deal in Feb 2020 https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/02/fm-208-jamie-hellen-on-municipal.html

 


Saturday, October 3, 2020

Municipal Aggregation Program Informational Session - Oct 5

Municipal Aggregation Program Informational Session

  • Event Date: Monday, October 5, 2020 - 10:00am


Zoom Information

 
Program Announcement
 
 
Municipal Aggregation Program Informational Session - Oct 5
Municipal Aggregation Program Informational Session - Oct 5

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

FM #208 - Jamie Hellen on Municipal Aggregation

This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 208 in the series. We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).

During the Town Administrator’s Report segment of the Town Council meeting, Feb 12, 2020, there was a good piece of news. Municipal aggregation is finally here with a good deal.

What is municipal aggregation?
“It seeks to aggregate consumers in the Town to negotiate rates for power supply. It brings together the buying power of over 32,000 consumers. Furthermore, the Town seeks to better manage energy prices.

Participation is voluntary for each eligible consumer. Eligible consumers have the opportunity to decline service provided through the Plan and to choose any Competitive Supplier they wish.“
On your electric bill, there are two sections, one for delivery services, and one for the cost of the electricity itself. With aggregation, Franklin has just signed a contract to deliver electricity at a cost of only 10.5 cents for three years. This is one, an improvement over the current rate (around .14 cents) and two, confirms the rate for three years.

This is a good deal. More will be forthcoming on this as we get closer to Sep/Oct 2020. There will be additional information shared, info on how to opt out (accepting a rate other than the 10.5 cents confirmed for three years), etc.

Let’s listen to Jamie Hellen talk about the municipal aggregation deal at the Town Council meeting.

Additional info will be provided at the Town Council meeting on March 4, 2020.

Links to the archives for prior posts on municipal aggregation which was initially approved by the Town Council in 2016 are provided in the show notes


Audio file  https://player.captivate.fm/episode/d8099baa-7dc9-49c7-b55a-cfdb619a52d2



From the archives:

Aggregation Plan released for Town Council meeting review and discussion
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/02/municipal-aggregation-program.html

Link to Municipal Aggregation docs on Town of Franklin page
https://www.franklinma.gov/administrator/pages/municipal-aggregation-documents

Embedded copy:




From the Town Council meeting where this was approved
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/03/live-reporting-legislation-for-action.html

Aggregation Presentation doc - March 9, 2016
https://www.slideshare.net/shersteve/franklin-community-choice-aggregation-program




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FM #208 - Jamie Hellen on Municipal Aggregation
FM #208 - Jamie Hellen on Municipal Aggregation

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

In the News: Paychecks get smaller; wind power growth threatened

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Paychecks are about to get a little smaller in Massachusetts.

Employer and employee contributions to the state Department of Family and Medical Leave Employment Security Trust Fund begin coming out of paychecks on Tuesday. That’s the funding source for the new paid family and medical leave benefit signed into law last year."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190930/payroll-deduction-for-mass-paid-leave-starts-oct-1


"The winds are blowing fair for America’s wind power industry, making it one of the fastest-growing U.S. energy sources.

Land-based turbines are rising by the thousands across America, from the remote Texas plains to farm towns of Iowa. And the U.S. wind boom now is expanding offshore, with big corporations planning $70 billion in investment for the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind farms.

“We have been blessed to have it,” says Polly McMahon, a 13th-generation resident of Block Island, where a pioneering offshore wind farm replaced the island’s dirty and erratic diesel-fired power plant in 2016. “I hope other people are blessed too.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190930/presidents-windmill-hatred-is-worry-for-booming-industry

Saturday, December 15, 2018

"excited about expanding its offshore wind presence"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:
"A lease auction of about 600 square miles acres off the coast of Massachusetts for the development of offshore wind energy has drawn a record $405 million in winning bids. 
If fully developed, the three parcels could generate about 4.1 gigawatts of energy — enough to power nearly 1.5 million homes. 
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Friday the auction was the nation’s eighth competitive lease sale for the development of offshore wind. He said it smashed the previous highest grossing offshore wind lease sale record of $42 million for an area off New York in 2016. 
The provisional winners of the auction were Equinor Wind US, Mayflower Wind Energy and Vineyard Wind. They bid $135 million each for three similarly sized parcels of approximately 130,000 acres."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20181214/auction-of-wind-parcels-off-mass-coast-draws-record-405m-in-bids

Image from Equinor's web page
Image from Equinor's web page
More about Equinor Wind US  https://www.equinor.com/en/news/us-wind-dec2018.html

More about Mayflower Wind Energy LLC
https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=279756673

More about Vineyard Wind  https://www.vineyardwind.com/

Saturday, December 2, 2017

In the News: fire fighter health issues; coyote population on rise; Cape Wind ceases operation

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"For firefighters across the country, there is a growing realization that a major danger they face lies not just in the flames they battle, but in the fumes they breathe and the toxic soot they touch. 
“I can’t think of a fire department or firefighter who doesn’t know someone who’s gone through battling cancer or been touched by cancer or sadly had a death too close to home,” said Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey. “We’re really trying to sound the alarm on this and make sure people are conscious of this.” 
In Massachusetts, the issue of cancer rates for firefighters resurfaced earlier this fall, when Arlington Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Porciello and Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio died within a month of each other due to cancers likely related to their work."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20171201/firefighters-battle-hidden-risk-of-cancer

Franklin's Main St fire station at night
Franklin's West Central St fire station at night


"Once completely foreign to Massachusetts, coyotes have become increasingly common throughout the state, turning up in rural, suburban, and even, urban areas. 
“We’re now pretty well saturated with coyotes in this state,” said Dave Wattles, a biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. “They started to colonize this state in the 1950s, and we’re now seeing the far end of that colonization. We now have coyotes in every mainland town in the state, and in relatively high densities. All available habitat is occupied by coyotes. 
While physical encounters with people are uncommon, the topic of coyote attacks in Massachusetts gained new attention in November after a rabid coyote attacked two people in North Attleboro. The Nov. 20 incident represents the eighth and ninth coyote attacks on humans since the 1950s."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20171201/coyote-population-saturates-massachusetts


"Cape Wind is ceasing development of its wind farm and giving up its federal lease, according to the Cape Cod Times.
 
Once well positioned to become the nation’s first off-shore wind farm, the project has been buffeted by legal challenges and trapped in financial doldrums. 
“Cape Wind has confirmed to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that it has ceased development of its proposed offshore wind farm project in Nantucket Sound and has filed to terminate its offshore wind development lease that was issued in 2010,” Cape Wind vice president Dennis Duffy told the Times."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20171201/cape-wind-gives-up-on-plan-for-nantucket-sound-wind-farm


Sunday, July 11, 2010

wind power

out in Illinois, along i39 and IL ST 30, wind turbines amongst the corn and soybean fields are a glorious sight to see.

  
The turbine at St Mary's Abbey stands alone. These turbines are amongst dozens.



Franklin, MA

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Abbey Wind Turbine

I got out to Mount St Mary's Abbey in Wrentham to record this brief video of the wind turbine in action:



One advantage of wind over solar, the wind sometimes doesn't stop when the sun goes down. It can continue to generate power during the night as long as there is sufficient wind.

Earlier posts/photos of the wind turbine can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/12/abbey-turbine-gets-wings.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2008/11/whoosh-whoosh.html


Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view this video

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Abbey turbine gets wings

The wind turbine at Mount St Mary's Abbey in Wrentham was installed this week. It is quite impressive even from a distance against a gray sky with the blades not turning.

It looks like a giant bird

or a funky hang glider

coming over the trees

until you get closer and the white tower appears.



It will be tested before turning on to generate power for the Abbey.

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to view the slide show.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

In the News - affordable housing, Abbey wind power

A good use for the money that has accumulated in the Housing Trust Fund. This creates affordable housing for folks wanting to live in Franklin by using houses already on the market rather than creating new housing.


Franklin to offer grants to first-time homebuyers

from The Milford Daily News News RSS





Abbey has wind turbine installed

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS







Monday, March 23, 2009

Let's go fly a kite

One fun summer and spring activity of youth was to fly a kite. Here is a brief 5 minute video on how the next generation of kites can provide electricity.

Ben, are you listening?



Enjoy!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

ENERGY BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE CAPE WIND ‘COMPOSITE CERTIFICATE’

On the renewable energy front, we find this press release:

MASSACHUSETTS ENERGY BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE CAPE WIND ‘COMPOSITE CERTIFICATE’
Friday, March 13, 2009
Cape Wind News Release

MASSACHUSETTS ENERGY BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE CAPE WIND ‘COMPOSITE CERTIFICATE’

MARCH 13, 2009, BOSTON, MA – In a unanimous vote, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (Siting Board), the agency created by the Legislature to ensure the siting of needed and least environmental impact energy facilities, voted yesterday to grant Cape Wind a Certificate of Environmental Impact and Public Interest (Certificate) that effectively rolls up all nine state and local permits related to the electric cables into one ‘composite certificate’.

Note: The official transcript of the Siting Board's Hearing yesterday is available for download at:
http://www.capewind.org/transcript.pdf

Cape Wind President Jim Gordon said, “This decision represents a major victory for the people of Massachusetts who are waiting for the clean energy jobs from Cape Wind which will help us become more energy independent and make Massachusetts a global leader in clean offshore wind energy production.” “I am grateful for the assistance that the attorneys representing Clean Power Now and the Conservation Law Foundation provided as participants in the Siting Board process”, Gordon continued.

The Siting Board instructed Cape Wind to work with the Towns of Yarmouth and Barnstable to reach an agreement on reasonable and customary conditions for town permits related to Cape Wind’s buried electric cables and to present this agreement to the Siting Board. In the event parties cannot agree on conditions, the Siting Board will decide on what conditions are reasonable to include. The Siting Board expects to complete this process and take its final vote within 60-days which will conclude Cape Wind’s permitting at the state and local level.

Cape Wind was compelled to file for this Certificate following a denial by the Cape Cod Commission in 2007. The Siting Board also has the statutory authority to grant a comprehensive approval to an energy facility it has previously approved, where that facility has been denied a permit by any other state or local agency in the Commonwealth.

In 2005, the Siting Board approved Cape Wind’s electrical interconnection at the conclusion of a 32-month review of unprecedented length that included 2,900 pages of transcripts, 923 exhibits and 50,000 pages of documentary evidence. The Siting Board found that Cape Wind would meet an identified need for electricity and would provide a reliable energy supply for Massachusetts, with a minimum impact on the environment. The Siting Board’s approval of Cape Wind’s electrical interconnection was upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Cape Wind’s proposal to build America’s first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal would provide three-quarters of the electricity used on Cape Cod and the Islands from clean, renewable energy - reducing this region’s need to import oil, coal and gas. Cape Wind will create new jobs, stable electric costs, contribute to a healthier environment, increase energy independence and establish Massachusetts as a leader in offshore wind power. For more information visit www.capewind.org.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Cape Wind: Record of Decision Request

The following is a Letter to the Editor submitted by Jim Liedell summarizing the Cape Wind decision points and requesting that the Record of Decision be released.

------------

Despite unemployment rising precipitously, U.S. wind industry jobs jumped to 85,000 in 2008, a 70% increase from 2007. Wind made up 42% of all added 2008 electricity capacity. We can soon start benefiting locally by Cape Wind joining this explosive growth, giving us health, economic, security and other benefits.

Major conclusions in the federal Minerals Management Services’ (MMS) mid-January very favorable Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on Cape Wind’s proposed project included:
  1. of negative operation impacts, 3.2% are No Impact, 50% are Negligible, 38.9% are Minor, 6.3% are Moderate, and 1.6% (slightly rerouting the annual Figawi sailboat race) is Major;
  2. impact to tourism will be negligible and there will be no decrease in beach activity;
  3. floating wind turbine technology (recently pushed by the Alliance opposing Cape Wind) won’t be commercially available for 10 to 15 years;
  4. Cape Wind will lower our electricity prices;
  5. negligible to minor impact on fisheries;
  6. fossil-fueled plants’ global-warming and other harmful emissions will be reduced;
  7. no Cape Wind emissions to sea or air;
  8. world-wide data (including local MMA turbine) showed very few birds will be killed colliding with Cape Wind’s turbines
  9. no injuries caused to marine mammals;
  10. nine alternate locations were evaluated - they would all produce more costly (1 to 17.7 cents/kilowatt hour) electricity than Cape Wind; and
  11. three site-layout alternatives and four types of generation facilities were all found to be less desirable than Cape Wind’s proposal.

With this favorable FEIS expanding on and confirming many previous evaluations, it is sure that we will significantly benefit from Cape Wind.

To support this project, write a brief letter to
Kenneth Salazar
Secretary, US Department of the Interior
1849 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20240

and ask them to issue their Record Of Decision promptly.


Jim Liedell
Yarmouth Port


Note: Addressee for letter updated 2/26/09 per email request from Jim Liedell

Sunday, November 30, 2008

"We have to be faithful to our basics"

An earsplitting clanging echoed from the stone bell tower of Mount St. Mary's Abbey in Wrentham, calling to prayer about a dozen nuns ending their morning shift in the convent's Candy House.

The sisters, wrapped in work clothes and aprons, walked down a wooded path and through a clearing as they made their silent way home. By noon, they were wearing the crisp, white robes of their contemplative Cistercian order, and had joined 40 others to chant and pray inside the abbey's airy church.

Up at 3, pray and work all day, retire at 8.

So it goes for these nuns and others in the order that for 900 years has emulated St. Benedict in relying on one's hands for daily sustenance.

Here in Wrentham, off a country lane not far from Interstate 495, that means tending a flock of sheep for wool to make blankets and growing a bounty of fresh vegetables in the summer, and, for these sisters who are rarely seen in public, making Trappistine Quality Candy - and lots of it.

Read the full article in the Boston Sunday Globe West section here

The Abbey web site can be found here

You can order candy via their online web store or make a donation via PayPal.

Postings about the Abbey's wind turbine can be found here


Whoosh Whoosh

Modern wind energy plant in rural scenery.Image via Wikipedia
What if some nuns in Wrentham decided to put up a wind turbine? And then high school officials in Worcester? And a Canton bank chairman? And pretty soon, the question wasn't where do wind farms belong, but how many windmills can we squeeze in to every last available space? That day is coming.
.....

"Wind power is part of that," Schulte says. "It seems to be peppered all over society right now: green, green, green. Well, this is green. This is clean energy. This is 20 years of energy with no emissions. Twenty years of energy with no pollution you have to bury in the ground. I think that's all right."

.....

Remember the nuns? Their turbine -- another SED project -- is scheduled to be built this winter. And Sister Mariann Garrity, for one, can't wait for the moment she sees those pearly white blades spinning. "The wind is just something that we've let caress our faces," she says. "It was not something, up until now, that we had learned how to harness. And when we see that turbine go up, we'll know that we are using a gift of creation in a much more effective way."

It's just like the nuns pray on Sundays. Gathered together, all 50 of them, they thank the Lord for the rain and the dew, for the heat of summer and the cold of winter. They give thanks for the seas and the rivers and the beasts, wild and tame. And they give thanks, of course, for the wind blowing outside the abbey, just waiting for a turbine to spin. "All you winds," they say together, quoting from the book of Daniel, "bless the Lord."

Read the full article in the Boston Globe Magazine here

Previous posting about the Abbey's wind project can be found here and here


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