CLF has intervened in proceedings regarding the proposed merger of Northeast Utilities (NU) and NSTAR, which combined would create the third largest utility in the country and the largest in New England. CLF has intervened in the proceedings before the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to ensure that the merger will only be allowed to go forward if it is “consistent with the public interest.” This will require a thoughtful analysis of the merged utility’s long-term strategies for delivering energy while fully meeting the greenhouse gas emission reductions, renewable energy and energy efficiency requirements of the MA Global Warming Solutions Act and Green Communities Act. It also will require a close look at the economic and environmental risks posed by the energy generation assets that would be owned by the merged utility.
One of CLF’s concerns is that NU subsidiary Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) owns and depends upon outdated, inefficient coal- and oil-fired power plants. These plants – which are obsolete and increasingly more expensive and less economic to operate – present risks and liabilities that would be spread to NSTAR’s ratepayers if the merger goes forward. Another concern is that the merged utility might seek to weaken Massachusetts’ renewable energy standards, as suggested in some of the utilities’ public statements, allowing large hydropower to “flood” the market (pun intended!) and chill development of other renewable energy sources such as small wind and solar facilities.
Currently, the procedural schedule for the merger proceeding pending before the Massachusetts DPU has been suspended while the DPU considers whether to modernize the legal standard it will apply. CLF and other parties have asked that the legal standard be adapted to account for changes in relevant laws, including the Global Warming Solutions Act and Green Communities Act.
Stay tuned as we await the DPU’s ruling and further action in the merger proceeding!
Frank Haggerty
The Conservation Law foundation needs to get involved with the clean up of the toxic abandoned Cannon Street Power Plant in New Bedford . Where was the CLF when the plant was sold . At the present time it’s not clear who owns the power plant and if the owners have done their due diligence to remove the toxins from the plant !It has been known since 1996 that the power plant is the most toxic power plant in a marine environment .The clean up documents weigh twenty pounds and if this was a shovel ready project why wasn’t some of the 600 million in stimulus funds pledged to the ocean wind turbine project used to put people to work in New Bedford cleaning the plant !
The CLF backs the ocean wind turbine port in New Bedford being built on a brownfield site owned by the state of Massachusetts near Blackmer Street . The ocean wind turbine port is being built next door to the power plant in the largest superfund site in the country !
When the EPA was approached last week at a meeting in about the ocean wind turbine port New Bedford here is the answer :
“While EPA is involved in part of the approval process it is a separate project, and involves a number of different people from multiple state and federal agencies than those who work on both the Superfund cleanup of New Bedford Harbor, and the demolition of the Aerovox Mill. I want to assure you that while we are unable to address your concerns about the future re-use of the South Terminal area during the monthly Superfund meetings, it is a project that will be given due attention and community input, but during a separate public process.
I will certainly forward to you the public notice that comes my way to announce the date of the South Terminal public meeting. There, your questions about the increased traffic in the harbor can be better answered by the experts working on that permitting process. In the meantime, if you have any additional questions about EPA’s Brownfields program or the Blackmer Street Site, I encourage you to contact Joe Ferrari of EPA’s Brownfields Program. “