The ISO’s Forward Capacity Auction 11, conducted on Monday, February 6, 2017, once again shows that the proposed Invenergy fracked gas and diesel oil power plant is not needed. The Independent System Operator-New England (ISO) is the entity that runs the New England electricity grid. The ISO is regulated under federal law, and is responsible for…
Feb 9
2017
2017
Oct 13
2016
2016
Guest Blog: You Can’t Get There from Here: Protecting Irreplaceable Wildlife Corridors
Scott Comings is the Associate State Director of The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island. In his role at The Nature Conservancy, he has worked with and facilitated hundreds of scientific research projects in the state, participated in multiple statewide habitat assessments and overseen stewardship of all of the Conservancy’s Rhode Island lands since 2009. Previous…
Sep 19
2016
2016
CLF Files Motion to Dismiss Invenergy Case (Again)
The tide may be turning in the Invenergy case. On Tuesday, September 13, the Town of Burrillville filed a Motion to Dismiss the Invenergy Docket. This was important because the Town Council had been widely seen as being very supportive of the Invenergy proposal. The Town’s Motion is based on the fact that Invenergy has…
Sep 1
2016
2016
Problems for Invenergy Continue to Mount
I have written before about Invenergy’s proposal to build a new 1,000 megawatt fossil fuel power plant in rural Burrillville, Rhode Island; and I have recently written about mounting problems that Invenergy faces. Now Invenergy may be facing new, additional problems. On August 31, 2016, the Town of Burrillville Planning Board filed its Advisory Opinion in the…
Aug 31
2016
2016
Invenergy’s Proposed New Fossil Fuel Plant May Have Difficulty Finding Water to Use
Invenergy’s inability to obtain water for its proposed 1,000-megawatt fossil-fuel plant in Burrillville, Rhode Island, may prove to be a significant obstacle to the plant’s proponents. By way of background, Invenergy’s pending permit application to the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) calls for Invenergy to acquire well water from Pascoag Utility District (PUD) Well 3A,…
Jul 25
2016
2016
Carbon and Climate Are the Main Issues in Invenergy Gas Plant Case
This week, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission is hearing the Invenergy case. In a blog last week, I wrote about the overall structure of the case and that there are three main issues: Whether the plant is needed for system reliability, which you can read about here. Whether Invenergy has lied by grossly overstating…
Jul 24
2016
2016
PUC To Hear Testimony This Week On Proposed Burrillville Power Plant
… But the Conservation Law Foundation says that solar power and energy efficiency can cover the region’s projected needs in the future and that Invenergy’s cost analysis grossly overestimates its benefits. The environmental group says the savings could be closer to zero. “[Invenergy] is making an assumption, unsupported by any evidence and highly improbable at…
Jul 21
2016
2016
Invenergy Hearing at the Public Utilities Commission
Starting on Monday, July 25, 2016, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is hearing Docket #4609 about the proposal from Invenergy to build a new 900-megawatt fossil-fuel power plant in Burrillville, Rhode Island. The PUC is considering two specific questions about the Invenergy proposal: (a) is the plant needed for the reliability of the…
Jul 2
2016
2016
Politicians, Energy Companies Just Want You to Trust Them
… Count the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) among those that don’t believe the hype about the region’s need for more natural gas. The two major arguments used by Invenergy in support of its plan to build a power plant in Burriliville are that the plant is needed for the reliability of the electricity grid and to save…
Jun 27
2016
2016
Why Should Burrillville Care About Invenergy’s Bad Financial Decisions?
… The gist of her remarks seems to be that Burrillville town attorney Michael McElroy convinced her that the town might be on the hook financially for the fines that Invenergy might suffer for not delivering on its obligations to ISO-NE. I couldn’t see how this was possible, so I asked Jerry Elmer, senior attorney at the Conservation Law…