WIND ENERGY
Mayflower Wind signs deal for future power line at Brayton Point
Wind farm developer Mayflower Wind has signed an agreement with Anbaric Development Partners to use transmission rights that Anbaric has secured to bring electricity via a future power line onshore at Brayton Point in Somerset. Mayflower said it plans to use the Brayton Point spot, formerly home to the biggest coal-fired plant in New England, to hook into the region’s electricity grid from a wind farm to be built in an offshore area south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. That line would supplement the transmission line Mayflower is already planning to bring to Falmouth, to connect with an offshore project in the permitting phase that would generate about 800 megawatts of electricity, or more than enough power for 400,000 homes. Mayflower said it has enough room in its offshore lease area to build enough turbines to generate more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity. Mayflower is owned by European energy companies Shell and Ocean Winds, a joint venture owned by EDP Renewables and Engie. — JON CHESTO
HEALTH CARE
Advertisement
Lahey gets $10 million gift to aid nursing education and career development
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center has received a $10 million donation to boost education and career development for nurses at the Burlington hospital. The gift will establish the Jean Cunningham Department of Nursing and the Jean Cunningham Chair in Nursing, to be held by the hospital’s nursing chair. The gift honors a nurse who worked at the hospital for more than 40 years. Cunningham died in April 2020 at age 64. A hospital spokeswoman said the donor wishes to remain anonymous, although Beth Israel Lahey Health chief executive Kevin Tabb said in a press release that the “generosity of Jean’s family will help train the next generation of nursing leaders to carry on her spirit.” — JON CHESTO
Advertisement
AVIATION
Boeing to pay at least $17 million to FAA over unapproved parts on planes
Federal officials say Boeing will pay at least $17 million and take steps to fix production problems on its 737 jets, including the Max. The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that the settlement covers the installation of unapproved sensors and other parts on some Boeing 737 NG and 737 Max planes built between 2015 and 2019. The settlement, while not a large sum for Boeing — the Chicago company had $15 billion in revenue in 2020, a down year — is the latest black eye for the iconic American manufacturer. Boeing is still struggling to recover from two deadly crashes that led to a long grounding of Max jets worldwide and other problems that have plagued the Max and other aircraft models. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIDE HAILING
Uber recognizes British union to represent drivers
Uber said Wednesday it’s formally recognizing a major British trade union so it can represent drivers, a breakthrough for labor campaigners seeking fairer working conditions from the ride-hailing giant. The San Francisco-based company said it signed a collective bargaining agreement with the GMB trade union, one of the UK’s biggest. Under the agreement, the GMB will represent Uber’s 70,000 drivers across the UK. The drivers will still be able to choose if, when, and where they drive. Union membership won’t be automatic and drivers will have to sign up for it. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Advertisement
RETAIL
Gap launches home goods line via Walmart’s website
Gap will begin selling a new home goods line exclusively through Walmart’s website next month under a multiyear partnership. The collection of more than 400 items is Gap’s first venture into the home category and it’s selling everything from bedding and bath goods to home decor. The collection will appear on Walmart’s site on June 24. They will eventually make it into Walmart stores, the companies said, though no financial terms were disclosed Thursday. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHEMICALS
Bayer may remove controversial chemical from Roundup
Bayer is considering removing the controversial glyphosate ingredient from its residential Roundup products in the United States after a judge rejected a proposal to resolve future claims that the weed killer causes cancer. The decision by US District Judge Vince Chhabria on Wednesday further compounded Bayer’s struggle to wrap up litigation inherited from the acquisition of Monsanto. In response, Bayer said it would implement a series of measures, including reviewing its US residential lawn and garden business. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
REAL ESTATE
Home sales decline in April
US pending home sales fell unexpectedly in April for the third time in the last four months, reflecting a lack of affordable properties that continues to restrain the housing market. The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales decreased 4.4 percent from the prior month to 106.2, the lowest reading since May of last year, according to data released Thursday. Elevated asking prices, reflecting the limited supply of homes on the market, are making properties less affordable and restraining sales. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
Advertisement
MORTGAGE
Rates drop below 3 percent
Mortgage rates declined this week, pushing the benchmark 30-year home loan back down below the 3 percent mark. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average for the 30-year rate fell to 2.95 percent from 3 percent last week. At this time last year, the average long-term rate was 3.15 percent. The rate for a 15-year loan, popular among those seeking to refinance, eased to 2.27 percent from 2.29 percent last week. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
RETAIL
Best Buy to ask employees to deliver online orders to customers’ homes
Best Buy thinks it can succeed where rival Walmart failed: by asking its store employees to deliver online orders to customers’ homes. The consumer-electronics retailer said Thursday that its employees, nicknamed “Blue Shirts,” are handling some e-commerce deliveries. They are trained, and arrive in company-branded vehicles, chief executive Corie Barry said on a call with reporters. The move will help the retailer cope with the surge in digital orders, which are often fulfilled through its stores, and also give staff the opportunity to develop new skills. This has been tried before, and not successfully. At its June 2017 annual shareholder meeting, Walmart said it would ask employees to deliver packages on their way home from their shifts, aiming to use its massive workforce and sprawling network of US stores to match Amazon’s convenient options for Web purchases. But it quietly ended the service less than a year later, as some workers didn’t feel like adding more tasks to an already taxing job, while others worried about having an accident in their own car. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
Advertisement
AUTOMOTIVE
GM to restart five plants idled due to semiconductor shortage
General Motors said it is restarting five plants that had been closed in recent months because of the semiconductor shortage, a sign that the largest US automaker is finding ways to manage through the global crisis. GM will restart two plants in Mexico, one in the United States, one in Canada, and another in South Korea, it said by e-mail Thursday. The Canadian plant and another in Mexico are key because they build the GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox small sport utility vehicles, which are popular family vehicles and often purchased by rental car companies. — BLOOMBERG NEWS