In this edition: SJC delays White Stadium ruling, no fun at 3 a.m., Suya Joint needs your help
Jon here, and Shirley’s back from vacation as well. None of us like paying high electric bills, but we are also used to it in New England. Today, I take a closer look at how the Healey administration is pointing to a new possible factor: a merger of two out-of-state energy companies.
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Featuring: Rebecca Tepper, Caitlin Peale Sloan, Ed Markey, Richard Levitan, Julian Cyr, Tito Jackson, Jason Waddleton, Martha Sheridan, Michael Nichols, Brian Golden, Cecelia Lizotte, Jen Faigel, Paul Dama, Beth Healy, Greg Huang, Tim Logan, and more.
Most of the public debate around the pending NextEra-Dominion megamerger is happening in the Southeast, where the companies have extensive electric utility operations.
But now it’s taking shape here, too. Rebecca Tepper, Governor Maura Healey’s energy secretary, is speaking out about the Healey administration’s concerns, saying the merger could result in serious cost impacts for New England ratepayers. As if we didn’t have enough reasons to worry about our utility bills.
She raised her concerns in a statement to me, as requests pile up to intervene in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s merger review. In recent days, the state Department of Public Utilities, the state attorney general’s office, and the New England States Committee on Electricity all filed motions to be included in the case — and those are just the ones representing Massachusetts. Then, on Monday, Senator Ed Markey urged FERC to reject the merger outright, citing affordability and antitrust concerns.
NextEra and Dominion aren’t household names in New England. Neither company owns a utility here. But they do have something that’s quite valuable: our last two nuclear power plants.
Dominion owns Millstone in Waterford, Conn., the region’s biggest power plant. Guess who is number two? NextEra’s Seabrook, in New Hampshire. Together, they provide a quarter of New England’s electricity.
Should the merger go through as planned, a single company (NextEra) would control the region’s two biggest power stations — also its last remaining nuclear plants.
It’s easy to see why Tepper is concerned. She is calling on FERC to “heavily scrutinize the impacts this merger may have on ratepayer bills, market power, and reliability.”
The merger lands on our doorstep as New England warms up to nuclear power again, thanks to its reliability and low carbon emissions. In 2018, Connecticut officials orchestrated long-term contracts to financially support the two power plants, after Dominion threatened to close Millstone.
Those contracts expire in 2029 — right around the corner in infrastructure-planning terms. As a result, Governor Ned Lamont’s administration is knocking on Healey’s door, looking for help in a new multi-state procurement of green energy; the contracts will likely again support one or both nuclear plants.
Meanwhile, Beacon Hill lawmakers have embarked on closed-door negotiations to resolve differences between two sprawling energy bills. Among the disputed items: the House wants to end a state law that requires a statewide vote before nuclear construction happens — effectively a ban on new nukes — while the Senate version doesn’t lift the requirement. No one expects a new reactor similar in scale to the shuttered Pilgrim or dismantled Yankee Rowe, near the Vermont border. Local fights would be too fierce. But maybe the bill opens the door for compact “microreactors,” like ones being sold by Radiant, to supplant backup diesel generators.
Of more importance to the New England grid: the future of Millstone and Seabrook. Ensuring they stay open for the long haul is crucial to keeping our lights on.
The Conservation Law Foundation’s Caitlin Peale Sloan worries about the negotiating power the new company would have for future contracts. “When Millstone first put its hand out to Connecticut, they had a lot of leverage,” she said. “And now that leverage is going to grow.”
There’s another reason for concern with NextEra at the helm. The Florida-based company became Public Enemy No. 1 on Beacon Hill as it fought a power line from going up through western Maine — first quietly, then quite publicly. NextEra didn’t want the competition from Canada’s hydropower that would come along the new line for Massachusetts. The project officially finished in January, but its cost grew by more than 50 percent, to $1.6 billion, because of the delays. Massachusetts ratepayers picked up the tab.
Could NextEra use its increased might in the region to thwart other competitors? Boston energy consultant Richard Levitan says it’s likely. “They have a history,” he says, “of not playing well in the giant New England sandbox.”
Others in the industry speak in more favorable terms, echoing the two companies’ talking points. One insider suggests to me that NextEra might be more likely to invest in New England, such as with a new small modular reactor at one of the existing sites, if it has a bigger scale here. NextEra, per its usual MO, didn’t respond to my request for a comment; a Dominion spokesperson reminded me that Connecticut ratepayers are saving a ton of money now with those nuclear contracts.
On balance, though, the NextEra-Dominion combo is generating skepticism around here. With no local regulated utility involved, state officials here have no say in ultimately deciding the merger’s fate. But they’ve got a voice. And, as the documents piling up at FERC show, they plan on using it.
SHIRLEY’S TAKE
What’s your take? Join the conversation in the comments here.
HEARD AROUND TOWN
WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART
The White Stadium waiting game is going to take a little longer now. In case you are living under a Roxbury puddingstone boulder, a revamp of the Franklin Park fixture is being pursued by Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Legacy FC soccer team but also challenged in court by the nonprofit Emerald Necklace Conservancy. The issue, now before the Supreme Judicial Court, could hinge on whether the stadium site should be deemed parkland, which would require Wu and the soccer team to get approval from the state Legislature to host a business there. The SJC heard oral arguments back on April 8. But this week, lawyers for all sides were informed that the court is waiving its standard “130-day guideline” to resolve the White Stadium debate. What’s taking so long? Are the judges closer to shutting the project down, too busy with stopping ballot questions, or just spending a little extra time on the Cape?
NO LATE NIGHT DRINKING
The consensus at a summer economic roundtable convened Wednesday by Mayor Michelle Wu was clear: Make 3 a.m. last call and social districts permanent. Those were measures the Legislature temporarily passed to help bars and restaurants take advantage of the throngs of tourists and fans visiting for World Cup, Fourth of July, and Sail Boston. We hate to be a party pooper, but only social districts – allowing municipalities to create designated public drinking areas – made it to a conference committee as part of the Senate’s “fun agenda.” That means extending last call for an extra hour is dead until next session, according to state senator Julian Cyr. While lawmakers were not enthused, business leaders and bar owners who gathered at Roundhead Brewing in Hyde Park for the mayoral roundtable – including Apex Noire’s Tito Jackson, The Haven’s Jason Waddleton, Meet Boston CEO Martha Sheridan and Downtown Boston Alliance president Michael Nichols – value the 3 a.m. option.
NEW CITY, SAME ISSUE
Think it’s hard getting homes built in Boston? Sometimes, it’s even harder in Newton. Just ask Brian Golden. The former head of the Boston Planning & Development Agency is now on the Newton City Council, and he gave his first speech to the full council the other night. The issue in question: whether the council should approve replacing a two-family house with four attached single-family homes in Newtonville. Golden said he agrees with some arguments on both sides, but in the end favors more housing: “It is impossible for me to lose sight of how important it is to grow the number of units not just in Newton but in the commonwealth,” Golden said. “All along the socioeconomic spectrum, we need more units.” A passionate plea, but apparently it wasn’t enough. The special permit didn’t get the two-thirds majority vote that city officials say it needed.
STAYING ALIVE
It’s an email no restaurateur wants to write: “I Don’t Want This To Become Our Farewell Letter.” But that’s what Suya Joint founder and chef Cecelia Lizotte sent Wednesday to a local food email group run by Jen Faigel’s CommonWealth Kitchen. Lizotte revealed she has considered closing her West African restaurant with locations in Roxbury and Providence due to rising food and labor costs and heightened fears about ICE that have kept immigrant customers home. (Her brother Paul Dama, who works with her, was detained and released by ICE last year.) Suya Joint also bet big on the World Cup, staffing up and activating its food truck, but it didn’t pay off. The poignant letter was Lizotte’s way of telling her network that she needs help to survive – including booking catering, hiring the food truck, and hosting private events. “We are not looking for a handout. We are looking for opportunities, partnerships, resources, and a bridge through an extraordinarily difficult period.”
DOUBLE TAKE
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston released this week its much anticipated follow up to its landmark “Color of Wealth” report from 2015. The new analysis, years in the making, takes a deeper dive into family wealth by surveying more than 5,000 Massachusetts residents. One data point that caught our attention because it wasn’t studied last time: About one in six families expect to receive an inheritance in the future. It’s another way to look at generational wealth and the ability for families to pass on their assets. The study found that only 3.7 percent of Latino families and 4.3 percent of Black families expect to receive one, compared to 18.6 percent of white households and 13.1 percent of Asian American households.
It didn’t take long for the progressive Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center to seize on that part of the Fed study as a reason to keep the estate tax. Their argument: proceeds from the tax — which is expected to bring in more than $700 million a year — could be used to address economic disparities. MassBudget will have a fight on their hands: Major business groups say the estate tax is driving wealthy people out of the state, and they want it eliminated. This issue could be the next big tax-related showdown when lawmakers start their new two-year session in January.
YOUR TURN
In Tuesday’s edition, Jon wrote about how so many tech companies are moving into the Financial District that maybe it should be renamed. Not so fast, say our readers. They like retaining the moniker, plus a lot of banks and investment firms are still there.
ONE MORE THING
Changes are coming to the Boston Globe business desk: Editor Brian McGrory announced new roles for business editor Greg Huang and deputy business editor Tim Logan. Starting in mid-September, they’ll be senior assistant managing editor for storytelling and deputy managing editor for local news, respectively. Meanwhile, Beth Healy, WBUR’s managing editor for local news, will be returning to the Globe to lead the business section.
THANKS FOR READING POWER PLAY.
Today’s edition was edited by Aaron Pressman and Andy Rosen, and produced by Jack Osmond.
Have a question for the team? Email us at powerplay@globe.com.
Delivered Tuesday and Thursday (in summertime).
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto. Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.