LUDLOW, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2024--
The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC), the Commonwealth’s designated joint action agency for municipal utilities, and Lightshift Energy, a leading energy storage project developer, owner and operator, today announced a first-in-kind program for the industry. Following a highly competitive solicitation process in late 2022, MMWEC chose Lightshift as its exclusive partner to deploy the state’s first jointly implemented fleet of grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).
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Lightshift will build up to 50 megawatts (MW) of BESS across MMWEC’s growing utility membership, which represents half of all municipal utilities in the state, serving nearly 200,000 customers. Lightshift estimates the partnership will provide over $200 million in cost savings for municipal customers while enabling effective management of generation and load to help the Commonwealth reach its goals of net zero emissions by 2050.
As part of the agreement, participating utilities within MMWEC’s membership will host one or more Lightshift energy storage projects. Lightshift will leverage its extensive expertise in analytics, finance, operations and engineering to develop, own and operate the BESS projects. The initial wave of projects will commence operations this summer, with four projects already under construction in the towns of Groton, Holden and Paxton. Late-stage development activities are already underway in the towns of Peabody, Shrewsbury, Wakefield, Chicopee, Ipswich and Princeton, with mid-stage development activities moving forward in several other communities. Groton and Wakefield projects, among others, will integrate direct resilience benefits through backup power to critical infrastructure. The growing portfolio is scheduled to come online throughout 2024 and 2025.
“MMWEC is pleased to partner with Lightshift Energy on this battery energy storage system project,” says MMWEC Chief Executive Officer Ronald C. DeCurzio. “The project demonstrates yet again how the municipal utilities are leading the way in decarbonization in Massachusetts, in alignment with the Commonwealth’s emissions reduction targets.”
Cost-savings will be driven by “peak shaving” activities. Peak electricity demand often coincides with the grid's most strained and carbon-intensive hours. Lightshift’s systems will be charged during periods of lower energy consumption and discharged during times of peak energy demand. These peak shaving systems not only have a huge economic impact, but they also reduce strain on the system, hardening the grid as a whole, and by extension, they support increased integration of renewable energy, enhancing sustainability. The program is expected to meaningfully reduce emissions across the state.
“This is a significant milestone for Massachusetts and for the participating utilities which are demonstrating leadership in grid modernization while prioritizing cost reduction for their communities,” said Rory Jones, Lightshift Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “And MMWEC has been pivotal in facilitating this first-in-kind program that other states will look to as a means to achieve major impact through community-based storage, at scale. Our partners in Groton, Holden and Paxton have demonstrated particular leadership in bringing this program to life.”
About Lightshift Energy
Lightshift Energy (formerly doing business as Delorean Power), is a utility-scale energy storage project developer, owner and operator with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Founded in 2019, Lightshift is developing a diverse, multi-gigawatt pipeline of energy storage projects, located throughout the U.S. With leading energy storage analytics, application design, finance, and development expertise, Lightshift deploys dynamic, multi-use energy storage projects that maximize value for utilities and other partners. For more information, please visit www.lightshift.com.
About the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC)
MMWEC is the Commonwealth’s designated joint action agency for municipal utilities in Massachusetts. Through its enabling state legislation, Chapter 775 of the Acts of 1975, MMWEC became a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MMWEC’s enabling legislation gave it the unique power to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance electric generating facilities and other projects. Using this statutory authority, MMWEC has issued more than $7 billion in bonds since 1976. MMWEC serves 20 municipal utility members in Massachusetts and all 40 municipal utilities as project participants.
Lightshift Energy and MMWEC deploy first-of-its-kind program for grid-scale battery energy storage in Massachusetts. (Pictured: Lightshift Energy project in Danville, VA) (Photo: Business Wire)
HOUSTON (AP) — Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area.
Officials urged residents to keep off roads, as many were impassable and traffic lights were expected to be out for much of the night.
“Stay at home tonight. Do not go to work tomorrow, unless you’re an essential worker. Stay home, take care of your children,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in an evening briefing. “Our first responders will be working around the clock.”
The mayor said four people died during the severe weather. At least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees, and another happened when a crane blew over in strong winds, officials said.
Streets were flooded, and trees and power lines were down across the region. Whitmire said wind speeds reached 100 mph (160 kph), “with some twisters.” He said the powerful gusts were reminiscent of 2008's Hurricane Ike, which pounded the city.
Hundreds of windows were shattered at downtown hotels and office buildings, with glass littering the streets below, and the state was sending Department of Public Safety officers to secure the area.
“Downtown is a mess,” Whitmire said.
There was a backlog of 911 calls that first responders were working through, he added.
At Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, the retractable roof was closed due to the storm. But the wind was so powerful it still blew rain into the stadium. Puddles formed on the outfield warning track, but the game against the Oakland Athletics still was played.
The Houston Independent School District canceled classes Friday for some 400,000 students at all its 274 campuses.
The storm system moved through swiftly, but flood watches and warnings remained for Houston and areas to the east. The ferocious storms moved into neighboring Louisiana and left more than 215,000 customers without power.
Flights were briefly grounded at Houston's two major airports. Sustained winds topping 60 mph (96 kph) were recorded at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
About 900,000 customers were without electricity in and around Harris County, which contains Houston, according to poweroutage.us. The county is home to more than 4.7 million people.
The problems extended to the city's suburbs, with emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County describing the damage to transmission lines as “catastrophic” and warning that power could be impacted for several days.
Heavy storms slammed the region during the first week of May, leading to numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.
Baumann reported from Bellingham, Washington, and Weber from Los Angeles.
Houston Police officers move a fallen tree out of the street at Prairie and Travis Street downtown after a strong thunderstorm moved through Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Shattered glass covers the street outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown after a severe thunderstorm passed through Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A worker walks down a street covered in glass caused by damage from a severe thunderstorm that passed through Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A building has blownout windows caused from damage after a severe thunderstorm passed through downtown is shown Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Downtown streets are covered in broken glass in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A damaged building is shown in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm that passed through downtown, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
People stop to take pictures of damage after a severe thunderstorm passed through downtown, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Members of the Relief Gang help remove fallen tree limbs from crushed cars in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm that passed through downtown, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Shattered glass covers the street outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown after a severe thunderstorm passed through, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Debris fills the feeder road near Interstate 10 and Interstate 45 near downtown Houston after severe storms passed through the area Thursday, May 16, 2024 (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Workers clean up damage inside a downtown restaurant after a severe thunderstorm passed through downtown Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Shattered glass covers the street outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown after a severe thunderstorm passed through Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A worker sweeps up shards of broken glass on McKinney near Travis after heavy wind and rain ripped through the region Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Workers pause to look a building with blownout glass windows caused by damage from a severe thunderstorm that passed through downtown Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Rain blows in from the windows as a severe thunderstorm hit before a baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Rapper Trae tha Truth, in yellow, cuts fallen tree limbs on top of a car in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm that passed through downtown, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A damaged building is shown in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm that passed through downtown, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Fans make their way into Minute Maid Park as a severe thunderstorm hit before a baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Workers clean up broken glass inside a damaged downtown restaurant after a severe thunderstorm, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A car crushed by falling bricks from a fallen building wall sits in a downtown parking lot after a severe thunderstorm passed through, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A boy walks past a large tree that fell on a home after heavy wind and rain ripped through the region Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Transmission power lines are down near the Grand Parkway and West Road after a storm Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Cypress, Texas. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Transmission power lines are down near the Grand Parkway and West Road after a storm Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Cypress, Texas. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
