electricity

Power has been restored across downtown Providence after a squirrel got into equipment at an electric substation causing an outage that darkened city hall, federal and state courthouses, and businesses with thousands of workers. Traffic lights were also out knocked out by Tuesday's outage, and fire crews had to respond to alarms throughout downtown, including in buildings where people were trapped

National Grid is announcing rate increases up to 37% more than a customer's typical bill. NStar customers may be in for similar increases as well. NStar spokesman Mike Durand tells WBSM News with more coal-fired power plants across the region closing, the demand for natural gas is quite high, but the infrastructure needs serious updates to meet the demand...

Many Massachusetts households are going to see their electric bills shoot up 37 percent this winter. State regulators have approved a 37 percent increase for National Grid household customers that would mean an average of $33 per month more for the typical residential customer...

New England's regional grid operator is inviting the public to review this year's forecast for the availability of electricity and demand over the coming decade. The 2014 regional system plan describes how transmission upgrades, power generation and reducing electricity with conservation and energy efficiency will help make enough electricity available...

New England's regional grid manager is asking residents to conserve electricity as this week's continuing hot, humid weather threatens to strain the power system.

There have been many scattered power outages in the area over the past 24 hours. Early this morning close to 2 thousand homes in the North End of New Bedford were affected.

The state's Energy Efficiency Advisory Council has renewed a three-year efficiency plan to be implemented by utility companies across Massachusetts. The three-year plan is based on a similar plan that expires at the end of this year, and aims to save residents and businesses nearly $9 billion...