Energy

The Massachusetts Nurses Association has joined the fight against fracking in Massachusetts.

National Grid was fined $1.25 million for alleged gas pipeline safety violations on Cape Cod.

Energy in Massachusetts has been a topic of hot debate throughout 2015, and there's no indication that things will cool off in 2016.

The $1.1 trillion spending bill that cleared the U.S. House Friday with support from Massachusetts delegation members includes tax credit extensions for solar and wind energy industries but those measures are "dramatically overshadowed" by the lifting of a decades-old ban on U.S. oil exports to foreign countries, according to a local environmental organization.

Touting the benefits of direct ownership of solar power, the Baker administration has opened a $30 million program funded by retail electricity suppliers to support Massachusetts lenders who provide loans for residential solar energy projects.

Small business and medical device industry officials say a pair of provisions in the just-struck Congressional deals on tax credits and spending bode well for job production in Massachusetts.

Amid a climate of increasing uncertainty in the future of energy both locally and internationally, Framingham's IDC Energy Insights has hired industry veteran Kevin Prouty as vice president of research, the company announced Tuesday.

Hopkinton-based Solect Energy has secured a contract to install a 537-kilowatt solar energy system on the roof of a Brockton company's building, Solect announced Friday.

Outlining goals and accomplishments at a gathering of government bond investors Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker said energy and transportation remain among his top priorities and key factors in the state's economic condition.

The MBTA expects to save $25 million in electricity costs over the next five years.