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Getting Back to Business

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Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is watching coronavirus metrics closely as offices in Boston are being permitted to reopen this third week of Phase 1 reopening plan. 

Mayor Walsh said this week at a press conference, “The data tells us that we continue to move in the right direction, and we have met the initial benchmarks that we set moving forward in the gradual reopening.” 

At the peak of the outbreak, according to the press release, local intensive care units were operating at 120% capacity but that the number of live cases has dropped to 81 percent — four points lower than target.

Most offices in the state were permitted to open at 25 percent capacity last week. However, according to the Boston Globe, “the city’s central business district still looked more like a ghost town than a boomtown.”

Part of the reason for the slow return is that reopening offices safely “requires fairly extensive measures, from deep cleaning and reconfiguring office traffic patterns to ordering personal protective equipment for employees.”

Business Insider has more on this story as does WCVB News.

Phase 2 of reopening plans could begin next week. Meanwhile, Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration has said the decision will be made over the weekend, and that Phase 2 could conceivably begin on Monday, June 8. 

Massachusetts Post-COVID-19 Transportation Outlook

Data in a new survey published this week by MassINC Polling suggests that residents are planning to travel less than they did before the coronavirus crisis began. 

Nearly 1,500 Mass. residents participated in the poll between May 5 and May 13. Overall, the poll suggests that commuters are shifting away from group modes of transportation such as shuttles and carpooling, and toward driving, biking, or walking. 

According to the report, more than one-third of Mass. residents said they will ride the MBTA subway, commuter rail, and buses less than before the outbreak — even after the pandemic has subsided. 

Here are some quick stats from the poll’s findings:

  • 38% of participants said they will walk more.

  • 28% said they will drive alone in their car.

  • 19% said they will ride a bike more.

  • 8% said they will use Uber or Lyft.

  • 36% said they would ride buses less.

  • 35% said they would ride the MBTA subway less often.

  • 33% said they would ride the MBTA Commuter Rail less often.

  • 44% said they would take fewer trips than before.

  • 41% said they would take roughly the same number of trips.

  • 43% of 18-to-29-year-olds said they planned to drive alone more often and take the MBTA subway less often.

  • 60% said they have been able to work from home during the outbreak.

  • 41% percent said they would prefer to keep working from home.

  • 77% said they were either “not too comfortable” or “not comfortable at all” taking public transportation during rush hour.

Nearly 60% of participants said that the state needs to make “big changes to the transportation system coming out of the crisis,” such as more social distancing and less overcrowding. And half of subway and bus riders said they will walk more often. The poll also suggests that people will be making fewer trips in general. 

The MBTA has already reduced the number of passengers allowed on buses and trains. Buses that previously allowed up to 58 people are now considered “crowded” with only 20 passengers. However, at these levels, as more people get back to business, in the state more services would be required. 

The project was sponsored by The Barr Foundation.

The Boston Globe has more on this story.

Tech CU Expands $2 Billion Solar Power Deal with Fintech

San Jose, Calif.-based Tech Credit Union, and New York City-based Sunlight Financial have announced they will loan more than $2 billion to install solar power systems in more than 80,000 homes.

The two companies have so far financed more than 50,000 home solar projects since the partnership began in September 2015 and had funded more than $1 billion in residential solar loans. Furthermore, nationwide, one in five residential solar loans written in 2019 is with Sunlight Financial.

President and CEO of Tech CU, Todd Harris, had this to say in a prepared statement Tuesday:

“We’re excited to expand our partnership with Sunlight Financial, our first and longest-standing strategic relationship. Over the years, Tech CU and Sunlight Financial have built a strong partnership and we look forward to continuing that tradition while accelerating America’s transition to renewable energy.”

Tech CU also recently announced plans to invest $1 billion in financing for residential solar loans in a completely separate partnership with solar solutions company SunPower.

Attorney General Calls for Plan to Transition Away from Natural Gas

Attorney General Maura Healey has petitioned the Department of Public Utilities to investigate ways that the state’s power utilities might transition away from natural gas to net-zero carbon technologies in order to meet the state’s goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.

According to the petition:

“As electrification and decarbonization of heating increases, the Commonwealth’s natural gas demand and usage from thermal heating requirements will decline substantially and could be near zero by 2050. As the Commonwealth reduces its fossil fuel consumption, the Department should establish a consistent regulatory framework that protects customers and maintains reliability and safety during the transition.”

According to a post by Commonwealth Magazine, president and CEO of the Northeast Gas Association, Tom Kiley downplayed concerns saying he was aware of the petition but hadn’t seen it while claiming that the industry is “on the upswing.”

According to Kiley, whose association represents the industry in nine states in the region, the Northeast added 1,200 megawatts of natural gas-fired power plants last year. Furthermore, 52 percent of homes in the region heat their homes with natural gas and that which currently costs $1.61 per million BTUs, compared to $13.65 in mid-June 2008.

According to the petition, California and New York have already launched similar investigations.

Read more at Reuters.

Boston’s Marijuana Shop Loses $100,000 Worth of Inventory During Protests

About $100,000 worth of marijuana was stolen from Pure Oasis, a recreational cannabis shop in Dorchester, on Sunday night, according to WBZ and MassLive.com. Although the crime has been deemed to be the result of “looting,” protests in response to the death of George Floyd, were largely peaceful (although there were 53 arrests) suggesting the thieves were using demonstrations as cover.

Security footage obtained by the Globe shows a steady stream of the thieves running through the dispensary with armfuls of product. The video can be viewed here.

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