Celebrating Growth & Transition: Team Updates At Green Energy Consumers Alliance
We’ve recently made some promotions! We’ve never had this many at once, so we’ll announce them together.
As the energy system evolves, we are working to ensure that no one is left behind. Emerging home energy technologies—like smart thermostats, window...
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Executive Director of Green Energy Consumers Alliance
We’ve recently made some promotions! We’ve never had this many at once, so we’ll announce them together.
Maybe this will be the last year I have to write about this stuff (more below on why), but I want to report an offer I received from a competitive electricity supplier. First, some context. I live in Quincy, Massachusetts, so I am able to choose an electricity supply service from three options.
Readers of our blog know that we are actively engaged in lobbying for a pro-consumer, pro-environment energy bill this legislative session in Massachusetts. We reported on the House’s version back in February. The State Senate has been working on the bill since then. Here’s a very brief update with an appeal for you to contact your senator.
It sure seems like a few politicians these days are waving a banner saying, “I’m for all of the above when it comes to energy."
Here is my response to them: We already have all of the above, and it hasn’t been serving us well.
Retail electricity prices keep rising everywhere, causing pocketbook anxiety among consumers and political anxiety among elected officials. Some of our public servants suggest cutting back on clean energy commitments to make energy affordable. They are obviously being egged on by disinformation campaigns run by the fossil fuel industry. Nonetheless, it is becoming increasingly clear that New England’s overdependence upon natural gas for heat and electricity is one of the main energy cost drivers (along with overspending on utility infrastructure and their profits).
Everyone has been talking about why energy bills have gone up. Thanks to a ton of disinformation coming from the fossil fuel and utility industries, too much blame has been placed on clean energy. That intentional disinformation has caused a tremendous amount of misinformation to be spread by people who, unfortunately, fall for the disinformation.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is moving forward once again with an energy bill that could impact affordability and climate progress for years to come. The House Ways and Means Committee is working on a new draft, picking up where the Energy Committee left off in November with House Bill 4744, a truly awful piece of legislation. We believe that Ways and Means will come out with a new version by the second week of February.
On Monday, those of us who were working to defeat a proposal in the Mass. House of Representatives that would roll back our climate commitments and decimate Mass Save were thrilled to learn that the House decided to postpone action on the bill pending further review by the House Ways and Means Committee.
On Friday, we were disturbed to read in the Commonwealth Beacon that Representative Mark Cusack, Chairman of the Massachusetts House Energy Committee, is contemplating taking two dramatic actions to weaken the state’s fight against climate change.
Recently, data centers have rapidly become a topic that advocates and policymakers need to reckon with in the clean energy space. Mostly, we’ve seen the data center discussion take place in other parts of the country, where electricity prices are lower and it’s more attractive for data center developers to build. But recently, the discussion arrived in Massachusetts with a discussion of data centers and sales tax exemptions. If you’re a Massachusetts resident, you have an opportunity to make your voice heard until August 25, 2025.