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Executive Director of Green Energy Consumers Alliance
This year, Massachusetts government agencies are working on major aspects of building decarbonization in three different arenas: Mass Save, the “Future of Gas” proceeding, and the Clean Heat Standard. The Commonwealth must coordinate these efforts to find the optimum set of policy solutions. This blog outlines our view on how state agencies should be coordinating these processes.
Our organization has been advocating for a Clean Heat Standard (CHS) in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. A clean heat standard gives energy suppliers options for meeting their obligations, but the logic of the standard is straightforward: It would require heating energy providers to implement clean heat services.
For many years, there has been a lot going on in terms of Massachusetts energy and climate policy, but this year may top them all. We are seeing an unprecedented number of opportunities for citizens in the Commonwealth to speak out on a wide range of issues – grid modernization, strengthening the Clean Energy Standard, establishing a Clean Heat Standard, and energy policy in general. We encourage you to comment on topics that interest you. Here’s a list for your perusal, with text from the relevant agencies.
If there's one thing we hate at Green Energy Consumers Alliance, it’s greenwashing. This is the practice of exaggerating or lying about the worthiness of a good or service with respect to environmental impact. Our organization exists to help people find their way to economically and environmentally sound energy solutions. So, it breaks our hearts when we see some companies take advantage of the fact that it’s often easy to make a product sound better than it is. Case in point: Renewable energy in the electricity market.
This month, the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is taking comments on a discussion documentabout potential new rules to strengthen the Mass. Clean Energy Standard (CES), which sets a minimum percentage of electricity sales that must come from new clean energy sources. According to the discussion document, DEP is considering these changes to align the CES with the greenhouse gas reduction requirements of the Clean Energy and Climate Plan and specific emission sublimit for the electricity sector. Green Energy Consumers has reviewed the discussion document, is very pleased by the proposed changes, and encourages citizens to express support.
The science is clear. We all must phase out fossil fuels, the sooner the better, but no later than 2050. But there is no one path for us all on the journey to zero carbon. Each family’s situation is different from their neighbor’s. In my family’s case, we are not all the way to zero yet, but we are making good progress. Hopefully, this story will generate some ideas for your household.
For years, Green Energy Consumers has tried to educate consumers about the possibilities and pitfalls of choosing an electricity supply. Here’s a case study, from a recent personal experience.
Green Energy Consumers Alliance has been supporting a bill in the Massachusetts legislature that would stop retail electricity suppliers from signing up new customers on an individual basis. The bill would not affect municipal aggregation. The legislation has been sponsored by Rep. Frank Moran and Senator Brendan Crighton in collaboration with Attorney General Campbell and with the support of Governor Healey. The bill is a common sense reaction to the fact that the Attorney General’s office has solid data showing how consumers receiving power from competitive electricity suppliers have collectively paid over a half billion dollars more over six years than if they received service from their utility. Low-income families and people of color have been disproportionally targeted and harmed.
Our newest report shows how Green Municipal Aggregation (GMA) allows a municipality to contract for cleaner, more affordable electricity for residents. Green Energy Consumers Alliance serves GMA programs in 21 Massachusetts communities and seven Rhode Island communities by providing additional renewable energy above and beyond what is required by state laws.
Green Energy Consumers Alliance and our allied organizations are certain that more legislation is needed if Massachusetts is to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction mandates. This is especially true when it comes to the state's second-largest source of emissions, the residential and commercial building sector. No one bill or policy proposed in this session is sufficient by itself to meet these objectives. However, several complementary policies have been proposed together that would move us away from fossil fuels and towards electrification.
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