The Energy Consumer's Bulletin- a New England energy news blog

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Electric Car Corner: Spring 2025

We are super excited about the sunnier and longer days, as well as seeing long-asleep plants begin to bloom. There is a lot of uncertainty at the...

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Renewable energy Energy policy & advocacy Rhode Island Phasing out fossil fuels

Rhode Island leaps ahead towards 100% renewable electricity!

Rhode Island makes history!  Late Tuesday afternoon, the RI House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing a bill to update the Renewable Energy Standard to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2033. Rhode Island is now set to become the first state to reach that total level of commitment towards wind, solar, and other qualifying power sources. This was Green Energy Consumers’ top priority this legislative session, and its passage builds on advocacy we have done for years to establish and increase the Renewable Energy Standard. 

by Kai Salem
Energy policy & advocacy Electricity and the grid Rhode Island Phasing out fossil fuels

3 Climate Policies to Get RI Back on Track for 2030

UPDATE on June 8th: S2274 (100% Renewable) passed the Senate; all eyes are now on the House bill, H7277. The bill was amended to reach 100% by 2033, which would still make RI the first state to reach 100% renewable electricity. We need your help NOW to make sure this bill becomes law.

Contact your State Representative by Tuesday to ask them to vote yes on H7277.

S2583 (offshore wind procurement) also passed the Senate! Encourage your State Rep to support H7971 when you make your call. Thank you to the leaders who have worked to pass these bills. 

Originally published May 5th, 2022

Rhode Island is headed in the wrong direction when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. A month ago, the state released worrying emissions data that shows the state’s GHG emissions in 2018 were up 15% from 2016, including increases in all sectors, with one of the biggest jumps in emissions coming from our electricity sector. This new data puts into question whether the state will be able to meet its 2020 climate goal, set in the 2014 Resilient RI Act. And it underscores the challenge before Rhode Island in meeting the 2021 Act on Climate mandate of 45% emissions reductions from the 1990 baseline in 2030.

Kai Salem 
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Mal Skowron
Electric vehicles/Transportation

Heads up: the federal EV tax credit for toyota is about to phase out

Important update: The new federal tax credit set up by the Inflation Reduction Act means this blogpost is out-of-date as of January 1, 2023. Check out our Rebates & Incentives page for the latest!

If you are looking to purchase an electric vehicle from Toyota, like the Toyota Prius Prime or the Toyota RAV4 Prime, you should know that the federal tax credit will soon start phasing out. The federal tax credit is capped at 200,000 electric vehicles (EVs) sold per manufacturer and Toyota is expected to reach this cap before June 2022. Here’s what this means if you’re in the market! 

Picture of Devan DiLibero Devan DiLibero
Heating

Heating Oil Consumers Are Facing a Crisis Next Winter

Although Spring is in the air and we have so many current events of great importance, there’s reason to think about how difficult next winter will be for heating oil consumers. For months, we have seen rising energy costs – natural gas, electricity, and gasoline.  But this blog is about the heating oil market as it would affect consumers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the rest of New England.  Consider this to be an open letter to our federal delegations to Congress, Governor Baker, Governor McKee, and state legislators.  Heating oil in New England has been well over $5 per gallon since March, over two dollars higher than last winter. Unless it gets a lot better, the price of heating oil will cause misery for hundreds of thousands of families.

Picture of Loie Hayes Loie Hayes 
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Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien
Renewable energy Energy policy & advocacy Phasing out fossil fuels

Getting to 100% Green Electricity: It’s only a matter of when.

Green Energy Consumers Alliance has a long history, going back to 1997, of supporting Renewable Energy Standards (RES), a policy that requires electric suppliers to deliver renewable energy. These mandates have worked in a large number of states to bring wind and solar power onto the grid, dramatically reducing its carbon intensity. Today, we can appreciate the immense potential our region has for offshore wind that delivers clean, affordable power to the states and creates jobs. In 2022, we see both the opportunity and necessity for the Bay State and Ocean State to leverage the power of the RES and the potential of offshore wind to make sure we meet our 2030 climate goals. We urge policymakers in both states to up the RES to 100% clean electricity by 2030. We further support policy that will accelerate offshore wind procurement. Offshore wind and 100% by 2030 are like peanut butter and jelly: good alone, but much better together.

Kai Salem 
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Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien
Energy policy & advocacy Electric vehicles/Transportation Climate change

What the MA Senate Climate Bill Says About Phasing Out Gasoline

The Massachusetts Senate made big news last week by passing a massive climate bill that tackles transportation, buildings, and our electricity supply. This bill is supposed to put the pedal to the metal so that the state has the policies it needs in place to achieve the emissions reduction targets included in last year’s Climate Roadmap bill: first and foremost, a 50% reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions under 1990 levels by 2030. Here’s what this bill means for our efforts to phase out gasoline in Massachusetts – and the key next steps.

Picture of Anna Vanderspek Anna Vanderspek
Energy policy & advocacy Massachusetts Climate change

Another Great Year for Climate Legislation in Massachusetts? Apparently. Let’s Hope.

In 2021, Governor Baker signed comprehensive climate legislation called An Act Creating a Next Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy. That law set a more aggressive timeline for mandatory emissions reductions (50% by 2030, net-zero, and 85% by 2050), strengthened the definition of “environmental justice communities”, and will definitely impact the state. But while the ink is barely dry, it certainly appears that the House and Senate are moving towards yet another significant climate bill to send to the governor sometime in the next two to three months.

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien