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

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Natural Gas-Fired Power Is Not Getting Any Cheaper

Retail electricity prices keep rising everywhere, causing pocketbook anxiety among consumers and political anxiety among elected officials. Some of...

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Renewable energy Energy efficiency

Energy More Affordable Now than Ever, Greener Too

Americans are now spending less on energy as a percentage of income than ever recorded. That’s a finding from a recent study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. On average, consumers spend just four percent of their incomes on electricity, heat, and transportation. This statistic is a clear pushback against those who would say that “we cannot afford clean energy.” It also points out that our economy has changed over the years in such a way that we don’t need to burn as much stuff in order to make a living.

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien
Energy efficiency Climate change

Electric Vehicles as a Public Health Tool

We talk a lot about the need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels to fight climate change. We run programs and support policies in an effort meet our states' greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals: in Massachusetts, the statutory requirements of the Global Warming Solutions Act, in Rhode Island, the Resilient Rhode Island Act. With our climate going haywire (see the record-setting droughts, floods, and heat waves of 2016) and the emissions reductions of electric vehicles, climate change is one of the reasons we launched Drive Green with Mass Energy and People's Power & Light. But, setting climate change aside for a moment (a big ask, we know), replacing internal combustion engines on our roads with electric vehicles should still be a state priority. Why?

Picture of Anna Vanderspek Anna Vanderspek
Energy policy & advocacy

Trump, Tillerson, and Putin

There’s a bromance going on between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. It’s bizarre and has all kinds of serious implications for national security, foreign policy, human rights, and more. The focus of this blog is about how their shared agenda would have us relapse into a deeper addiction to petroleum.

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien
Electric vehicles/Transportation Electricity and the grid

Emissions from Electric Cars Will Decrease Every Year – Isn’t that Cool? Here’s how.

Before we get into how electric cars can run on sunshine and wind power, let’s talk about old-fashioned cars that run only on gasoline engines. Some good news is that because of federal fuel efficiency standards (known as Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency), cars in 2025 will be much more efficient, on average, than today. Officially, carmakers will have to meet a standard of 54.5 miles on average for passenger cars and light trucks in 2025, which is about what a Toyota Prius (the version that does not plug-in) gets today. If we focus on emissions of carbon dioxide, the average new non-electric car in 2030 will emit about 182 grams per mile, down from 248 grams in 2017. That’s a nice reduction in carbon emissions of about a third.

The bad news is that we need to do much better. Don’t despair, because we have more good news. We can do much better, by adopting electric vehicles, whether they are plug-in hybrids (like the Chevy Volt or Prius Prime (which does plug-in) or all-electric battery powered (like a Tesla, the Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt).

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien 
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Picture of Katy Kidwell Katy Kidwell
Massachusetts Electricity and the grid Rhode Island

New websites in MA & RI help you decode competitive electricity supply offers

One of our members called recently asking for help finding information on competitive electric suppliers, the electricity supply companies that often claim to offer cheaper rates – and sometimes greener power – than the Basic Service offered by her electric utilitiy. More than likely, you’ve also received a knock on the door or something in the mail from competitive suppliers. So many suppliers had contacted our member that she felt she should find out what they were offering. She was particularly interested in renewable electricity options, but didn’t know who to trust.

Picture of Loie Hayes Loie Hayes
Renewable energy Our programs

Community-Scale Wind power: A Case Study for the Holidays

The 600-kilowatt wind turbine at Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School is one of the wind turbines in our green power portfolio. The driving force behind the project was Mary E. Riordan, the school’s former biology teacher and headmaster, and now its Director of Institutional Advancement. According to Kevin Schulte of Sustainable Energy Developments Inc., who consulted on the development of this and many other turbine installations, “For a project to succeed, it needs a real champion; for the Holy Name wind turbine project, that champion is Mary Riordan.”

Picture of Loie Hayes Loie Hayes