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

After a lot of deliberation, my family has decided to pursue buying a 2015 Chevy Volt rather than the Nissan Leaf or Toyota Prius Plug-In.  We are not done yet, but here’s why we have settled on the Volt for our electric vehicle:

We like to keep our members and the general public updated on renewable energy progress in New England. Our green power updates will tell you a little more about what’s going on in renewable energy construction. All of these up-and-coming projects are being supported by Mass Energy/People’s Power & Light members!

Is there such thing as peace of mind when it comes to heating oil bills? A budget plan may be the answer. Signing up for a budget plan through your oil dealer is a good way to spread out your oil bill into 10 to 12 monthly payments, making oil bills more like a regular utility. Your cost is fairly even and there are no surprise huge oil bills that sneak up on you. It also helps dealers plan, reduce their costs and become more efficient.

Larry Chretien is the Executive Director for Mass Energy Consumers Alliance and People’s Power & Light. This blog is the third in a series about the Chretien family’s experience purchasing an electric car. Download our e-book and read the series up until now! 

We’ll celebrate at Berkshire East Ski Resort & Canopy Tours on July 27^th, and you’re invited.

Coming up on July 27^th is Mass Energy and People’s Power & Light’s 4^th annual Berkshire East Wind Turbine Festival in Charlemont, MA (get your tickets here). Local wind turbine power at Berkshire East is a huge success story—it literally helped keep this family-run ski and zip-lining resort from shutting its doors. Mass Energy/PP&L was able to play a role in Berkshire East’s success by contracting to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) from their local wind turbine long-term.

Larry Chretien is the Executive Director for Mass Energy Consumers Alliance and People’s Power & Light. This blog is the second in a series about the Chretien family’s experience purchasing an electric car. You can read the entire series in our e-book, available for free download. 

Some of us are big soccer fans, especially when it comes to the World Cup, now being played in Brazil.  On Monday, we witnessed an excellent match between the United States and Ghana.  As Americans, we can be proud of the 2-1 victory.  But there is more to that match than just the final score.  We also learned that Ghanaians were quite stressed out about the possibility that they would be unable to watch the big game due to electricity shortages.  For them, the World Cup is the equivalent of the World Series, Stanley Cup, Super Bowl and NBA Championships all rolled into one.

Thanks to a 4-2 vote of the Town Council on June 3, there is a good chance for the Portsmouth, RI local wind turbine to spin again.  And if everything falls into place, Portsmouth will once again become part of People’s Power & Light/Mass Energy’s green power portfolio as early as September 2014.

The Cost of Heating Oil

You may have noticed throughout the past few years that the cost of a service policy has gone up significantly. In the summer of 2013, Mass Energy looked around to see what was happening in the industry, and found that there had been a 19% increase* in the average renewal price for service contracts over the last 5 years[1]. Why?