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

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Municipal Aggregation Keeps on Winning: Greener Power at Lowest Cost

From time to time, we report on how municipal aggregation is going in Massachusetts – and soon, Rhode Island. It’s that time again. For about 90% of...

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Electricity and the grid (5)

Electricity and the grid Energy efficiency Climate change

Shave the Peak in the Era of COVID: Summer is Coming

Last month, we covered some of the impacts that COVID-19 and the resulting stay-at-home orders have had on our electric grid. This month, the pandemic has continued to drive low electricity demand and record low electricity prices. Even better, low demand and higher than ever solar production has led to a greener grid. But as temperatures rise and stay-at-home orders relax this summer, can we expect low demand, prices, and emissions to continue?

Kai Salem 
 and
Yaima Braga
Renewable energy Energy policy & advocacy Electricity and the grid

Where's the peak in the era of COVID?

Over the past two months, the world’s daily patterns have changed drastically. As we know from Shave the Peak, even small changes to routines, especially during peak hours, can have an outsize impact on the emissions, costs, and fuel mix of our electricity system. So it’s no surprise to see that the pandemic and the subsequent stay-at-home orders have shifted many aspects of the electricity mix, here in New England and beyond. In fact, the average cost of electricity during March was the lowest in market history, in large part because of the pandemic.

So what’s going on in our electricity mix, and why? And perhaps most importantly, what lessons from the pandemic’s impact on the electric system should we be taking into the future?

Kai Salem 
 and
Yaima Braga
Renewable energy Electricity and the grid Climate change

How To Avoid Getting Greenwashed

Have you been hearing from "green" electricity suppliers like CleanChoice Energy? You might want to support renewable energy, but are skeptical if your money will actually go toward shifting our electricity away from fossil fuels.

This is a valid concern, and (because of our awesome Green Powered electricity program) one we hear often. That's why we address it pretty regularly on our blog.

Blog: Are You Getting Greenwashed?

Picture of Erin Taylor Erin Taylor
Electric vehicles/Transportation Electricity and the grid

Making the Most of EV Batteries with Vehicle-To-Grid

Green Energy Consumers Alliance supports the idea that we need to electrify everything. By shifting sectors that have been historically powered by the combustion of fossil fuels, such as heating and transportation, to electricity, we can dramatically reduce emissions in the short-term while setting up a path to a net zero-carbon society in the long-term.

Mal Skowron 
 and
Paola Massoli
Renewable energy Electricity and the grid Green municipal aggregation

Green Municipal Aggregation is a Huge Success in Massachusetts

We are pleased to release the second edition of our “Green Municipal Aggregation in Massachusetts” status report. A lot has happened in the field since our first edition in the spring of 2018 necessitating this update. If there is one key takeaway, it’s that GMA has proven to be a way to bring more renewable energy to communities affordably and equitably.

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien
Renewable energy Massachusetts Electricity and the grid Climate change

Massachusetts Should Put a Stop to Deceptive Green Power Marketing

CleanChoice Energy is at it again & needs to be stopped.

Recent developments cause us to say again that Massachusetts is not doing enough to protect consumers from electricity suppliers making deceptive claims about pricing and the greenness of their electricity.

Choose Local Renewable Electricity!

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien
Renewable energy Energy policy & advocacy Electricity and the grid Rhode Island Phasing out fossil fuels

Turning Governor Raimondo's executive order on 100% renewable energy into action in 2020

Last week, Governor Raimondo signed Executive Order 20-01, Advancing 100% Renewable Energy Future for Rhode Island by 2030. The order came on the heels of particularly disconcerting assertions made in the same week by Speaker Mattiello about the limited impact that action taken in Rhode Island can have on the climate crisis overall.

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien
Electricity and the grid Green municipal aggregation Our programs

Communities are demanding more renewable energy—and they're getting it.

 

We take great pride in the fact that we, along with a company called Good Energy, took the model of municipal aggregation (a.k.a. community choice energy) and made it truly green. We did so with our pioneer partners, the City of Melrose and the town of Dedham. In 2016, those communities used the buying power of their residents to secure an affordable electricity rate that includes more local renewable energy than required by state law. Since then, over a dozen communities have joined the movement and added more renewable energy to residents' electricity supply - most recently Medford, Bedford, and Rockland. Green Energy Consumers is proud to be providing that additional incremental amount of renewable energy.

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien
Renewable energy Energy policy & advocacy Electricity and the grid

How RECs Work to Clean New England’s Grid

The first thing most people do when they walk into a room is to turn the lights on. But most people do not think of how that power got there and where it came from. In reality, electricity is a complex system responsible for the generation, transmission and distribution of electrons. So how do we know if the electricity we’re using came from renewable energy or not? The answer: Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). But in order to understand how RECs work and how they do their part to clean our grid, we must first understand how the grid brings electricity to our homes and businesses, and how it operates as a whole.

by Yaima Braga
Renewable energy Electricity and the grid Green municipal aggregation

There are Three Ways to Buy Green Electricity – Two Are Good and One is Bad

This is an update from previous blogs on the subjects covered here.

Have you recently received salespeople at your door or offers in the mail from competitive electricity suppliers? They lay the pitch on thick with too-good-to be true rates and feel-good energy mixes. It may seem hard to poke holes in the pitch, but under the smiling surface, many of these suppliers use smoke and mirror marketing to get their foot in the door and your signature on a contract.

Picture of Larry Chretien Larry Chretien