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

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Our programs (5)

People’s Power & Light's 14th Year Celebration

Little Rhody has the opportunity to be a big leader for sustainability. There are several bills on the table this legislative session that span a range of energy issues. These policies were highlighted this past week at People’s Power & Light’s (PP&L) 14th Annual Meeting.

Community members and industry professionals gathered at the meeting to hear from Rhode Island officials, including Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, Office of Energy Resources Commissioner Dr. Marion Gold, Senator Susan Sosnowski, and Representative Deborah Ruggiero. In The Attorney General’s words, “PP&L is a pro-clean energy group, an inexpensive energy group, a group that wants to help disseminate power to those that need it most.”

Kat Burnham

Why We Host Renewable Energy Tours

Some of the unique and, for us, most exciting aspects of our work at Mass Energy and People’s Power & Light are our site visits to local sources of renewable energy.

Since we only buy renewable energy from New England projects on behalf of our members, it’s not hard to bring them right to the source of their electricity. And not only that, but many developers and owners are keen to share their particular story.

Pua Higginson & Erin Taylor

Why Buying New England Class I RECs is the Only Way to Make the Switch

The average home uses electricity all day long and most of us don’t even think about it. You may have heard that you can use your energy dollar to demand 100% clean renewable electricity instead of your utility’s dirty resource mix. Programs aimed at helping you green up the grid are numerous in this country, but many don’t deliver the intended results. However, in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, there is one way to ensure that your green power payments are making a difference:  by purchasing Class I or “new” Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).

The subject matter in this blog is still relevant in 2019, but for a more current blog on the same topic, click here.

Picture of Katy Kidwell Katy Kidwell

Timmons Roberts: The greenest thing to do

Guest blog originally posted in the Providence Journal on Nov. 13, 2015.

Last summer, I took about five minutes and switched my electricity from National Grid’s regular plan to a group called People’s Power and Light, which sources electricity from all renewables here in our own region. In those five minutes, I did more to combat climate change than perhaps anything else I do.

Timmons Roberts

Another Year of Clean Energy Success: Mass Energy's 33rd Annual Meeting

On Wednesday, October 21st 2015, Mass Energy celebrated 33 years of working to make energy more affordable and environmentally sustainable.

Those who attended the meeting will remember Executive Director Larry Chretien’s reference to Mass Energy as being akin to the “platypus of the animal kingdom”— highlighting Mass Energy’s unique structure as a non-profit run like a business. Larry referred to Mass Energy as a “social business”, composed of people who understand that there is more than one way of making energy more affordable and environmentally sustainable.

Puanoa A. Higginson

Great Heat Pump Prices Are Here: A New Pilot Program in Western Mass

There is good reason why the popularity of heat pumps has risen dramatically in recent years.  Advancements in technology have made Cold Climate Air-Source Heat Pumps (ccASHPs) a safe, comfortable, convenient, and efficient source of heating, even in cold climates like Massachusetts. Much like your refrigerator, air-source heat pumps work by moving heat into or out of a building. Because they don’t burn fuel, they can improve air quality, both indoor and out. Furthermore, ccASHPs can also cool, dehumidify, and integrate nicely with solar PV systems.

Maura O'Gara