May 2, 2023 • SUBSCRIBE TO THIS NEWSLETTER!
It's time to turn our attention to the Forward Capacity Market

Here in New England, we have to pay 10-20% of our utility bills just to keep fossil fuel plants on the grid. Through a system called forward capacity payments, our grid operator funds dangerous and out-of-date energy providers. For the first time, the Merrimack Station coal plant was excluded from these funds, but it’s time to turn our attention to the underlying structural problem that was propping up Merrimack Station: the Forward Capacity Market.

The New England electrical grid operator (ISO-NE) is seeking approval for the full results of this year’s Forward Capacity Auction (FCA 17), which will award $946 million in subsidizing payments from our electric bills to power plants three years from now. Many of these funds will go to power plants called base load generators, which run all the time every day and don’t need subsidies to be profitable. If the results of FCA 17 are approved, ISO-NE will continue to use our electrical bills to provide bonus payments to those already profitable plants.
Until May 5 we’re in a brief Public Comment Period where we can contest this decision--and more than that, the process behind it. FERC, the federal agency that oversees ISO-NE, is currently reviewing the auction results. Unlike our grid operator, it’s required to take comments from people like us, but it doesn’t get many about forward capacity payments. Instead, the damage being done to the earth and to our communities gets to hide behind complicated bureaucracy. That’s why we’re submitting as many public comments as we can: if ISO-NE is trying to make us pay for fossil fuel subsidies, they should know that we are watching--and determined to disobey. 


If you need any help or have questions during the writing or submission process, feel free to reach out to Marla at marla@climatedisobedience.org.

You can also attend our comment writing party: 
End the Springfield Pipeline Project!

Add your voice to our call for an end to the proposed Eversource pipeline project and a halt to new gas system expansions until Massachusetts develops an effective plan for a just and rapid transition to the clean energy future we need to maintain a livable global ecosystem.

We encourage you to arrive anytime between 12:00 and 12:45 PM for a family-friendly event with tabling, music, activities for kids, and time for connecting informally.

Our rally with speakers, chants and music will start at 1:00 PM sharp, followed by a short march past the Bliss St. gas regulator station.

Saturday, May 20, 2023
Stearns Square, Springfield MA

To sign on as a co-sponsor Click here

New England Restructuring Roundtable

This Roundtable will feature a keynote address from Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper on the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s energy and environmental priorities.

It will also include panels exploring the need, opportunities, and challenges for large-scale renewable energy projects (both onshore and offshore) to meet our decarbonization goals

Friday, June 9, 2023
9:00am – 12:30pm
Foley Hoag
155 Seaport Boulevard
Boston, MA

Registration opening soon.
Second FERC New England Winter Gas-Electric Forum

The purpose of this forum is to continue discussions from the September 8, 2022 forum regarding the electricity and natural gas challenges facing the New England Region. The objective of the forum is to shift from defining electric and natural gas system challenges in the New England Region to discussing potential solutions, including both infrastructure and market-based solutions.

Tuesday, June 20, 2023
8:00 am
Portland, ME

Information will be posted on the Calendar of Events on the Commission’s website, www.ferc.gov, prior to the event.


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BEAT is Hiring!

Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) is seeking a collaborative, responsive, and effective strategic thinker for Deputy Director.

This is a leadership position with tremendous responsibility within our organization.
For even more environmental news, info, and events, check out the latest newsletters from our colleagues at Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT)!