January 3, 2024 • SUBSCRIBE TO THIS NEWSLETTER!

Comment Deadline January 8th

Berkshire Gas “Mid-Term Modification” Efficiency Surcharge Hike proceedings went largely unnoticed

Berkshire Gas, the local gas distribution company for Berkshire, Franklin and parts of Hampshire County, is filing for a surcharge increase to bolster its energy efficiency programs. They underestimated the amount of people who wanted to take advantage of the heat pump offers, and are looking for budget increases to keep it going. This is a proposed “Mid-Term Modification” to the Three-Year Efficiency plan. It’s a patch for this last year of the current three year plan to keep the program flush.

While rapid adoption of heat pumps is what we definitely want to see, there are concerns with their “Mid-Term Modification” (MTM) plan over equity for low income residents and those wishing to go with whole-house heat pumps, and with how the DPU handled notification requirements for the hearing.

Deadline to file comments is January 8th.

» More details on the No Fracked Gas in Mass website

From State Senator Mike Barrett

MassPort's terrible two-fer: polluting and pandering

More than 100 local grassroots activists flocked to the State House to protest the proposed expansion of private jet hangars at Hanscom Airfield this past October. The Massachusetts Port Authority and the project’s developers seemed to think their proposal -- which would greatly expand the site’s capacity for super-emitting private jets -- would encounter little opposition. They were wrong.

Until now, people concerned about climate, along with their elected representatives, have concentrated on cleaning up buildings, cars and trucks, and the electric power supply. 

Thanks to MassPort, we’ve pivoted. Not by choice, and not that we saw it coming, but we’re learning we’ve got to focus on aviation and its devastating implications for climate change. 

In seriously entertaining a proposal to build multiple new hangars for super-polluting private jets at Hanscom, MassPort is on the verge of a terrible two-fer: aiding and abetting the warming of the planet, and pandering to the concentration of private wealth. You can’t do much worse than that.

» Read Sen. Barrett’s full remarks

What You Can Do in Your Town

Stop Private Jet Expansion (SPJE) is looking for residents in all municipalities across the state to ask their Select Boards or City Councils to pass a resolution opposing the expansion of hangars for private jets.

» They have a Call to Action to get folks started!

Good News to start off the New Year!

In plain language: the “Beyond Gas” decision and what it means for climate justice in Mass

December 8, 2023

By Jess Nahigian, Political Director

The Healey administration’s Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued a transformative decision for the future of the Massachusetts energy system.

The top-line takeaway? For the first time in the 15 years since Massachusetts passed landmark decarbonization legislation, the state has definitively said that gas heating is not in our long-term future.

In its decision, the state emphasized several principles that it will continue to use in future cases:

• Business as usual must end. Utilities can no longer propose new gas infrastructure as the only solution to a problem.
• The DPU is dedicated to mitigating the cost of the transition on ratepayers, particularly on low and moderate-income customers. It is also determined to prioritize new job opportunities in impacted communities and ensure a just transition for existing workers
• Given our decarbonization goals, utilities must make a solid financial case to approve new gas infrastructure.
• Utilities’ existing financial investments aren’t in jeopardy of not being paid back, but utilities must begin developing pilots and plans for decommissioning the system.

More specifically, here are some important provisions:

• Utilities must prove “non-pipe alternatives” are non-viable and cost-prohibitive before using ratepayer money for new gas projects
• The transition away from gas must protect ratepayers, include equitable workforce development, and ensure a just transition for existing workers
• Ratepayers will not pay for false solutions like “renewable” natural gas (RNG) and hydrogen, except in hard-to-decarbonize cases
• Ratepayers will not pay for other decarbonization “strategies” designed to keep the gas system alive or marketing for expanding gas

The grassroots are winning. This success was only possible because of the tireless efforts of local advocates. Whether pressuring for this docket to be opened, advocating for a pause on gas expansion and a future with cleaner heat, or pounding the pavement to elect leaders who will act in the interest of the people and the planet, grassroots power shines out strongly in this decision. Thousands have signed petitions, rallied, testified, and spoken with decision-makers. And we are winning.

» Read the full article from Sierra Club for more detailed information

Chairs: Clean Energy Talks May Yield Big "Tossed Salad"

Grid Technologies Bill A Sign Of Thawing Relations

WWLP - TV 22 News

December 15, 2023

After spending the bulk of the year trading barbs and working in parallel silos, the Democrats who lead the Legislature's work on clean energy reform suddenly appear to be moving toward reconciliation with an eye on major action in 2024.

Rep. Jeffrey Roy of Franklin and Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington outlined similar desires to tackle another omnibus climate and clean energy bill next year, a goal that will require them -- and the House and Senate Democrat caucuses that are often stymied by cross-branch disagreements -- to get on the same page.

The duo already appear headed in that direction: Roy and Barrett last week filed nearly identical bills embracing technologies and tools to modernize the electric grid, and they both said they hope the measures will form the foundation for a much larger legislative package.

Both men agreed, too, that as the two-year session lurches into its busier back half, their new overlap is a sign of thawing relations.

» Read the full story

Congratulations to Windsor

Environmental leadership honored

The town of Windsor is one of eight state entities, municipalities and individuals that have been recognized by the Healy administration for their leadership in driving initiatives to decarbonize operations and reduce the environmental impacts and energy costs of state and municipal operations.

The accomplishments were acknowledged recently at the 17th annual Leading by Example Awards Ceremony.

Awardees were honored for enacting policies and successfully delivering projects that advance Massachusetts’ climate and energy goals. These efforts include construction of all-electric buildings; energy efficiency projects; deployment of innovative, clean-energy technologies; deployment of zero-emission vehicles and charging stations; adoption of sustainable landscaping strategies; and a host of other initiatives that reduce environmental impacts and costs for state and municipal operation.

The Leading by Example program is administered by the Department of Energy Resources.