How utility companies lobby is a direct reflection of this dynamic, using money made from their regulated monopolies to advocate for the energy policies most profitable for their shareholders in the short term. The ultimate purpose of these utility companies is to maximize profits, instead of keeping rates low and accelerating the transition to clean energy. “Anything that disrupts their profit margin is a problem for them.”Īmid an accelerating climate crisis, such lobbying efforts highlight a major downside of allowing investors to control the essential services of heating and electricity. “ been on solar’s back for decades - they’ve been solar’s worst nightmare since the beginning, and that’s why we have not seen solar at scale in Massachusetts,” said Cabell Eames, the political director for the Better Future Project, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit focused on climate action.

The clean energy measures that the utility did support were related to offshore wind, biogas, electric vehicles, and energy storage - topics that help the company maintain its profit-driven business model in the state.Įversource, meanwhile, registered essentially all their lobbying (more than 99 percent) as “neutral,” while lobbying on many of the same bills. Gas and electric utility companies in Massachusetts collectively spent $439,000 on lobbying over the first half of this year, with the majority of this coming from the state’s two largest utilities, Eversource and National Grid.Īccording to lobbying disclosures from the most recent legislative session, National Grid lobbied against bills promoting rooftop solar, renewable energy financing, clean heating, community representation in the regulatory process, and eliminating gas leaks.

Instead, the most successful opposition comes from two giant investor-owned utility companies, which use their earnings from regulated monopolies to shape the state’s climate legislation to their liking.

They can voluntarily join the program, but they may be subject to penalties or early termination fees from the third-party supplier if they switch to the electricity program during the term of their contract with their chosen supplier.In one of the most liberal states in the country, the largest roadblocks to climate legislation do not come from fossil fuel producers or cultural conservatives bent on opposing any progress toward a clean energy economy. Newly eligible customers will receive a Customer Notification Letter detailing the program and ways to leave the program (opt out) those who choose not to opt out will be automatically enrolled.Ĭustomers who have chosen a third-party supplier will not receive an opt-out package and will not be automatically enrolled. Please keep in mind that future savings cannot be guaranteed because National Grid Basic Service rates change every six months for residential and commercial customers and every three months for industrial customers. See the benefits of supporting renewable energy generation. On the Somerset Community Electricity Aggregation website (/Somerset), residents, business owners, and other electricity customers canĮasily enroll in any of the program options or leave (opt-out) the program National Grid continues to deliver your electricity, repair power outages, and maintain the electricity grid they also send you one bill for the electricity you used. Somerset Community Electricity Aggregation is an electricity supply program offered by the Town of Somerset to provide residents and businesses with new, Town-vetted options for electricity supply. Somerset Community Electricity Aggregation Program

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