The Boston Globe ran a story on January 31st on Nstar’s Green program, describing its price surcharge, volatility and modest uptake.
As a program which offers a a 50% or 100% renewable option for those few customers who are highly-dedicated early-adopters, the program was never intended as a major sales channel for renewables. However, the headline “Green electricity finds few customers in Mass.,” left the wrong impression for readers, when in fact we’re all customers of renewable energy.
The Clean Energy Council submitted the following letter to editor at the Boston Globe, which was published on Monday, February 6th
To the Editor
Boston Globe
Re: “Green electricity finds few customers in Mass.” While the article describes a unique program for the most dedicated renewable energy supporters to embrace green electrons, the headline creates the wrong impression that the Massachusetts’ plan for renewable growth is to sell gold-plated, renewables contracts one customer at a time.
We are not moving to renewable energy by finding one customer at a time to switch to 50-100% renewables. We’re on a much more balanced, cost-effective and sustainable approach of gradually blending renewables into everyone’s energy mix, along with cost-effective energy efficiency, smarter management of energy across the grid, and more efficient use of natural gas.
The result from 2008 through 2010 has been energy bill declines of 11% for the average residential customer, lower emissions, and more of our energy dollars staying in our regional economy. This approach is providing market signals for renewable technologies and developers to aggressively scale and lower the costs of renewables to all of our benefit, while creating jobs and accelerating clean energy innovations.
So while the dedication of a few leading-edge individual customers to 50% or 100% renewables can be applauded, in fact green electricity is finding all of us as customers in Massachusetts.
PETER ROTHSTEIN
President, New England Clean Energy Council
Boston
