How Chambers of Commerce Became Clean Energy Leaders
Working with over 300 local chambers of commerce from 48 states representing more than 279,000 businesses, Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) released a first-of-its-kind report last week providing a comprehensive look at the effects of clean energy innovations and investments supported by local chambers. Local Chambers as Change Agents: Creating Economic Vitality through Clean...
Adoption rates increase utility interest in renewable energy
As declines in the cost of renewable energy projects continue, opportunities for collaboration have grown. Last week, Bloomberg’s Julie Johnsson outlined a unique partnership between Ted Turner and Southern Co. to develop solar farms in the southwest region of the U.S. Five large solar projects have been jointly purchased since 2010 by the philanthropist and...
RGGI will let the region thrive
The following pice by Chris Meyer originally appeared on Seacoast Online on Monday, May 13th. Back in 2008, one year into the Great Recession, I started a brand-new business. Crazy? Just the opposite. My company, Yankee Thermal Imaging, makes money by helping New Englanders save money on energy. We test buildings with cutting-edge technology that...
Gov. Patrick: MA Solar Target Reached 4 Years Early; New Goal Set
Governor Deval Patrick today announced that the solar goal set in 2007 of 250 megawatts of residential and commercial solar energy installed in the Commonwealth has been reached four years early, and set an ambitious new goal of 1,600 MW by 2020. Gov. Patrick was joined by Energy & Environmental Affair Secretary Rick Sullivan and...
Renewable energy is in everyone’s interest
The following piece was featured in the Concord Monitor on April 9th, 2013: In a recent column the New England Ratepayers Association’s Marc Brown incorrectly claims that ratepayers are being forced to buy expensive electricity under the state’s renewable portfolio standard when cheaper alternatives exist, and at no value to us (“Green energy hits ratepayers’...
CT Town Builds First Solar Powered Train Station in Nation
Earlier this week, Connecticut state and city leaders celebrated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first solar powered train station in the country. Energy to power the train station, four charging stations for electric vehicles, and station lights will now be supplied by 52 new rooftop solar panels. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, Commissioner of the Department...
NECEC Applauds New England Governors for Reducing RGGI Emissions Cap
Today, NECEC sent letters to our six New England Governors, applauding them for their support of the new reduction of the RGGI emissions cap. Due to their leadership, RGGI will save over $1 billion throughout our region in the next decade. Read our full press release, below. Contact: Danielle English, 415.453.0430 danielle@catercommunications.com Jennifer Donahue, 617.500.9993...
Analysis: Superbowl Power Outage Shines a Bad Light On HID Lighting
This post originally appeared on the Groom Energy Blog. If you weren’t one of last night’s 100+ million Superbowl viewers, by now you’ve probably heard that a stadium wide power outage stalled the game for 34 minutes. Was it a conspiracy by CBS to sell more advertising? One brand team used the dark time to quickly...
Solarize CT Doubles Adoption in Pilot Towns
As reported in the Hartford Business Journal, the pilot program Solarize Connecticut has doubled the adoption of residential solar installations to 2.3 megawatts in its four participant communities in the first five months of the initiative. The program aims to increase residential adoption of solar by having entire towns join together to install solar, thus...
“Kickstarting” Clean Energy
Financing can often be a barrier to project development. Creative financing mechanisms are often talked about, and it is refreshing to see examples being acted upon. Since the passage of the JOBS act in April of last year, online crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter have given entrepreneurs easier access to capital through non-traditional means. This...
CT First-in-the-Nation Microgrid Pilot Receives Applications
The Connecticut Mirror reports on the applications received for the state’s microgrid pilot project, run by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). For this pilot project—the first of its kind in the U.S—DEEP received about three-dozen applications from cities, towns, universities, hospitals, and companies, among others. Although all of the applications are quite different,...
CT, MA Towns Named Clean & Green Communities
Seven Massachusetts communities and one Connecticut town recently pledged to act as clean energy leaders in their states, making a commitment to achieve environmental benefits and significant town energy cost-savings. In Massachusetts, Petersham, Rockland, Wendell, Westminster, Westwood, Whately, and Winthrop joined 103 other towns in being named Green Communities by the Commonwealth’s Department of Energy...