Groundbreaking climate legislation has taken hold in New England. In the first half of the year, the Governors of Massachusetts and Rhode Island signed bills that will move the two states towards net-zero emissions.
Amid all the real, terrible, and difficult challenges, our job at PowerOptions is to protect Members in the immediate term on their energy costs. At the same time, a recent conversation with a Member particularly affected by the pandemic, as most are, reminded me to share what we are building for Members in the long […]
While there is much debate about whether the GOP tax plan will, in fact, provide economic benefits for employees and consumers in America, one clear benefit should be captured immediately: the reduction in utility rates from the reduction in the corporate income tax rate. Utilities pay taxes like any other corporation, and they will see […]
Over the years, the four major groups representing commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in proceedings before the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU)—Associated Industries of Massachusetts, The Energy Consortium, The Western Massachusetts Industrial Group and PowerOptions—have actively participated in numerous dockets, presenting a unique C&I customer-oriented perspective, only to have their positions dismissed with little […]
For years, many have been lamenting the ever-increasing number of rate mechanisms which fall outside of the base rate review process for utility distribution companies. There are roughly a dozen reconciliation charges, trackers and automatic adjustment charges on the bill for each gas and electric utility. Call them what you will, they all do the […]
Last fall, in the midst of the multitude of year-end utility filings, Eversource filed a request with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities for a $20 million surcharge, on top of its energy efficiency charge, to fund its dabbling in demand reduction demonstration projects. I say “dabbling” because the filing is little more than a […]
