Utilities hate competition. And they have no qualms about trying to undercut new clean energy technologies in their effort to reduce competition and increase profits.
Recently in Massachusetts, major utility Eversource adopted a discriminatory charge that could inhibit solar energy growth by making the bills of solar panel owners’ bills more confusing and less fair.
State Senator Michael Barrett, a leader on clean energy issues, has sponsored legislation to reject Eversource’s anti-solar charge. Chairmen Golden has voiced support for the legislation, and messages from pro-solar citizens like you can help this legislation stand out among legislators’ busy agendas and make it over the finish line.
Urge your legislators to act quickly to defend Massachusetts solar customers and the state’s clean energy leadership against Eversource’s new anti-solar fee!
Massachusetts lawmakers are national leaders in clean energy deployment, but Eversource’s new rates take the state backwards. They call it a “demand charge” on solar customers, and Massachusetts is the first state in the nation where a utility has successfully adopted this type of anti-solar fee.
This “demand charge” bills customers based on the hour in a month that they use the most energy, instead of on their overall energy use. This means that people who normally work hard to conserve energy will be punished with a high bill if there is any single time during the month when they use more energy than usual. It will make it less affordable for people to reduce their carbon footprint through owning electric vehicles that need to be recharged. And it will especially hurt low and moderate-income people who are sensitive to bill changes from month-to-month.
Currently, Massachusetts is second only to California in how widely solar energy is being deployed. This action by Eversource jeopardizes Massachusett’s 15,000 solar jobs, not to mention our climate, clean air, and energy independence. We must urge our lawmakers to reverse this anti-solar charge immediately!
Tell your legislators to protect Massachusetts clean energy progress over utility profits by acting to reject confusing, unfair new charges targeting solar customers.
Thanks for all you do!
Emma and The Alliance for Solar Choice
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