Patrick plans conservation to meet rising energy needs

[YankeyMCC]

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Hoping to make Massachusetts a national showcase for energy conservation, Governor Deval Patrick will announce plans today to offset the state's annual increases in electricity demand with equivalent energy-efficiency and conservation measures by 2010.

As the economy has grown and as many homeowners have added electronics and air-conditioning, the state's total electric usage has been increasing at about 1 percent annually, the equivalent of adding about 170,000 new average-sized houses every year, US Energy Department data show.

But Patrick contends that the state can conserve at least that much more electricity every year and keep overall demand frozen indefinitely, for much less than the cost of building new power plants.
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Patrick's policy will include legislation to require that utilities such as NStar and National Grid pay for all energy-conservation efforts that, in cost per unit of power saved, are less expensive than buying that much power from energy suppliers. That could include subsidizing the cost of customers installing lower- consumption lighting such as fluorescent bulbs or replacing appliances and industrial gear.

Also, the Department of Public Utilities this week is formally launching proceedings to implement a major policy shift for utilities that separates, or decouples, how much profit they make from the amount of energy their customers buy. As a rule, utilities lose money by getting customers to conserve, because their revenues are tied directly to how many units of energy they deliver.
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Frank Gorke, director of the advocacy group Environment Massachusetts, said: "What we have lacked is leadership on energy policy in Massachusetts in recent years. We've been rudderless. This is a big change and very exciting."
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"The big picture . . . tells us today we should be able to triple or quadruple the amount of energy savings and have it all be cheaper than generation," Bowles said. " We need to get rid of these perverse disincentives that keep it from happening."
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http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/06/25/patrick_plans_conservation_to_meet_rising_energy_needs/

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My comments: We're finally getting some real leadership on energy policy in Mass, but leadership is useless without followers and supporters. Anyone concerned about this issue (and it really should concern everyone) should take a serious look at this plan and I think it will deserve your support.