New Initiative Promotes Energy Efficiency
If you’re interested in managing your energy costs, increasing the comfort of your home or business, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, this is an exciting time to be in Massachusetts. Mass Save, a ground-breaking initiative created to dramatically reduce energy waste in the commonwealth, provides a wide range of services, incentives, training, and information you can use for your home, business, city, and town.
Mass Save represents a coordinated statewide effort to achieve energy savings through innovative programs for electric and natural gas customers. Mass Save is leading the nation in implementing three-year goals that will ultimately net $4 billion in savings for participating customers. The plan also calls for a savings of close to 2.5 million mega-watt hours of electricity and 45 million therms of natural gas over the three-year period. The corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to the emissions of nearly 40 percent of the vehicles in Massachusetts.
Today the commonwealth meets 10 percent of its electricity needs through the least costly resource — energy efficiency. Mass Save aims to improve that rate to around 25 percent by 2020. The initiative is offering $1.6 billion in incentives for residential and business energy users through 2012.
Business Savings
Resources are available for commercial and industrial ratepayers who take steps to increase their building’s energy efficiency by upgrading lighting systems, HVAC systems, variable speed drive motors, compressed air equipment and improving in space heating and water heating applications. Businesses can benefit from services ranging from technical assistance to identify and quantify opportunities to save electricity and gas in their facilities; to incentives to reduce the payback; to commissioning services to ensure the savings are realized. For business owners and energy use managers, making the choice to invest in energy efficiency changes now will generate real dollar savings for years to come.
Energy efficiency programs in our state have consistently saved users far more energy dollars than they have spent on upgrades. For owners and renters, Mass Save residential programs range from free home energy assessments that include recommendations as well as generous incentives and rebates for improvements like air sealing, home insulation, replacement of conventional light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, new energy efficiency heating and water heating equipment, to programs specially designed for lower-income residents, new home builders, and buyers.
These investments in energy efficiency cost significantly less than the price of new power generation and other energy supplies, and they provide real economic benefits. With benefits like these, Massachusetts businesses and residents are sure to turn into MassSavers. For more information on the full range of energy efficiency programs and services, including incentives and contact information, visit www.MassSave.com.
Mass Save is an initiative sponsored by Massachusetts’ gas and electric utilities and energy efficiency service providers, including Bay State Gas Company, The Berkshire Gas Company, Cape Light Compact, National Grid, New England Gas Company, NSTAR, Unitil, and Western Massachusetts Electric Company. The sponsors of Mass Save work closely with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to provide a wide range of services, incentives, trainings, and information promoting energy efficiency that help residents and businesses manage energy use and related costs.
Ed White is vice president of energy products for the Waltham-based utility company National Grid writing on behalf of Mass Save.
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