NStar agrees to community process to come up with solutions to Green Justice Coalition identified barriers.
BostonCAN has participated in the Green Justice Coalition campaign to improve MassSave for the past two years. Now that NStar needs DPU’s approval of their proposed merger with Northeast Utilities, we’re seeing fast progress in the company’s willingness to prove that they are listening to ratepayers’ concerns.
We had been planning a rally with hundreds of people calling for MassSave improvements but NStar has been so cooperative that our protest has been canceled! This is a huge win and I’m sure the fact that so many people were committed to coming out during the NStar shareholder meeting played a role in bringing NStar to take the progressive steps they have recently taken.
So raise a glass of your favorite beverage tonight and pledge to stay informed and active as BostonCAN continues to participate in the effort to reshape MassSave. You can learn more about this campaign on Sunday, March 13, during a neighborhood weatherization skillshare are 41 Brent St, Dorchester, the home of Mike Prokosch and Becky Pierce.
The Green Justice Coalition has made great progress in the past 2.5 years and, thanks to the hard work of all the member groups, we are at a place where NStar has made significant commitments to making sure the MassSave program reaches all our communities. Our coalition and others will be entering into what is being called a “charrette” process with the utility companies to come up with more effective ways to engage “hard to reach” populations. We will help them define these groups, identify the barriers they face, and find solutions.
In this process, and as we have for the past year, the Green Justice Coalition will be demanding:
• Equitable access to home weatherization for all ratepayers. Traditional outreach and marketing methods do not effectively reach low-income communities and people of color.
• Fair financing that will allow low- to moderate-income families to weatherize their homes.
• Access to weatherization program data so the programs can be evaluated independently.
• Good weatherization jobs that hire local residents, pay living wages with benefits, provide safe workplaces and career ladders.
Through testifying at the DPU, signing thousands of postcards, calling the CEO’s office, and mobilizing hundreds of community members to attend state meetings, community forums, and rallies, BostonCAN and our Green Justice Coalition allies have shown that our communities have the power to change the way enormous corporations do business.
Thanks for all of your good work and keep up the fight for good green jobs and better energy efficiency programs in our communities.