CT seeks new contracts for nuclear power, renewables
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Friday that it would begin seeking new contracts for carbon-free electricity from large power generators, including the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford.
“There’s quite a bit of uncertainty around what financing might look like,” for renewable energy projects, said Kate McAuliffe, a senior policy advocate at the Acadia Center, a nonprofit research and advocacy group focused on clean energy in the Northeast.
“I think that makes it even more imperative for the state to move quickly on this,” she added. “Anything that [DEEP] can do to expedite the process, whether that’s in permitting or approvals, to make sure that other mature projects can go online, that’ll be really important. And then the results that we see in response to this will be pretty illustrative of what the industry is going to look like.”
To read the full article from CT Mirror, click here.
Cold weather threatens to take bite out of Healey’s energy savings bid
Frigid temperatures across Massachusetts this past week are bound to hit ratepayers in their wallets — and if the conditions persist, could limit how much savings Bay Staters feel from Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to cut utility bills this winter.
A brutally cold week in New England with temperatures plunging below zero across much of Massachusetts on Friday is driving up energy demand for natural gas and electricity as heating systems work harder and run longer to warm homes.
“This was a national cold snap, which has caused natural gas prices to spike across the nation, and this has pulled everyone’s prices up,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts state director for the Acadia Center. “It’s not just a Massachusetts-specific problem for these months. And as a result of that, we’re going to see really high bills, unfortunately, regardless of what the governor does. This relief is certainly welcome, but I think there’s just limited additional tools that they could tap into for additional relief.”
But this season’s cold blast is prompting hand-wringing for both the short- and long-term. Murray at the Acadia Center said the price spikes ratepayers are bracing for is more proof for why “we need to move as quickly as possible to get off of the volatile fossil fuel marketplace and invest heavily in energy efficiency.”
To read the full article from Commonwealth Beacon, click here.
Will R.I.’s pioneering clean energy goal be delayed?
Rhode Island was the first state to commit to a 100% renewable energy goal by 2033, but Gov. Daniel J. McKee’s administration is attempting to revise the state’s renewable and clean energy policies amid rising energy costs and economic pressures.
Emily Koo, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island program director at the clean energy advocacy organization Acadia Center, argues that cutting back on renewable targets will exacerbate the crisis facing residents.
“To tackle energy costs, Rhode Island’s focus should be on building more renewables, not on rolling back our targets,” she said.
Koo said that delaying the state’s renewable energy standard, for example, would increase Rhode Islanders’ dependence on volatile natural gas markets and undermine the state’s economy.
“The state of Rhode Island should be doing everything within its power to bring more local clean energy online and coordinate with neighboring states to unlock the most affordable clean energy resources,” she said.
To read the full article from PBN, click here.
In a Deep Freeze, High Cost of Electricity Becoming Focal Point of Residents’ Anger, Frustration
PROVIDENCE — It’s been three years since state regulators approved historic hikes in electric and natural gas rates, and as residents shiver through a lengthy spell of bone-chilling cold, the anger and frustration is becoming palpable.
“The state of Rhode Island should be doing everything within its power to bring more local clean energy online and coordinate with neighboring states to unlock the most affordable clean energy resources. This will not only help achieve our Renewable Energy Standard and lower energy costs, but it will also support our clean energy economy and grow family-sustaining jobs across the state.” – Emily Koo, Acadia Center Rhode Island program director
According to a study from the Acadia Center, energy efficiency programs in Rhode Island have returned an estimated $5 billion in benefits back to Rhode Islanders over the lifetime of the programs. For every $1 spent in the programs, the state will see $1.97 in benefits.
The program also supports some 11,330 jobs in related industries, and has saved 18.8 years of electricity from the Manchester Street Power Station in Providence. Put another way, energy efficiency programs reduced carbon emissions equivalent to taking 1.65 million cars off the road for one year.
To read the full article from ecoRI, click here.
Governor faces intense backlash amid ‘mind-boggling’ plan to shift millions from state budget: ‘We’re stuck in a cycle of seeing bills spike’
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is facing backlash over a proposal to roll back clean energy incentives in the name of affordability — a move critics say could lower bills briefly while locking families into higher, more unstable energy costs long-term.
Emily Koo of the Acadia Center warned that capping energy efficiency funding ignores long-term savings for families. “It’s a serious concern of mine to cap energy efficiency and to imply that cutting energy-efficiency spending will benefit Rhode Islanders,” she said, per the Current.
To read the full article from The Cool Down, click here.
Mass. utility bills: 3 big reasons behind rising costs this year
As winter temperatures fluctuate, Massachusetts residents are keeping a close eye on their utility bills.
U.S. home heating costs are projected to rise 9.2% this winter, which is more than three times the rate of inflation, driven by higher utility costs and colder-than-average weather, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.
According to a June 2025 Boston Globe article, Massachusetts residents are also concerned about data centers, which are specialized buildings used to store, process and manage digital data, coming to the state and using high amounts of electricity.
“I have major concerns about data centers,” Massachusetts program director for the advocacy group the Acadia Center Kyle Murray told the Boston Globe, adding, “they just end up driving up costs for everyone else — they get a favorable rate, and then average citizens end up paying more.”
According to Data Center Map, Massachusetts only has 46 data centers. This is a small number in comparison to other states like Virginia which has 568 or Texas which built 392.
To read the full article from MassLive, click here.
Save now, pay later: Critics warn McKee’s plan to ease energy bills comes with a tab
Gov. Dan McKee framed his proposed rollbacks of green energy incentives around affordability — saving Rhode Island ratepayers $1 billion in their energy bills over the next five years, according to analysis by the state budget office.
Especially with less money available to make the switch to clean energy in their own homes and workplaces under McKee’s proposed cap on state energy efficiency funding.
“It’s a serious concern of mine to cap energy efficiency, and to imply that cutting energy efficiency spending will benefit Rhode Islanders,” said Emily Koo, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island program director for the Acadia Center.
Rhode Island Energy’s $95 million energy efficiency budget for 2026 is already 18% less than the $117 million budget for 2025, and nearly one-third below the annual amount that Rhode Island Energy pledged to spend in a three-year plan submitted in 2023.
Limiting state funding also fails to recognize the long-term savings for ratepayers who winterize windows and doors, upgrade furnaces and thermostats or even switch to high-efficiency electric heat pumps, Koo said. And in her view, the drought of federal funding for energy efficiency investments makes preserving, and boosting, Rhode Island’s rebate program even more important.
Koo also serves as a member of the advisory board to the Rhode Island Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council, a consortium of state agencies charged with developing a plan to meet Rhode Island’s decarbonization mandates under the Act on Climate law. The council’s first comprehensive review of state progress and future projections, unveiled in November, warned the 2050 net-zero emissions mandate is out of reach without “additional ambition” to incentivize a clean energy transition. Its analysis assumed the existing incentives and funding McKee now wants to roll back.
To read the full article from the Rhode Island Current, click here.
Governor Mills Welcomes Completion of New England Clean Energy Connect Project
Governor Janet Mills today welcomed the completion of the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission line, which will deliver affordable electricity into Maine and New England, strengthen the electric grid, reduce dependence on electricity from natural gas, and provide substantial benefits for Maine people.
“Today’s announcement of the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) line delivers upon what clean energy advocates have long been saying: we can have affordable energy sources with low carbon emissions,” said Daniel L. Sosland, President of Acadia Center. “As volatile fossil fuel prices continue to soar and the region relies on natural gas for 50% of its power, clean energy remains the only viable path forward to deliver affordability. Consumers in Maine and around the region will benefit from reducing our overreliance on natural gas, and Maine’s clean energy, reliability, and affordability goals will advance. This project highlights the value of continued cross-border grid cooperation between the Northeast U.S. and Eastern Canada and the potential benefits that interregional transmission can realize for consumers and communities.”
To read the full article from maine.gov, click here.
Renewable Energy Programs Would Take Hit Under McKee’s Budget Plan
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island’s renewable energy programs could see their biggest changes in almost two decades, if state lawmakers approve Gov. Dan McKee’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal
Meanwhile, the state’s environmental groups, which applauded the passage of the Act on Climate in 2021 and the 100% Renewable Energy Standard law in 2022, aren’t pleased the state is rolling back its commitments. Emily Koo, Rhode Island program director for the Acadia Center, said pushing back the targets outlined in the Renewable Energy Standard would exacerbate the state’s burgeoning overreliance on natural gas and do little to combat high energy rates.
“To tackle energy costs, Rhode Island’s focus should be on building more renewables, not on rolling back our targets. Renewable energy reduces costs and protects customers from volatile and increasingly expensive natural gas,” Koo wrote in an email.
To read the full article from ecoRI, click here.
Affordability is scrambling energy politics in Massachusetts
Just about everyone in Massachusetts agrees: Energy bills are too damn high.
Natural gas prices in the state rose 70% between 2020 and 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and its residential electricity rates are the third highest in the country, behind only California and Hawaii. Some residents are making hard choices between paying their utility bills and buying food or health care necessities.
The bill’s final form will depend in large part on who can come up with a clean, compelling narrative to back their position, said advocates and observers. Some worry that efforts to paint energy efficiency and renewable energy as the culprits behind rising bills have gotten a head start.
“We allowed fossil-fuel interests to drive the narrative that it’s all those clean and green things,” Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation at the nonprofit Acadia Center. “Unfortunately, that’s what’s taken hold.”
Murray called the report’s numbers “magical thinking, completely at odds with reality.” Acadia Center is attempting to counter that argument with a new series of explainers outlining its analysis of what is driving volatile energy prices, with a strong emphasis on the cost of natural gas and the benefits of renewables. Other advocates also say they will be working on educating lawmakers about the complex subject and urging them to keep up the push for clean energy.
“So much of the issue is whose message is being received well,” Murray said. “We’re going to make a more concerted effort this year.”
To read the full article from Canary Media, click here.