When the electric bill arrives, most people check the bottom line and pay what they owe: there’s not much choice when it comes to paying the invoice. But National Grid customers have a choice to substitute renewable energy for all or part of the default option of nonrenewable fossil fuel. Fifty-nine Harvard residents have already chosen the green option, and in the process have earned matching grant dollars for Harvard that, if redeemed, could be used for renewable energy projects or educational programs in town.
Massachusetts Electric Company started the New England GreenStart program in September 2003 to provide renewable energy to homes and businesses through the National Power Grid. With the program, any electric customer can subscribe to 100 percent renewable energy delivered through the grid. All the power entering that system can be replenished, unlike constantly depleted fossil fuels.
Worldwide, roughly 84 million barrels of oil are used daily; the United States accounts for 26 percent of that total. Fossil fuels are the optimal energy resource, and the most efficient. For instance, one quarter cup of oil is the equivalent of one person physically laboring for six consecutive hours. Since oil’s efficiency cannot be surpassed, one single alternative energy source cannot fully replace it.
With GreenStart, several renewable energy sources are pooled to compensate for their inefficiencies. Biomass accounts for 30.5 percent of GreenStart’s resources; 68.5 percent is hydroelectricity; solar provides 0.7 percent; and wind adds 0.2 percent. Using renewable energy benefits the environment, but the green option costs more.
The typical electric company charges 9.693 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for basic fossil fuel–generated electricity. If a household chooses 100 percent renewable energy through GreenStart, a kilowatt hour costs an extra 2.4 cents while the 50 percent renewable option adds 1.25 cents/kWh.
For each dollar customers pay for the service, up to one dollar can be returned to the town through the state’s Clean Energy Choice program, a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative that promotes clean energy and administers the matching funds. If a town applies for and receives the grant money, it can implement a clean-energy project or an educational program. A household’s participation in GreenStart is also tax-deductible, with at least 57 percent of payments treated as charitable contributions to the collaborative. As of February 28, Harvard earned $10,448 in matching funds.
Currently, 59 out of 1,809 occupied housing units in Harvard subscribe to GreenStart. These subscribers constitute 3.26 percent of Harvard’s total population, making the town eligible for extra funding. Because participation exceeds 3 percent, a $50 per-subscribing-home grant is given for each of the 59 households. This means that Harvard has accrued $2,950 in addition to its existing $10,448 reserve through this program. Other towns and cities have already put their grants to use, and Bill Blackwell, a founding member of Harvard Local, which advocates sustainable lifestyles and reduced dependence on fossil fuel, said that the group is studying renewable energy projects for Harvard. Boston installed photovoltaic solar systems on the Boston Arts Academy and the Richard J. Murphy School with its funds.
Says Janna Cohen-Rosenthal of Mass. Energy Consumers Alliance, “$13,398 in the fund is almost enough for a two-kilowatt photovoltaic array. A few more thousand dollars combined with Mass. Tech SRI rebates [would allow] Harvard to get solar panels to put somewhere in town.”
For more information or to subscribe to GreenStart, visit massenergy.com/Green.GS.html.