March 28, 2025 • 39 mins
In recent months, some energy customers have seen energy bills hit their wallets hard. Earlier in the month MA Gov. Healey launched an “energy affordability agenda” promising actions to slash energy bills over the coming years. There is a way energy customers have already been saving money on energy by using a government website called Energy Switch Massachusetts that allows residents to "shop around" for the best energy prices. There is a debate over whether MA should keep this consumer savings tool. Abby Foster, Vice President of Policy, and Advocacy for REAL (The Retail Advancement Energy League) joined us to discuss!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBS cost In Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you very much, Al Griffith. As we moved through
this Friday evening, it's now nine oh seven, nine oh eight, Yeah,
something like that. I don't have what they call studio clocks,
you know, back when I'm in the control room back
in the day, you have these big studio clocks. They
aren't like down to the milliseconds, so you always know
exactly what it is. What time do you have, Rob,
(00:27):
I got nine oh seven. What do you got nine
o eight? Okay, me too, Yeah, we did just say ninaweight.
You're absolutely right. Look I'm looking at the clock right now,
nine oh eight in about six seconds. All right. Look,
we have talked on this program for many years about
the cost of energy here in New England. As a
matter of fact, we talked just this past week with
(00:49):
the former EPA director for Region one, Dave Cash, about
that very topic. And there's some factors that drive the
cost of energy here in the Northeast. We're kind of
at the end of a lot of pipelines. We come
from a part of the country where it turns cold
sometime in November and it stays cold well into maybe
April and early May, and so we still have a
(01:10):
few more weeks of winter even though the calendar says
it's spring. And so I discovered several years ago this
wonderful website here in Massachusetts. It's called energy Switch Massachusetts.
It's mass energy rates dot com. And believe it or not,
some of our progressive politicians in Massachusetts want to take
(01:33):
that website down. With me is Abbie Foster. She's the
vice president of policy and advocacy for a group called
the Retail Advancement Energy League called Real Abby, welcome back
to Nightside. How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I'm good, Dan, Thanks for having us again.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yep. Absolutely, You're always welcome here. And what I'm trying
to figure out is we've gone through a real I
don't know, first of all, if you're famil with, we've
had a bump and energy prices here in New England
and there are some reasons for that. Obviously, it was
a cold January and February, and it's been a relatively
(02:12):
cold March, not as bad, but energy prices have gone up.
The Department of Public Utilities in November gave the major
energy companies here in Massachusetts a very generous rate increases.
Are you familiar with the background to this story why
(02:33):
people up here are really feeling it this winter?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I am, And so we represent the suppliers where customers
can shop for the one portion of their bill where
they actually have options on the generation and supply. But
a lot of those costs that were increasing this winter,
or distribution costs, and that's not something customers can shock.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
For, right. No, I understand that. I understand this, you
know very clearly. But what happened was and just to
kind of set this up, we have three DPU commissioners
in Massachusetts. All of them should resign, okay, because in March,
when finally Governor Healey realized the scope of the problem
(03:13):
that people's bills had just literally gone through the roof,
she and her commissioners, I guess, asked the energy companies
up here, the main suppliers, which would be ever source
National Grid in UNITIL, to reduce energy prices the bills
(03:34):
in March and April by five percent, with the understanding
that they could recoup those five percent reductions during the
summer months when energy levels are lower with interest. So
it wasn't much of a break for the consumers. If
you get my drift, and the Governor when she talked
about it earlier this month, she was pretty proud of it. Okay,
(04:00):
so let me just play a little bit of Governor
Maura Healy just to make sure that we're in the
that we're both on the same page. And then I
want to talk specifically about what your group does and
I want to make people understand how they can get
their supply charges lower here in Massachusetts. So this is
Governor Healy touting her plans and cut number thirty four,
(04:30):
please rob cut thirty four.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Look around the country, Okay. People have seen their heating
mills go through the roof. Families are feeling it, businesses
are feeling it all around the country.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
I'm proud to be here today to tell you that
we're taking action as a state.
Speaker 6 (04:50):
Okay.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Several weeks ago, I charged my team.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
I said, what can we do to drive down people's
heating costs? Because people, especially the last month or two,
were absolutely flabbergasted by what they got in the mail.
And there are different reasons for that, but my goal
was to make sure we were exploring every single thing
that we could do as a state government, not as
(05:16):
a utility, but as a state government to drive down
people's bills.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Now, that's a forty nine second SoundBite, Abby, and there's
not a lot of specifics with that. But the governor
followed up and this is a shorter sound bite, which
again is kind of mystifying to me, but I want
you to hear the governor's words. First. This is cut
(05:44):
thirty three. Please Rob.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
We estimate that these steps, taken together, will save Massachusetts
residents five point eight billion dollars over the next five years.
Almost six billion dollars. We're going to save money back
to you over the next five years.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Still hasn't been explained to us how that's going to happen. However,
what did happen, Abbey, And I just want you to
understand that we've followed this story and it's been very frustrating.
So the governor instructed her staff to go to the
energy companies and give this five percent increase on the bill,
(06:25):
five percent, one out of twenty dollars. The DPU ordered
the companies reduce your rates by five percent on the
next bills in March and April. National Grid ever source
and I think Unitil as well said to the TPU
(06:45):
five percent. We'll reduce them by ten percent. It was insane,
but so so then the governor took credit for that.
And this is the last SoundBite, and then we'll talk
to you. I just want you to give you the
sense here the politicians talk about gas lighting. Here we
(07:06):
go cut thirty six rough.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Here's what I wanted to tell you.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
A few weeks ago, I told the Department of Public
Utilities to act to lower costs. After we pushed on that,
we got a ten percent cut for gas bills.
Speaker 6 (07:22):
In March and in April. We are glad about that.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Okay, so people are going to see ten percent off
starting March and April.
Speaker 6 (07:32):
But we're not stopping there.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
I also wanted to announce today, as part of our
energy affordability Agenda, a few things.
Speaker 6 (07:39):
First, we want to put cash back in people's pockets,
some immediate relief.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
So on April, in your electric bill, you will now
be getting a credit back of fifty dollars.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
I know that's not a ton of money compared to
what people have been.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Paying, but it is something. It is something, and every
dollar counts so abby.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
The point is, they asked the DPU commissioners, who are
appointed by the state, asked the major energy companies unitil At,
Eversas and National Grid to give them a five percent cut,
and the companies said, we'll do more than a five percent.
We'll give you a ten percent cut. And the government
(08:20):
has sort of taken credit for it. And by the way,
they're going to recoup that cut that cut. Is this
going on in other states around the Union? I feel
like it's it's it's a strange political game that that
were that we're being subjected to. Or am I am
I just too cynical?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
You're not too cynical. I think I think it's really
good for you to look at when someone says that
there's a free meal, who's paying for it? And see
where where it's coming from.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm famil I am familiar with the acronym ton staffel.
You're familiar with that acronym, are you not? Don Staffel?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Tell me about it.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. That's
time STI I think they go, oh, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I think it's I think it's good for people to
want to understand that we haven't seen the legislation truly
that's coming from the Affordability initiative that the governor has announced,
but from what has been introduced to discuss so far,
there's really no actual savings that we've seen that can
come to customers that aren't coming from other customers or
(09:27):
other programs that are customer funded and so or have
to be reimbursed later, and so it's not truly a discount.
One of the benefits of having options to shop is
when the rates are changing and you have enrolled in
a fixed rate contract. If the market is volatile, our
prices are going up. The person who loses their shirt
is a supplier because they've offered you a fixed rate.
(09:50):
And so the only way to really save in a
market like this when you have competition is to use
competition to your benefit. Look at your options, choose your
lowest fixed rate offer, and enroll in that. And unfortunately,
we've tried to talk about education and the need for
that in Massachusetts, but there hasn't been much done on
the state's part to inform customers of their options and
how to leverage competition in the market to work for
(10:12):
them to save money.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Well, here's the deal. In Massachusetts. The governor and the
Attorney General want to take down the energy switch, the
mass Energy rate site. I'm not sure if you're aware
of that or not, but the site here in Massachusetts,
and if anyone out there is sitting in front of
their computer, all they have to do if they want
(10:36):
to understand what I'm talking about is go to mass
energy rates dot Com. And this was a reform that
was put in about thirty years ago here in Massachusetts.
And it's pretty simple. I'm on the site right now.
All you have to do mass Energy rates dot Com.
(10:59):
You select you utility, whether it's National Grid, ever Source
or UNITIL. In my case it's ever Source, is who
I get my electricity from, and then it says select
your account type and there's three choices residential, commercial, large commercial,
obviously we're talking residential. And at that point they ask
(11:19):
you to view the rates and you now have a
plethora of rates, you know, some nine months, some six months,
some twenty four months, some twelve months, all sorts of
different rates, and they also tell you what the current
ever source residential rate is. So the ever source rate
has actually has actually come down a little bit, which
(11:43):
I'm very happy to see, but there that has also
driven down the rates of some I'm with Constellation Energy
and it's down to eleven point nineteen cents. So this
mass energy rates website is forcing the rates down, and
(12:04):
yet our governor and our Attorney general wants to take
this energy rates site down. Are you aware of that?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
I am, And it's unfortunately it's not just even taking
the site down, it's actually closing the market so that
suppliers these offers that you're looking at, Constellation for example,
that you're enrolled with, they would no longer be able
to sell electricity to customers and operate in the market,
and so customers would only have the utility to buy
their supply from, or if they have municipal aggregation in
their town, they would only have that as the option,
(12:35):
and that.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
Would be it.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Well, we're going to try to explain that and make
people understand that the that this this this mass energy
rates forcing is actually forcing ever source in national grid
to become more competitive, which is which is a good thing.
My guest is Abby Foster. Abby is a vice president
(12:59):
of Policy and Advocacy for the Retail Advancement Energy League.
If you have any question about energy, feel free to
join our conversation six one, seven, two, five, four, ten,
thirty six, one, seven, nine three one, ten thirty. Now again,
you may have parents who are older than you who
might not be as comfortable with computers as you are,
So this is something you want to make sure your
(13:20):
parents are aware of as well or your grandparents, and
everybody should be aware of it. It's as simple as that.
We're going to take a break. I'm going to be
back with Abby Foster, vice president of Policy and Advocacy
for the Retail Advancement Energy League, talking about mass energy
rates dot com and why we need to have that
(13:41):
in my opinion, and keep it and not allow the
politicians to take away something that actually helps us save money.
Back on Nightside right after.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
This, you're on night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
We're talking about energy rates in Massachusetts gas electric. All
of us rely on that here in a cool weather
part of the country. Our political leaders here have often
fought against extensions of natural gas pipelines into New England.
Why have our leaders not been welcoming to the idea
(14:19):
of more natural gas pipelines? Abby?
Speaker 3 (14:21):
In your opinion, oh man, Well, in New England, I
think a lot of the legislators the renewable energy standards
have always been a priority. Unfortunately, there's not a lot
of generation in state in the New England states, and
there's small states. There's not a lot of geographical area
(14:42):
for what's necessary to hit the renewable portfolio standard goals
for wind and full or things like that. And right
now you just don't have enough of the energy to
balance out intermittent resources that don't aren't available all the
time when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing,
and so you still need that kind of backup energy.
And so you know, those are political decisions and people
(15:04):
have voted for those political officers to be in office,
and that's, you know, the will of the people.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I may ask you some questions that you don't know
the answer to it, and I'm not looking for specific answers,
but are the rates the energy rates here in New
England generally obviously different parts of the country During the winter,
obviously probably the energy rates in places like Arizona are
not exorbitant because they don't have the cold weather in
(15:30):
most parts of Arizona that we have in the summertime,
they may have rates higher because they have to rely
on air conditioning, but as a whole how would you
say that the cost of energy of heating your home
or providing electricity in your home in New England compares
to other parts of the country.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Massachusetts have some of the highest electric rates in the country.
Some of that is related to, as I noted, the
renewable portfolio standards, so also one of the highest in
the country in Massachusetts. Forever amount of every bit of
electricity that you get, whether it's supplied by the utility
or the supplier, sixty three percent of that has to
come from certain renewable energy sources located within New England.
Speaker 7 (16:10):
And then we.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Actually just did this past week an education event at
the Capitol at the State House with Bob Rio who
developed a platform called What's in My Electric Bill that
looks at what are the different parts of your electric
bill and what is on your electric bill and why
you're being charged at whether it was caused by legislation
being passed, or whether it's distribution costs from the utility
(16:32):
for the polls and wires or for the supply from
your supplier. And almost a third of your electric bill
comes from policy decisions, So the legislature passing something to
require the funding for electric vehicle programs, energy efficiency extra
programs that are required to be added to your bill.
But again, you know you've you've elected those elected officials.
(16:53):
They're acting on your behalf, and so if you have
any concerns about that, you should reach out to them and.
Speaker 7 (16:57):
Let them know.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Right. But the elected officials in Massachusetts are almost uniformally unresponsive.
We have a state Senate which is eighty percent democratic.
We have a state House, which is a House of Representatives,
which is about eighty percent democratic. The Republicans are they're
not even competitive minorities. I mean to be a competitive
(17:21):
minority every once in a while. I mean in the
US Senate, for example, I think most people know it's
fifty three forty seven, and that's on some issues that
can be really competitive. And the Republicans, even though they're
in the majority, have to make some form of compromise
or concessions. Up here, No compromise, no concessions, And we
tend to just return people to office time election after
(17:47):
election after election. Why do the political leaders, and I'm
talking now about the governor and the attorney general want
to take down this site, the mass energy rates site.
I assume you're familiar with that, and I want to
take a break for news, but i'd like to get
your response on that on the other side, and also
(18:07):
get some phone calls from my listeners as to what
they specifically need to do to maybe get these energy
bills down a little bit. I hope you'll be able
to respond to some of those questions. So if you
can stay with us to a newscast Abby at the
bottom of the ar, we'll be right back in about
four minutes. Okay, great, Okay, Back with Abbie Foster. She's
(18:29):
vice president of the Retail Advancement Energy League, which is
working very hard to keep your energy prices down. The
cost that you pay every month for whatever energy you have. Now,
if you're living in a home that doesn't have electricity
and you're lighting by candles, good luck. If you're living
in a house that is you're not using heat and
(18:50):
you're only using you know, burning wood in a fireplace,
there aren't many of you who are doing that. Most
of us are paying electric and natural gas bills or
some form bill every month. And this is an important
conversation and I would love to have you participate. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten,
thirty six one seven nine three, one, ten thirty. Coming
(19:11):
right back right after this on Night Side.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
With Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
All right, welcome back. My guess is Abbie Foster. She
is the vice president of an organization called the Retail
Advancement Energy League. We're talking about energy rates here in
Massachusetts and in New England for that matter, and maybe
even in New York and Pennsylvania and New Jersey anywhere
in the coldest part of the region. Are you familiar, Abby,
(19:41):
with the stated intention of the political leaders here in
Massachusetts to take down the mass energy rates dot com website.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah. So the legislation has been introduced for a few
years now in both the House and Senate that would
completely close the residential market and as a result of
of course, it would take down the energy switch at
a dot gov website and any others that let customers
shop easily.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
So my question is, I know most of these political leaders.
I've been doing this for a long time in Massachusetts.
I know Governor Healy very well. She's a very decent person.
I don't think she's an evil person. But I think
that these political leaders surround themselves with political constituencies that
(20:28):
aren't really functioning in the interest either of the political
leaders or the residents of the Koma. Why would they
anyone even think of taking down as something as successful
as this, which has allowed people over the last thirty
years to actually have an impact on how much they're
paying for energy. Is what motivation can you divine out
(20:51):
of that?
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Well?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I think it's particularly baffling in this time time of
energy prices in Massachusetts, so for example, in twenty twenty two,
National Grid went from twelve cents to thirty four cents.
I mean, if any time was a good time to
go tell customers to shop, that would have been the time.
There was really no excuse to be trying to close
(21:13):
down the market at that time, and then now still
customers and every single utility service territory can save money.
But all I know is what they've said, both in
media and in testimony. They've said that the volume of
complaints is just too much, there's too many customers that
are not having a good experience, and that customers don't
(21:34):
have the capacity to shop, it's too complicated of a process.
But we actually looked at the data on the Attorney
General's website on complaints filed against retail energy suppliers, and
in twenty twenty three there were ninety total out of
four hundred and eight thousand customers, so it was less
than one percent. By comparison, the utility industry had three
(21:55):
hundred and fifty, cable providers had two hundred, solar three
hundred and fifty. So it doesn't make sense that this
is the one industry that's being called for to close
down based on a number of complaints. And you yourself
have a first hand experience knowing that the process is
very simple if you just pay attention. And so the
other claim about customers not having the capacity or wherewithal
(22:16):
to be able to figure this out and benefit from it,
I also am a shopper, is I just I find
it unfair and not true.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
It almost seems to me that if if we were
to compare it, and if this comparison is unfair, please
tell me, But it almost seems to me that let's
assume we had a very fancy, high priced grocery chain
in Massachusetts, and I'm going to say something like Wegmans,
which is really a high quality chain and a little
(22:50):
bit more expensive to shop. And in Massachusetts we also
have another great grocery chain which I tend to shop
at whenever I have the opportunity called market Basket, where
you can go and find normal, everyday items at substantially
less prices, and market Basket happens to be the most
popular grocery chain in Massachusetts. When anyone, you know, surveys
(23:13):
the public and if all of a sudden there was
some sort of grocery chain commission here in Massachusetts and
they said, well, not everyone is able to go to
market Basket, or not everyone lives within you know, a
mile of market Basket. Therefore, we're going to stop people
from shopping at market Basket where they can save money,
(23:33):
and force them to only go to the grocery store,
which is going to cost them a little bit more money.
People would be up in arms over that. And what
will happen here in Massachusetts is this legislation is going
to sit there until sometime probably in August when everybody's
not paying attention, and they'll pass it and the governor
(23:55):
will sign it into law. And next next fall, when
people are looking for this your mass energy rates dot
com and that is the side, it'll be gone. And
it's so frustrating for me as somebody who has looked
at this. I don't have the expertise, the national expertise
(24:18):
that you have, but this is a no brainer. It's
not a close call. I just don't know how the
politicians are going to take this away, but I'm convinced
their intent is to take it away, and that they
will take it away. Tell me, please tell me I'm wrong.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
I wish I could, but you know what, You're not
wrong about being up in arms. We've heard from thousands
and thousands of customers across the state. We know of
over five thousand customers who have reached out to their legislators.
Every single legislator in Massachusetts has heard from their constituents saying,
do not take this away. I like the ability to shop.
But your analogy is spot on about the grocery shopping.
Everyone has different preferences, and actually Massachusetts customers that shop,
(24:58):
there's a higher percentage in this state than typically in
other states of those that choose premium and value added products,
so one hundred percent renewable or an electric vehicle charging plan.
And those customers want that, They're willing to pay more.
They know the value of it, and they should be
allowed to do that, But every year the Attorney General
comes out with a report that says, these customers are
(25:19):
all getting swindled, they're overpaying for their electricity. But they're
comparing all of those value add customers in green premium
programs and value add plans against the utility six month contract,
and so that data is represented in a certain way
to tell a certain story, and it's just not the
actual story of what's happening in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
So ways I might have been confused by that. You're
saying that the Attorney General has addressed the people who
are paying more for energy because they want to be
clean energy. So, for example, I get this in the
mail every month, Please switch to whatever the name of
the energy company is, and it'll it never tells you
what the price is, but it tells you that it
(25:57):
will be clean energy. It'll be wind and solar, and
you'll feel a lot better knowing that your energy is
clean and they don't tell you it's going to be
more expensive. Now, there are some people who realize that
and say, look, I'm making a statement and I am
prepared to pay more for that cleaner quote unquote cleaner
energy solar, wind, and maybe a little bit of hydro.
(26:20):
But that's a choice that person wants to make. Are
you telling me that the Attorney General is looking to
take away those choices? I don't think so.
Speaker 8 (26:28):
Yes, she is.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
It's closing the entire market. So anyone enrolled in one
hundred percent renewable electric vehicle plans, it's taking everything away.
So anything that is offered by a retail energy supplier
will no longer be available in the market. You will
only have your utility offer, and if you have municipal aggregation,
your aggregation offer as well.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
So who does that benefit? Because it would seem to
me that if any person who has said they want
just you know, quote unquote clean energy, solar energy, when
you know, if they say, I want a company that
gets all their energy from solar and from wind, I
wanted to be one hundred percent clean energy, that that
person has a point of view, and they're willing to
(27:08):
put their money where their mouth is, and they want
to pay a little bit extra or maybe a lot extra,
but they feel better about doing that. I don't understand
why that choice would be taken away from a person either, Dan.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
You asked the right question, So who would benefit? So
you always need to look at where the money, who benefits,
and where the money goes, and not every one of
the utilities has a green option for customers. National Grid
does have green power options that customers can choose from.
But it's interesting because there's only a few different types
of companies that buy the renewable energy certificates to sell
(27:44):
for the utility to make available to customers and to
give customers green options. And one of those entities is
actually the Green Energy Consumers Alliance and their for profit
arm in Massachusetts, and that is one of the loudest
advocates on market closure, alongside Thetorney General in the City
of Boston and Governor Healey when she was advocating loudly
on this as well.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So why would Green Energy Consortium they want people to
have to focus. Why would they join forces with the
progressive political leaders to take away options from people across Massachusetts.
That's against what they claimed therefore right.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Right, But they would like to be the only option
for green energy options. And I can't speak on their behalf,
but that is their business on their for profit side,
and that's who supplies the renewable energy certificates for National
Grid and for municipal aggregation programs for some REA.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Okay, so they then they then as a green energy option,
would in effect have a monopoly if all the other
green energy options on themass rates dot Com website were
taken away.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
That's right, it would certainly grow their share of the pie.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Okay, I got to take a break. I'm hoping that
we can get a few phone calls in here to
support what you're doing and drive people to your website
and drive people to mass Energy Rates dot Com. Ladies
and gentlemen, this is simple. This is very very simple.
There's not it doesn't take a lot of time. All
(29:24):
you have to do is go to the mass energy
it's called just basically the mass Energy rates Companny simpler
dot com. There's a couple of a couple of steps
you have to take, which is self explanatory. I mean
a four year old could do this. As a matter
of fact, four year olds could probably do this really
easily because they're much better on computers than a lot
(29:45):
of other people. And you sign up for whatever plan
you think is the best. They're basically they're all fixed plans,
which is important. You lock it in for a month,
for nine months, or six months, twelve months or twenty
four and you mark on your calendar. Okay, I got
a double check the my energy nine months or six
(30:06):
months or twenty four months ahead of time. And as
a matter of fact, I believe that these energy companies
are now obligated to send you a letter thirty days before.
And if I'm wrong here, Abby, please tell me they're
obligated to send me a letter or you a letter
thirty days and saying your rate with us is about
to expire thirty days from now, right or wrong on that?
Speaker 3 (30:29):
That's correct?
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Okay, So you not only should have a little note
on your calendar. You don't have to be a brain
surgeon or a rocket scientist to do that. And somehow
our political leaders want to take choice away and they
want to basically handcuff people so they have to pay
whatever rate is going to be imposed upon them. So
(30:52):
much for progressive politics. Well, take a break. We'll be
right back with my guest, Abby Foster. We are switching
topics at ten o'clock. So if you'd like to get
in and just add your voice to this and tell
your friends about this. This is actually something of reform
that is good. It will save you some money. It's insane.
(31:12):
Massachusetts is now I think insane if they take this
particular option away from its its citizenry. We'll be back
on Night Side. I got a couple of lines at
six one seven, nine three one ten thirty and one
at six one seven, two five four ten thirty.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
If you're on Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm Boston's
News Radio.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
My guest is Abby Foster. She's a vice president with
a group called the Retail Advancement Energy League. And we're
talking about choice. We're talking about options, uh and choice
and options which the politicians in Massachusetts are about to
take away, or they're trying to take away, and it
is I think it's obscene. Let me go to CG
(31:56):
and Cambridge first. CG, let me get you on here. Welcome,
welcome back, How are you very good?
Speaker 8 (32:02):
Thank you. I'll give be a couple of cock questions ahead,
please as meet your abbey. I'd like to know if
they're getting more rates higher, are they getting more tax money?
Speaker 2 (32:19):
I don't think tax money has much to do with this,
to be honest with you, but go ahead, go ahead, Abby,
I think I talked to O of you. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
No, we're both saying the same thing. There's there's not
a lot of overlap on the tax money, but there
is when there's a lot of the programs or additional
fees that are collected through the utility. It allows them
to what's called rate basic morse, they're allowed to increase
rates to collect those costs from you. But there's not
a lot on the on the taxes that get that
get pulled from this, but.
Speaker 8 (32:54):
It pushes their agenda all electrics are all renewable.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I don't think so. I really don't think so. I'll
see what Abby says that that cg's question, is their
agenda all renewable? I don't think so. I don't think so.
That we'll see what Abbey says. Go ahead, Abbey.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Massachusetts does have one of the highest renewable portfolio standards
in the country. So I noted before sixty three percent
of the electricity that the utility cells or the supplier
cells has to be from very specific renewable energy resources
within the state or region. And so that does increase costs.
And there has been a big push on electrification in
(33:35):
Massachusetts and on energy efficiency, and for those programs, there
is a line item in your electric bill that you
pay for to fund those programs. But all of that
is decided by the legislature, not by the utility. So
they're just collecting on the required programs that the legislature
has decided.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
The other thing, CG. Is this is almost the analogy
that I use, and I don't think it's wrong. If
they said to you, okay, c G, where do you shop?
And if you said to them, look, I like to
go to market Basket. If they said to you, well, CG,
you live in Cambridge and we want you to go
to Trader Joe's, and uh, if you said, well, gee,
there's products I can't get at Trader Joe's that I
(34:15):
need to get at market Basket, well you got you
can't go to market Basket, but you've got to go
to Trader Joe's or you know, some of the more
specialty stores. How would most people react to that?
Speaker 8 (34:26):
Do you think, Well, against the politicians are working against
the constituents of this state. They're looking at for the
rome boiled good whatever they want.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
I happen to agree with you. And again I'm not
trying to drag Abby into this part of the conversation,
but uh, we we are a state up here, which
is a pro choice state. Okay, we we believe that
people should be able to live their lives, uh, in
terms of their their choices, in terms of partners and
(34:58):
and spouses and on all all sorts of issues. We're
pro choice. But this is one pro choice item that
they want to take away from us, and they want
to say to us, they're going to diminish the options
that everyone has for electric supply charges. They want to
(35:19):
take that away, which was given to us by the state. Ironically,
and this is run by the state, which was intended
to keep the cost down. It is mystifying to me.
It is mystifying. CJ. Thank you so much. I appreciate
your call. Very good. Thank you, good good questions call
more often. Will let me go next to Jim, Jim,
(35:40):
I'm going to sneak in here for a couple of
minutes at the end of the hour. Go right ahead.
You're own with Abby Foster with the Retail Advancement Energy League.
Go ahead, Jim.
Speaker 9 (35:50):
Well, without knowing all the details, just generally speaking, it
sounds to me like as a function of the fact
that the government requires the mono, the regulated monopolies to
subject to regulation by a public utilities board, then they
aside from that regulation, they would have an obligation to
(36:13):
stay out of.
Speaker 7 (36:16):
Out of the game, I mean right, I mean they're
kind of like double dipping. That's what it sounds like
to me.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Abbe you want to unravel that.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
Yeah, So in a state that allows competition, where they
broke up the utility monopoly. In most of the states
except for Texas, the utility is still your default supplier.
So if you don't shop, if you don't make an
option proactively, you can still get your supply from your utility.
But they're that's not really a revenue generator for them.
(36:46):
They're purchasing from the market and making it available to customers.
But that's really why customers should be using the benefit
of their choice and going out there and looking for
the best option possible, because oftentimes the utility is not
the best option possible, and certainly not if you're looking
for cost savings. There are offers in every single utility
service territory below the utility rate six rate offers that
(37:07):
you could enroll in and save money.
Speaker 7 (37:09):
Okay, well, my mistake. I didn't know that Massachusetts has
went regulated. I know here in Missouri, uh.
Speaker 9 (37:17):
Whatever, whatever utility is providing electricity in your area, that's
who you buy it from, or else you don't get in.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Well you have you had that here you have. I
live in an area for my electricity where in the community.
If I only get it from ever source, I don't
have a choice. I can't go to another big supplier
ever source. However I can go on the supply issue.
I can't have a choice on distribution, But on the
supply issue, I can go to right now, clear View
(37:46):
Direct Energy, others, others, Constellation, and they want to take
that option away. And once competition is taken away, what
do you think the big energy companies are going to do?
Speaker 7 (37:58):
And I'm not trying to I'm not trying to start
an argument, just trying to.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Think you're not starting and all. I think we're singing
from the same song page. But unfortunately we're now flat
out of time. Thanks Jim, as always, I appreciate it,
Thank you much, Abby, thank you. How can folks get
more information? And again, I'm frankly disappointed that more people
aren't didn't call and support what we're trying to do,
because all we're trying to do is save people some money.
(38:25):
Other energy costs. Ye, but I think the politicians read
something like that and say people don't care. So if
that's what happens in Massachusetts, let the people deal with it.
How can folks get in touch with your group and
get more information?
Speaker 3 (38:37):
So real quick, I just have good news for that
last caller. There's actually legislation introduced in Missouri, but in
both the House and Senate, to break up the utility
monopoly and bring choice to that state. So you can
get ahold of us on our website and ask questions
about that Missouri caller. But if you want more information
about Massachusetts and to get involved, to tell your legislator
to protect your energy choice, go to support Energy Choice
(38:58):
dot com slash Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Support energy Choice dot com forward slash Massachusetts. Thanks so much.
I really do appreciate it, Abby, Thank you so much.
You're great spokesman, and I hope we can wake people
up here as simple as that. Thanks so much. Talking
about waking people up, we're gonna talk about getting asleep
on the other side of the hour, on the other
side of the ten o'clock news. Stay with us here
(39:23):
on nightside, wake up people
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBS cost In Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you very much, Al Griffith. As we moved through
this Friday evening, it's now nine oh seven, nine oh eight, Yeah,
something like that. I don't have what they call studio clocks,
you know, back when I'm in the control room back
in the day, you have these big studio clocks. They
aren't like down to the milliseconds, so you always know
exactly what it is. What time do you have, Rob,
(00:27):
I got nine oh seven. What do you got nine
o eight? Okay, me too, Yeah, we did just say ninaweight.
You're absolutely right. Look I'm looking at the clock right now,
nine oh eight in about six seconds. All right. Look,
we have talked on this program for many years about
the cost of energy here in New England. As a
matter of fact, we talked just this past week with
(00:49):
the former EPA director for Region one, Dave Cash, about
that very topic. And there's some factors that drive the
cost of energy here in the Northeast. We're kind of
at the end of a lot of pipelines. We come
from a part of the country where it turns cold
sometime in November and it stays cold well into maybe
April and early May, and so we still have a
(01:10):
few more weeks of winter even though the calendar says
it's spring. And so I discovered several years ago this
wonderful website here in Massachusetts. It's called energy Switch Massachusetts.
It's mass energy rates dot com. And believe it or not,
some of our progressive politicians in Massachusetts want to take
(01:33):
that website down. With me is Abbie Foster. She's the
vice president of policy and advocacy for a group called
the Retail Advancement Energy League called Real Abby, welcome back
to Nightside. How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I'm good, Dan, Thanks for having us again.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yep. Absolutely, You're always welcome here. And what I'm trying
to figure out is we've gone through a real I
don't know, first of all, if you're famil with, we've
had a bump and energy prices here in New England
and there are some reasons for that. Obviously, it was
a cold January and February, and it's been a relatively
(02:12):
cold March, not as bad, but energy prices have gone up.
The Department of Public Utilities in November gave the major
energy companies here in Massachusetts a very generous rate increases.
Are you familiar with the background to this story why
(02:33):
people up here are really feeling it this winter?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I am, And so we represent the suppliers where customers
can shop for the one portion of their bill where
they actually have options on the generation and supply. But
a lot of those costs that were increasing this winter,
or distribution costs, and that's not something customers can shock.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
For, right. No, I understand that. I understand this, you
know very clearly. But what happened was and just to
kind of set this up, we have three DPU commissioners
in Massachusetts. All of them should resign, okay, because in March,
when finally Governor Healey realized the scope of the problem
(03:13):
that people's bills had just literally gone through the roof,
she and her commissioners, I guess, asked the energy companies
up here, the main suppliers, which would be ever source
National Grid in UNITIL, to reduce energy prices the bills
(03:34):
in March and April by five percent, with the understanding
that they could recoup those five percent reductions during the
summer months when energy levels are lower with interest. So
it wasn't much of a break for the consumers. If
you get my drift, and the Governor when she talked
about it earlier this month, she was pretty proud of it. Okay,
(04:00):
so let me just play a little bit of Governor
Maura Healy just to make sure that we're in the
that we're both on the same page. And then I
want to talk specifically about what your group does and
I want to make people understand how they can get
their supply charges lower here in Massachusetts. So this is
Governor Healy touting her plans and cut number thirty four,
(04:30):
please rob cut thirty four.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Look around the country, Okay. People have seen their heating
mills go through the roof. Families are feeling it, businesses
are feeling it all around the country.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
I'm proud to be here today to tell you that
we're taking action as a state.
Speaker 6 (04:50):
Okay.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Several weeks ago, I charged my team.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
I said, what can we do to drive down people's
heating costs? Because people, especially the last month or two,
were absolutely flabbergasted by what they got in the mail.
And there are different reasons for that, but my goal
was to make sure we were exploring every single thing
that we could do as a state government, not as
(05:16):
a utility, but as a state government to drive down
people's bills.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Now, that's a forty nine second SoundBite, Abby, and there's
not a lot of specifics with that. But the governor
followed up and this is a shorter sound bite, which
again is kind of mystifying to me, but I want
you to hear the governor's words. First. This is cut
(05:44):
thirty three. Please Rob.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
We estimate that these steps, taken together, will save Massachusetts
residents five point eight billion dollars over the next five years.
Almost six billion dollars. We're going to save money back
to you over the next five years.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Still hasn't been explained to us how that's going to happen. However,
what did happen, Abbey, And I just want you to
understand that we've followed this story and it's been very frustrating.
So the governor instructed her staff to go to the
energy companies and give this five percent increase on the bill,
(06:25):
five percent, one out of twenty dollars. The DPU ordered
the companies reduce your rates by five percent on the
next bills in March and April. National Grid ever source
and I think Unitil as well said to the TPU
(06:45):
five percent. We'll reduce them by ten percent. It was insane,
but so so then the governor took credit for that.
And this is the last SoundBite, and then we'll talk
to you. I just want you to give you the
sense here the politicians talk about gas lighting. Here we
(07:06):
go cut thirty six rough.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Here's what I wanted to tell you.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
A few weeks ago, I told the Department of Public
Utilities to act to lower costs. After we pushed on that,
we got a ten percent cut for gas bills.
Speaker 6 (07:22):
In March and in April. We are glad about that.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Okay, so people are going to see ten percent off
starting March and April.
Speaker 6 (07:32):
But we're not stopping there.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
I also wanted to announce today, as part of our
energy affordability Agenda, a few things.
Speaker 6 (07:39):
First, we want to put cash back in people's pockets,
some immediate relief.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
So on April, in your electric bill, you will now
be getting a credit back of fifty dollars.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
I know that's not a ton of money compared to
what people have been.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Paying, but it is something. It is something, and every
dollar counts so abby.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
The point is, they asked the DPU commissioners, who are
appointed by the state, asked the major energy companies unitil At,
Eversas and National Grid to give them a five percent cut,
and the companies said, we'll do more than a five percent.
We'll give you a ten percent cut. And the government
(08:20):
has sort of taken credit for it. And by the way,
they're going to recoup that cut that cut. Is this
going on in other states around the Union? I feel
like it's it's it's a strange political game that that
were that we're being subjected to. Or am I am
I just too cynical?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
You're not too cynical. I think I think it's really
good for you to look at when someone says that
there's a free meal, who's paying for it? And see
where where it's coming from.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm famil I am familiar with the acronym ton staffel.
You're familiar with that acronym, are you not? Don Staffel?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Tell me about it.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. That's
time STI I think they go, oh, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I think it's I think it's good for people to
want to understand that we haven't seen the legislation truly
that's coming from the Affordability initiative that the governor has announced,
but from what has been introduced to discuss so far,
there's really no actual savings that we've seen that can
come to customers that aren't coming from other customers or
(09:27):
other programs that are customer funded and so or have
to be reimbursed later, and so it's not truly a discount.
One of the benefits of having options to shop is
when the rates are changing and you have enrolled in
a fixed rate contract. If the market is volatile, our
prices are going up. The person who loses their shirt
is a supplier because they've offered you a fixed rate.
(09:50):
And so the only way to really save in a
market like this when you have competition is to use
competition to your benefit. Look at your options, choose your
lowest fixed rate offer, and enroll in that. And unfortunately,
we've tried to talk about education and the need for
that in Massachusetts, but there hasn't been much done on
the state's part to inform customers of their options and
how to leverage competition in the market to work for
(10:12):
them to save money.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Well, here's the deal. In Massachusetts. The governor and the
Attorney General want to take down the energy switch, the
mass Energy rate site. I'm not sure if you're aware
of that or not, but the site here in Massachusetts,
and if anyone out there is sitting in front of
their computer, all they have to do if they want
(10:36):
to understand what I'm talking about is go to mass
energy rates dot Com. And this was a reform that
was put in about thirty years ago here in Massachusetts.
And it's pretty simple. I'm on the site right now.
All you have to do mass Energy rates dot Com.
(10:59):
You select you utility, whether it's National Grid, ever Source
or UNITIL. In my case it's ever Source, is who
I get my electricity from, and then it says select
your account type and there's three choices residential, commercial, large commercial,
obviously we're talking residential. And at that point they ask
(11:19):
you to view the rates and you now have a
plethora of rates, you know, some nine months, some six months,
some twenty four months, some twelve months, all sorts of
different rates, and they also tell you what the current
ever source residential rate is. So the ever source rate
has actually has actually come down a little bit, which
(11:43):
I'm very happy to see, but there that has also
driven down the rates of some I'm with Constellation Energy
and it's down to eleven point nineteen cents. So this
mass energy rates website is forcing the rates down, and
(12:04):
yet our governor and our Attorney general wants to take
this energy rates site down. Are you aware of that?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
I am, And it's unfortunately it's not just even taking
the site down, it's actually closing the market so that
suppliers these offers that you're looking at, Constellation for example,
that you're enrolled with, they would no longer be able
to sell electricity to customers and operate in the market,
and so customers would only have the utility to buy
their supply from, or if they have municipal aggregation in
their town, they would only have that as the option,
(12:35):
and that.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
Would be it.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Well, we're going to try to explain that and make
people understand that the that this this this mass energy
rates forcing is actually forcing ever source in national grid
to become more competitive, which is which is a good thing.
My guest is Abby Foster. Abby is a vice president
(12:59):
of Policy and Advocacy for the Retail Advancement Energy League.
If you have any question about energy, feel free to
join our conversation six one, seven, two, five, four, ten,
thirty six, one, seven, nine three one, ten thirty. Now again,
you may have parents who are older than you who
might not be as comfortable with computers as you are,
So this is something you want to make sure your
(13:20):
parents are aware of as well or your grandparents, and
everybody should be aware of it. It's as simple as that.
We're going to take a break. I'm going to be
back with Abby Foster, vice president of Policy and Advocacy
for the Retail Advancement Energy League, talking about mass energy
rates dot com and why we need to have that
(13:41):
in my opinion, and keep it and not allow the
politicians to take away something that actually helps us save money.
Back on Nightside right after.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
This, you're on night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
We're talking about energy rates in Massachusetts gas electric. All
of us rely on that here in a cool weather
part of the country. Our political leaders here have often
fought against extensions of natural gas pipelines into New England.
Why have our leaders not been welcoming to the idea
(14:19):
of more natural gas pipelines? Abby?
Speaker 3 (14:21):
In your opinion, oh man, Well, in New England, I
think a lot of the legislators the renewable energy standards
have always been a priority. Unfortunately, there's not a lot
of generation in state in the New England states, and
there's small states. There's not a lot of geographical area
(14:42):
for what's necessary to hit the renewable portfolio standard goals
for wind and full or things like that. And right
now you just don't have enough of the energy to
balance out intermittent resources that don't aren't available all the
time when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing,
and so you still need that kind of backup energy.
And so you know, those are political decisions and people
(15:04):
have voted for those political officers to be in office,
and that's, you know, the will of the people.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I may ask you some questions that you don't know
the answer to it, and I'm not looking for specific answers,
but are the rates the energy rates here in New
England generally obviously different parts of the country During the winter,
obviously probably the energy rates in places like Arizona are
not exorbitant because they don't have the cold weather in
(15:30):
most parts of Arizona that we have in the summertime,
they may have rates higher because they have to rely
on air conditioning, but as a whole how would you
say that the cost of energy of heating your home
or providing electricity in your home in New England compares
to other parts of the country.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Massachusetts have some of the highest electric rates in the country.
Some of that is related to, as I noted, the
renewable portfolio standards, so also one of the highest in
the country in Massachusetts. Forever amount of every bit of
electricity that you get, whether it's supplied by the utility
or the supplier, sixty three percent of that has to
come from certain renewable energy sources located within New England.
Speaker 7 (16:10):
And then we.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Actually just did this past week an education event at
the Capitol at the State House with Bob Rio who
developed a platform called What's in My Electric Bill that
looks at what are the different parts of your electric
bill and what is on your electric bill and why
you're being charged at whether it was caused by legislation
being passed, or whether it's distribution costs from the utility
(16:32):
for the polls and wires or for the supply from
your supplier. And almost a third of your electric bill
comes from policy decisions, So the legislature passing something to
require the funding for electric vehicle programs, energy efficiency extra
programs that are required to be added to your bill.
But again, you know you've you've elected those elected officials.
(16:53):
They're acting on your behalf, and so if you have
any concerns about that, you should reach out to them and.
Speaker 7 (16:57):
Let them know.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Right. But the elected officials in Massachusetts are almost uniformally unresponsive.
We have a state Senate which is eighty percent democratic.
We have a state House, which is a House of Representatives,
which is about eighty percent democratic. The Republicans are they're
not even competitive minorities. I mean to be a competitive
(17:21):
minority every once in a while. I mean in the
US Senate, for example, I think most people know it's
fifty three forty seven, and that's on some issues that
can be really competitive. And the Republicans, even though they're
in the majority, have to make some form of compromise
or concessions. Up here, No compromise, no concessions, And we
tend to just return people to office time election after
(17:47):
election after election. Why do the political leaders, and I'm
talking now about the governor and the attorney general want
to take down this site, the mass energy rates site.
I assume you're familiar with that, and I want to
take a break for news, but i'd like to get
your response on that on the other side, and also
(18:07):
get some phone calls from my listeners as to what
they specifically need to do to maybe get these energy
bills down a little bit. I hope you'll be able
to respond to some of those questions. So if you
can stay with us to a newscast Abby at the
bottom of the ar, we'll be right back in about
four minutes. Okay, great, Okay, Back with Abbie Foster. She's
(18:29):
vice president of the Retail Advancement Energy League, which is
working very hard to keep your energy prices down. The
cost that you pay every month for whatever energy you have. Now,
if you're living in a home that doesn't have electricity
and you're lighting by candles, good luck. If you're living
in a house that is you're not using heat and
(18:50):
you're only using you know, burning wood in a fireplace,
there aren't many of you who are doing that. Most
of us are paying electric and natural gas bills or
some form bill every month. And this is an important
conversation and I would love to have you participate. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten,
thirty six one seven nine three, one, ten thirty. Coming
(19:11):
right back right after this on Night Side.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
With Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
All right, welcome back. My guess is Abbie Foster. She
is the vice president of an organization called the Retail
Advancement Energy League. We're talking about energy rates here in
Massachusetts and in New England for that matter, and maybe
even in New York and Pennsylvania and New Jersey anywhere
in the coldest part of the region. Are you familiar, Abby,
(19:41):
with the stated intention of the political leaders here in
Massachusetts to take down the mass energy rates dot com website.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah. So the legislation has been introduced for a few
years now in both the House and Senate that would
completely close the residential market and as a result of
of course, it would take down the energy switch at
a dot gov website and any others that let customers
shop easily.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
So my question is, I know most of these political leaders.
I've been doing this for a long time in Massachusetts.
I know Governor Healy very well. She's a very decent person.
I don't think she's an evil person. But I think
that these political leaders surround themselves with political constituencies that
(20:28):
aren't really functioning in the interest either of the political
leaders or the residents of the Koma. Why would they
anyone even think of taking down as something as successful
as this, which has allowed people over the last thirty
years to actually have an impact on how much they're
paying for energy. Is what motivation can you divine out
(20:51):
of that?
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Well?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I think it's particularly baffling in this time time of
energy prices in Massachusetts, so for example, in twenty twenty two,
National Grid went from twelve cents to thirty four cents.
I mean, if any time was a good time to
go tell customers to shop, that would have been the time.
There was really no excuse to be trying to close
(21:13):
down the market at that time, and then now still
customers and every single utility service territory can save money.
But all I know is what they've said, both in
media and in testimony. They've said that the volume of
complaints is just too much, there's too many customers that
are not having a good experience, and that customers don't
(21:34):
have the capacity to shop, it's too complicated of a process.
But we actually looked at the data on the Attorney
General's website on complaints filed against retail energy suppliers, and
in twenty twenty three there were ninety total out of
four hundred and eight thousand customers, so it was less
than one percent. By comparison, the utility industry had three
(21:55):
hundred and fifty, cable providers had two hundred, solar three
hundred and fifty. So it doesn't make sense that this
is the one industry that's being called for to close
down based on a number of complaints. And you yourself
have a first hand experience knowing that the process is
very simple if you just pay attention. And so the
other claim about customers not having the capacity or wherewithal
(22:16):
to be able to figure this out and benefit from it,
I also am a shopper, is I just I find
it unfair and not true.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
It almost seems to me that if if we were
to compare it, and if this comparison is unfair, please
tell me, But it almost seems to me that let's
assume we had a very fancy, high priced grocery chain
in Massachusetts, and I'm going to say something like Wegmans,
which is really a high quality chain and a little
(22:50):
bit more expensive to shop. And in Massachusetts we also
have another great grocery chain which I tend to shop
at whenever I have the opportunity called market Basket, where
you can go and find normal, everyday items at substantially
less prices, and market Basket happens to be the most
popular grocery chain in Massachusetts. When anyone, you know, surveys
(23:13):
the public and if all of a sudden there was
some sort of grocery chain commission here in Massachusetts and
they said, well, not everyone is able to go to
market Basket, or not everyone lives within you know, a
mile of market Basket. Therefore, we're going to stop people
from shopping at market Basket where they can save money,
(23:33):
and force them to only go to the grocery store,
which is going to cost them a little bit more money.
People would be up in arms over that. And what
will happen here in Massachusetts is this legislation is going
to sit there until sometime probably in August when everybody's
not paying attention, and they'll pass it and the governor
(23:55):
will sign it into law. And next next fall, when
people are looking for this your mass energy rates dot
com and that is the side, it'll be gone. And
it's so frustrating for me as somebody who has looked
at this. I don't have the expertise, the national expertise
(24:18):
that you have, but this is a no brainer. It's
not a close call. I just don't know how the
politicians are going to take this away, but I'm convinced
their intent is to take it away, and that they
will take it away. Tell me, please tell me I'm wrong.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
I wish I could, but you know what, You're not
wrong about being up in arms. We've heard from thousands
and thousands of customers across the state. We know of
over five thousand customers who have reached out to their legislators.
Every single legislator in Massachusetts has heard from their constituents saying,
do not take this away. I like the ability to shop.
But your analogy is spot on about the grocery shopping.
Everyone has different preferences, and actually Massachusetts customers that shop,
(24:58):
there's a higher percentage in this state than typically in
other states of those that choose premium and value added products,
so one hundred percent renewable or an electric vehicle charging plan.
And those customers want that, They're willing to pay more.
They know the value of it, and they should be
allowed to do that, But every year the Attorney General
comes out with a report that says, these customers are
(25:19):
all getting swindled, they're overpaying for their electricity. But they're
comparing all of those value add customers in green premium
programs and value add plans against the utility six month contract,
and so that data is represented in a certain way
to tell a certain story, and it's just not the
actual story of what's happening in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
So ways I might have been confused by that. You're
saying that the Attorney General has addressed the people who
are paying more for energy because they want to be
clean energy. So, for example, I get this in the
mail every month, Please switch to whatever the name of
the energy company is, and it'll it never tells you
what the price is, but it tells you that it
(25:57):
will be clean energy. It'll be wind and solar, and
you'll feel a lot better knowing that your energy is
clean and they don't tell you it's going to be
more expensive. Now, there are some people who realize that
and say, look, I'm making a statement and I am
prepared to pay more for that cleaner quote unquote cleaner
energy solar, wind, and maybe a little bit of hydro.
(26:20):
But that's a choice that person wants to make. Are
you telling me that the Attorney General is looking to
take away those choices? I don't think so.
Speaker 8 (26:28):
Yes, she is.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
It's closing the entire market. So anyone enrolled in one
hundred percent renewable electric vehicle plans, it's taking everything away.
So anything that is offered by a retail energy supplier
will no longer be available in the market. You will
only have your utility offer, and if you have municipal aggregation,
your aggregation offer as well.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
So who does that benefit? Because it would seem to
me that if any person who has said they want
just you know, quote unquote clean energy, solar energy, when
you know, if they say, I want a company that
gets all their energy from solar and from wind, I
wanted to be one hundred percent clean energy, that that
person has a point of view, and they're willing to
(27:08):
put their money where their mouth is, and they want
to pay a little bit extra or maybe a lot extra,
but they feel better about doing that. I don't understand
why that choice would be taken away from a person either, Dan.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
You asked the right question, So who would benefit? So
you always need to look at where the money, who benefits,
and where the money goes, and not every one of
the utilities has a green option for customers. National Grid
does have green power options that customers can choose from.
But it's interesting because there's only a few different types
of companies that buy the renewable energy certificates to sell
(27:44):
for the utility to make available to customers and to
give customers green options. And one of those entities is
actually the Green Energy Consumers Alliance and their for profit
arm in Massachusetts, and that is one of the loudest
advocates on market closure, alongside Thetorney General in the City
of Boston and Governor Healey when she was advocating loudly
on this as well.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
So why would Green Energy Consortium they want people to
have to focus. Why would they join forces with the
progressive political leaders to take away options from people across Massachusetts.
That's against what they claimed therefore right.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Right, But they would like to be the only option
for green energy options. And I can't speak on their behalf,
but that is their business on their for profit side,
and that's who supplies the renewable energy certificates for National
Grid and for municipal aggregation programs for some REA.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Okay, so they then they then as a green energy option,
would in effect have a monopoly if all the other
green energy options on themass rates dot Com website were
taken away.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
That's right, it would certainly grow their share of the pie.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Okay, I got to take a break. I'm hoping that
we can get a few phone calls in here to
support what you're doing and drive people to your website
and drive people to mass Energy Rates dot Com. Ladies
and gentlemen, this is simple. This is very very simple.
There's not it doesn't take a lot of time. All
(29:24):
you have to do is go to the mass energy
it's called just basically the mass Energy rates Companny simpler
dot com. There's a couple of a couple of steps
you have to take, which is self explanatory. I mean
a four year old could do this. As a matter
of fact, four year olds could probably do this really
easily because they're much better on computers than a lot
(29:45):
of other people. And you sign up for whatever plan
you think is the best. They're basically they're all fixed plans,
which is important. You lock it in for a month,
for nine months, or six months, twelve months or twenty
four and you mark on your calendar. Okay, I got
a double check the my energy nine months or six
(30:06):
months or twenty four months ahead of time. And as
a matter of fact, I believe that these energy companies
are now obligated to send you a letter thirty days before.
And if I'm wrong here, Abby, please tell me they're
obligated to send me a letter or you a letter
thirty days and saying your rate with us is about
to expire thirty days from now, right or wrong on that?
Speaker 3 (30:29):
That's correct?
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Okay, So you not only should have a little note
on your calendar. You don't have to be a brain
surgeon or a rocket scientist to do that. And somehow
our political leaders want to take choice away and they
want to basically handcuff people so they have to pay
whatever rate is going to be imposed upon them. So
(30:52):
much for progressive politics. Well, take a break. We'll be
right back with my guest, Abby Foster. We are switching
topics at ten o'clock. So if you'd like to get
in and just add your voice to this and tell
your friends about this. This is actually something of reform
that is good. It will save you some money. It's insane.
(31:12):
Massachusetts is now I think insane if they take this
particular option away from its its citizenry. We'll be back
on Night Side. I got a couple of lines at
six one seven, nine three one ten thirty and one
at six one seven, two five four ten thirty.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
If you're on Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm Boston's
News Radio.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
My guest is Abby Foster. She's a vice president with
a group called the Retail Advancement Energy League. And we're
talking about choice. We're talking about options, uh and choice
and options which the politicians in Massachusetts are about to
take away, or they're trying to take away, and it
is I think it's obscene. Let me go to CG
(31:56):
and Cambridge first. CG, let me get you on here. Welcome,
welcome back, How are you very good?
Speaker 8 (32:02):
Thank you. I'll give be a couple of cock questions ahead,
please as meet your abbey. I'd like to know if
they're getting more rates higher, are they getting more tax money?
Speaker 2 (32:19):
I don't think tax money has much to do with this,
to be honest with you, but go ahead, go ahead, Abby,
I think I talked to O of you. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
No, we're both saying the same thing. There's there's not
a lot of overlap on the tax money, but there
is when there's a lot of the programs or additional
fees that are collected through the utility. It allows them
to what's called rate basic morse, they're allowed to increase
rates to collect those costs from you. But there's not
a lot on the on the taxes that get that
get pulled from this, but.
Speaker 8 (32:54):
It pushes their agenda all electrics are all renewable.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
I don't think so. I really don't think so. I'll
see what Abby says that that cg's question, is their
agenda all renewable? I don't think so. I don't think so.
That we'll see what Abbey says. Go ahead, Abbey.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Massachusetts does have one of the highest renewable portfolio standards
in the country. So I noted before sixty three percent
of the electricity that the utility cells or the supplier
cells has to be from very specific renewable energy resources
within the state or region. And so that does increase costs.
And there has been a big push on electrification in
(33:35):
Massachusetts and on energy efficiency, and for those programs, there
is a line item in your electric bill that you
pay for to fund those programs. But all of that
is decided by the legislature, not by the utility. So
they're just collecting on the required programs that the legislature
has decided.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
The other thing, CG. Is this is almost the analogy
that I use, and I don't think it's wrong. If
they said to you, okay, c G, where do you shop?
And if you said to them, look, I like to
go to market Basket. If they said to you, well, CG,
you live in Cambridge and we want you to go
to Trader Joe's, and uh, if you said, well, gee,
there's products I can't get at Trader Joe's that I
(34:15):
need to get at market Basket, well you got you
can't go to market Basket, but you've got to go
to Trader Joe's or you know, some of the more
specialty stores. How would most people react to that?
Speaker 8 (34:26):
Do you think, Well, against the politicians are working against
the constituents of this state. They're looking at for the
rome boiled good whatever they want.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
I happen to agree with you. And again I'm not
trying to drag Abby into this part of the conversation,
but uh, we we are a state up here, which
is a pro choice state. Okay, we we believe that
people should be able to live their lives, uh, in
terms of their their choices, in terms of partners and
(34:58):
and spouses and on all all sorts of issues. We're
pro choice. But this is one pro choice item that
they want to take away from us, and they want
to say to us, they're going to diminish the options
that everyone has for electric supply charges. They want to
(35:19):
take that away, which was given to us by the state. Ironically,
and this is run by the state, which was intended
to keep the cost down. It is mystifying to me.
It is mystifying. CJ. Thank you so much. I appreciate
your call. Very good. Thank you, good good questions call
more often. Will let me go next to Jim, Jim,
(35:40):
I'm going to sneak in here for a couple of
minutes at the end of the hour. Go right ahead.
You're own with Abby Foster with the Retail Advancement Energy League.
Go ahead, Jim.
Speaker 9 (35:50):
Well, without knowing all the details, just generally speaking, it
sounds to me like as a function of the fact
that the government requires the mono, the regulated monopolies to
subject to regulation by a public utilities board, then they
aside from that regulation, they would have an obligation to
(36:13):
stay out of.
Speaker 7 (36:16):
Out of the game, I mean right, I mean they're
kind of like double dipping. That's what it sounds like
to me.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Abbe you want to unravel that.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
Yeah, So in a state that allows competition, where they
broke up the utility monopoly. In most of the states
except for Texas, the utility is still your default supplier.
So if you don't shop, if you don't make an
option proactively, you can still get your supply from your utility.
But they're that's not really a revenue generator for them.
(36:46):
They're purchasing from the market and making it available to customers.
But that's really why customers should be using the benefit
of their choice and going out there and looking for
the best option possible, because oftentimes the utility is not
the best option possible, and certainly not if you're looking
for cost savings. There are offers in every single utility
service territory below the utility rate six rate offers that
(37:07):
you could enroll in and save money.
Speaker 7 (37:09):
Okay, well, my mistake. I didn't know that Massachusetts has
went regulated. I know here in Missouri, uh.
Speaker 9 (37:17):
Whatever, whatever utility is providing electricity in your area, that's
who you buy it from, or else you don't get in.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Well you have you had that here you have. I
live in an area for my electricity where in the community.
If I only get it from ever source, I don't
have a choice. I can't go to another big supplier
ever source. However I can go on the supply issue.
I can't have a choice on distribution, But on the
supply issue, I can go to right now, clear View
(37:46):
Direct Energy, others, others, Constellation, and they want to take
that option away. And once competition is taken away, what
do you think the big energy companies are going to do?
Speaker 7 (37:58):
And I'm not trying to I'm not trying to start
an argument, just trying to.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Think you're not starting and all. I think we're singing
from the same song page. But unfortunately we're now flat
out of time. Thanks Jim, as always, I appreciate it,
Thank you much, Abby, thank you. How can folks get
more information? And again, I'm frankly disappointed that more people
aren't didn't call and support what we're trying to do,
because all we're trying to do is save people some money.
(38:25):
Other energy costs. Ye, but I think the politicians read
something like that and say people don't care. So if
that's what happens in Massachusetts, let the people deal with it.
How can folks get in touch with your group and
get more information?
Speaker 3 (38:37):
So real quick, I just have good news for that
last caller. There's actually legislation introduced in Missouri, but in
both the House and Senate, to break up the utility
monopoly and bring choice to that state. So you can
get ahold of us on our website and ask questions
about that Missouri caller. But if you want more information
about Massachusetts and to get involved, to tell your legislator
to protect your energy choice, go to support Energy Choice
(38:58):
dot com slash Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Support energy Choice dot com forward slash Massachusetts. Thanks so much.
I really do appreciate it, Abby, Thank you so much.
You're great spokesman, and I hope we can wake people
up here as simple as that. Thanks so much. Talking
about waking people up, we're gonna talk about getting asleep
on the other side of the hour, on the other
side of the ten o'clock news. Stay with us here
(39:23):
on nightside, wake up people
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