Grid operator targeted in Healey’s clean-energy push
BOSTON — Attorney General Maura Healey is stepping up her advocacy for clean energy, launching a website where she hopes ratepayers will sign a petition encouraging the region’s electric grid operator to set rules that support clean energy resources.
Healey is urging ratepayers to sign the petition because ISO-New England “makes the rules for buying and selling energy, which affect what types of energy power our state.” Her office asserts that current rules “prop up older, dirtier, and more expensive energy resources and make it harder for new, cleaner resources” to make their way to market.
A video on her new site, which is available in Spanish and Portuguese, is designed to educate people about public health and economic costs of fossil fuel usage, according to Healey’s office.
In a Nov. 21 letter to New England U.S. senators, ISO-New England President and CEO Gordon van Welie said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has directed his organization to file changes to the region’s wholesale energy markets by April 12, 2020, to address the region’s energy security challenges.
“Our work on energy security is a critical component to maintaining reliable operations with a power system that is energy constrained at times and to support a future with greater levels of renewable energy,” van Welie wrote.
Healey’s office, which is the state’s official ratepayer advocate in regulatory circles, said a Barr Foundation grant made the site launch possible.
Shape Massachusetts' Clean Energy Future
We can combat climate change with affordable clean energy.
The Attorney General’s Office represents electricity users like you before ISO New England, the organization that makes the rules for buying and selling energy in New England. Those rules play a major role in shaping Massachusetts’ energy future and our ability to fight climate change.
How can I make a difference?
The Attorney General’s Office represents electricity users like you before ISO New England.
Make your voice heard. Tell ISO New England that you want market rules to promote affordable clean energy, healthy communities, and climate protection. Sign the petition here.
What is the “energy system”?
Everything you do – from turning on the lights, to heating your home and fueling your car – requires energy. We meet many of our energy needs with electricity. Electricity flows to our homes and businesses over a large network of wires. That network connects electricity users, like you, with electricity generators, such as power plants, wind farms, and solar energy facilities. The whole system is also known as the “electric grid.”
What is ISO New England?
Keeping electricity flowing across Massachusetts requires a lot of coordination.
Independent system operators (or “ISOs”) are independent, not-for-profit organizations that manage, monitor, and plan the day-to-day operations of regional energy systems.
ISO New England is the system operator for the New England region, which includes Massachusetts, as well as Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and most of Maine.
ISO New England makes the rules for buying and selling energy in New England. Those rules affect what types of energy power our energy system.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent federal agency, regulates and oversees ISO New England’s activities.
Where does our electricity come from?
Fossil fuels such as gas and oil have historically been used to generate much of New England’s electricity. But cleaner, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are rapidly growing in our region.
Whether our energy system uses clean energy or fossil fuels matters. Dirty fossil fuels cost Massachusetts residents more in pollution, health harms, and climate impacts.
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