Clean Energy Campaign

Green Decade/Cambridge is concentrating on promoting New England Wind with its matching grant program, Clean Energy Choice, which is hard to beat if you are looking for a way to support new renewable, clean power.  For every $25 of tax-deductible New England Wind purchased by Cambridge residents and businesses, Cambridge receives a matching grant of $25, and another $25 goes to retrofit low income housing.

We need all supporters of a renewable energy future;

please join the clean energy revolution now and

be a power pioneer!

1) If you have not already done so, please purchase New England Wind.  You can go directly to www.cleanenergychoice.org to learn more about the program and to purchase New England Wind, a product offered by Mass Energy Consumers Alliance.  There is more information attached below.  Don't wait!

2) If you know of a business or group in Cambridge that you think would be interested in supporting clean power, please send us a recommendation at gdc@greencambridge.org.  We are approaching businesses to be "clean power pioneers", and we've been finding a great deal of interest in this issue among those we've already contacted. 

3) If your Cambridge business, school or neighborhood group would like to invite a speaker from Green Decade/Cambridge to discuss the city’s climate initiatives, please send us a request at gdc@greencambridge.org.  We are also available for setting up informational tables at related events.

Together, we can all help raise sufficient funds for new renewable installations at Cambridge sites and help raise awareness for clean power.

SUPPORT CLEAN POWER WITH A TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION THAT IS MATCHED 2:1 BY THE STATE AND JOIN THE 20% BY 2010 CAMBRIDGE CAMPAIGN

Cambridge residents and businesses can support renewable energy, earn grant dollars for the City, and get a tax deduction at the same time. The source of all these benefits is Clean Energy Choice , a new program from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). Visit www.CleanEnergyChoice.org to sign up for New England Wind, to learn more and to view the list of items that communities can purchase with MTC matching grants.

Clean Energy Choice offers communities a way to help create a healthier, more diverse electricity supply that comes from the sun, wind, and plant matter. Anyone can participate by choosing to pay to support the development of new renewable resources. Clean Energy Choice participants will help to:

• Reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and increase energy independence

• Support renewable energy industry jobs

• Earn grants for their community and for low-income residents.

Cambridge residents and businesses can choose to pay for New England Wind, a 100% clean energy option offered by the Mass. Energy Consumers Alliance, a local nonprofit. New England Wind is sold for a one-time minimum $25 fee. For each dollar paid for New England Wind, MTC will provide two dollars in matching grants: • One dollar for renewable energy projects in Cambridge, such as solar panels on schools. • One dollar for energy efficiency and renewable projects for low-income residents.

In addition, New England Wind is 100% deductible from an individual’s federal income tax return when he/ she itemizes. Here’s how payments for New England Wind support the development of renewable energy. The payments are used by Mass. Energy Consumers Alliance to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates or “RECs”. By purchasing local  “new” RECs you help create a greater demand for renewable electricity and, by doing so, increase the likelihood that new renewable facilities will be built. 

The baroque electrical power system (or read further for the messy details): A renewable energy facility sells two things, electricity and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). RECs are often sold separately from the electricity and are purchased by utilities to help them meet legal requirements to “produce” renewable power. A new REC is associated with electricity generated by a facility built after 1997, as defined by Massachusetts law. This same law requires all utilities to purchase enough new RECs to match 1.5% of the load they deliver. Because of the 1.5% requirement and the limited number of renewable energy facilities in New England, new RECs are currently in short supply.

When consumers pay for New England Wind, they are helping purchase some of these scarce new RECs and take them out of circulation. Under current Massachusetts law, there are two potential ways that increased demand can help increase our renewable energy supply: • New renewable energy facilities are built, or existing facilities are expanded, to meet increased demand. • Utilities, that can’t find new RECs to buy, make a mandated payment into a State fund that supports renewable energy development.