As the new home of MASSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Massachusetts can be contacted regarding this news release.
BOSTON—At
a meeting today in the State House, the Legislature’s Ways and Means
Committee recommended passage of a bill that would make common
household and commercial appliances in Massachusetts more
energy-efficient, cutting utility bills for customers throughout the
state. The committee’s action marks a crucial step toward passage of
the bill into law. Environmental and consumer advocates hailed the
committee’s action and praised committee members for their work on the
bill.
“This
bill is good for consumers, good for business, and good for the
environment,” said Frank Gorke, Energy Advocate for the Massachusetts
Public Interest Research Group, or MASSPIRG. “All of the legislators
involved, deserve thanks for their foresight and leadership in
advancing this important energy- and money-saving measure.”
The
bill, filed and championed by Representative Matt Patrick of Falmouth
and Senator Robert O’Leary of the Cape and Islands, would make common
appliances like traffic signals, commercial washing machines, home
furnaces and boilers, and several other products more energy efficient,
cutting energy bills in the commonwealth by almost $1 billion between
now and 2030. The bill would also reduce the threat of brownouts and
blackouts by lowering demand on the electricity grid, and has support
from two of the region’s biggest utilities, Massachusetts Electric and
KeySpan.
"Heating
costs hit record highs last winter, and the time is ripe to reduce home
heating bills," said Charlie Harak, an attorney for the National
Consumer Law Center who represents low-income energy users. "This bill
is very good for low-income utility customers, especially because of
the efficiency standard for home furnaces and boilers. The bill will
produce significant savings for people who already spend a huge portion
of their incomes on heating their homes."
"With
every day that passes we see more evidence of the need for states to
act to help their residents and businesses cope with higher and higher
energy prices," said Susan Coakley, executive director of
Lexington-based Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), which
is coordinating the effort to promote new appliance efficiency
standards in 10 Northeast states.
Currently
there are federal efficiency standards for a number of products on the
market, like refrigerators and residential air conditioners. But the
federal program has not kept pace with technology, so several states
are taking the lead and passing bills that would set state appliance
efficiency standards to guarantee residents will save money on their
electricity bills. The bill is expected to be sent to the House.
"This
bill is a small step for Massachusetts down the road to an energy
efficient economy," said Rep. Matt Patrick (D, Falmouth). “This
legislation offers enormous environmental and economic benefits to the
citizens of the Commonwealth by taking the relatively painless step of
promoting energy efficiency standards,” said Senator O’Leary. “I am
hopeful that we will see passage of this important legislation within
this year.”
