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The The Better Not Bigger Alliance Energy Platform

The implementation of a truly sustainable energy plan is vital to the long-term sustainability of the Commonwealth. Massachusetts has one of the biggest advantages of any state in the nation, a stable population coupled with a thriving economy. This allows us to focus on becoming a better state, instead of a bigger state. Without a sharply rising population, our energy needs can be met for decades through simple energy planning. Allowing more alternative energies into the system, along with using new technology to effectively manage our current energy supply, will drastically decrease our demand for power.

ISO-New England, the company responsible for evaluating and managing the power usage for the entire New England Region, has released several reports with some very encouraging findings. They found that through conservation efforts, power consumption fell 2% in 2008. They have also found that we have a 12% energy surplus in our region. There is only one hurdle standing in the way of managing our vast energy resources; an aging power grid. Currently, between 6%-8% of the region’s energy supply is lost during transmission. If we were to upgrade the Northeast Power Grid, coupled with the decrease in demand, we would not need another power plant for decades.

Currently, the state is subsidizing alternative energy power plants across the state. This means the state pays these plants NOT to generate electricity. There are so many fossil-fuel and polluting power plants, that there is no room on the power grid for more energy. But Massachusetts needs to claim it has alternative energy resources. By giving money to the alternative sources, they are able to stay open and operational, even if they are not actually contributing energy to the power grid. Meanwhile, the state gets to claim that it has a certain percentage of alternative power capacity. Updating the power grid would give allow more capacity and therefore allow these alternative power options to come onto the market. While a lower demand and an energy surplus certainly curb the need for future power plants, an updated power grid and increased flow of alternative power virtually guarantee the lack of need.

Without a need for new power plants, New England and specifically Massachusetts would have a stable, sustainable energy policy: safe, protected and efficient. Acknowledging that an aging grid is a huge hurdle for a sustainable energy policy, The Better Not Bigger Alliance has published a white paper detailing the benefits, costs, and cost savings of such an upgrade. The report, entitled The Benefits of Upgrading the Northeast Electrical Grid: Putting Massachusetts on a Path to a Sensible Energy Policy, details how a new grid will make a quantifiable impact on growth and development, housing affordability, renewable energy, our economy and our work force.

Massachusetts, like most states in the nation, finds itself at an energy policy crossroads: It can continue the old approach of “growth at any cost,” that have harmed our environment, threatened our health, and threatened our economy, or it can reject these outdated, failed ideas and adopt new, sustainable policies that can improve our environment and our economy. To learn more about The Better Not Bigger Alliance’s solutions for a sustainable energy plan and all the benefits to updating the New England Power Grid, please click here to read our entire white paper in full.