Wednesday, July 2, 2008

It's not easy being Green

Well here is just about the craziest idea I offer to our readers. Are you willing to pay more for you energy bill if you know the energy you are receiving is GREEN and supports GREEN Energy?

NSTAR is offering its customers a chance to enroll in renewable energy. Power will be generated from a wind farm located in at Maple Ridge Wind Farm in upstate New York, before traveling into the New England power grid.

Furthermore, once the Kibby Wind Power Project, currently under development in Maine, is finished, more renewable energy will be available to NSTAR customers.

The unfortunate part is that this renewable energy is going to cost you more money (estimated at a few dollars) than your current energy bill.

According to NSTAR, by paying for green energy, it will support the development of new or ongoing development of renewable energy resources in the region. This of course has the added benefit of helping us get off our obsession with gas and oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It may not be the easiest option for you to spend even more money on energy bills, but it will be worth it, trust me! I plan on enrolling once I move into my new place in August, so stay tuned and I will tell you how much more it's going to be!

Related Posts: A Creeping Problem Springtime, Gasoline, and a Solution
Maple Ridge Wind Farm Photo Courtesy of:
www.citizenscampaign.org

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Those windmills look so peaceful.

I thought NStar already had a "green" option. Maybe the green power is coming from a different source though.

Also, shouldn't they be using the money they already get from us for traditional electricity to invest in new technologies? Isn't that how businesses work - they invest some of the profits in new technology to ensure the future of the business? Getting us to pay more for "green" electricity seems like a little bit of a scam... but one that i'll probably also partake in.

Unknown said...

Based on the average household use of 900 per kWh. The 50% option would add an additional $7.53 to your monthly bill. And, an extra $12.56 for the full option.

It’s a small price to pay to be on the right side of the energy curve. Just imagine in 10-15 years we’ll be telling our children that we actually had to pay MORE for green energy.

Dave Archibald said...

This is a nice idea, but it seems like a sham. The energy's all coming from the same grid, so it's not like you're getting different energy than your neighbor. Basically you're paying a few extra dollars a month to NSTAR for a hollow, unenforceable promise that they will spend that money on researching renewables. I'm sure there are any number of organizations you can donate to that will make real differences in adding renewable energy sources.

Unknown said...

I agree with DaveArchie. :)

I heard on WBUR that Massachusetts just passed a bill that will force MA electricity companies to have 25% of its' electricity from renewable sources by 2025 or so. Apparently this is growing at just 0.5% per year - this bill will cause it to increase by 1% a year. While this is great, climate change is going to cause much more dramatic changes, much more quickly.