The City of Cambridge reminds you: be aware of deceptive electricity supply offers. Many Cambridge residents have received deceptive and false advertisements through phone calls, letters, and door-to-door solicitors. You should not give out your Eversource/utility account number to anyone unless you are absolutely sure you want to switch suppliers.

Some solicitors will say they work for your utility company, Eversource, or are approved by the City. It is important to note: Eversource does not call about billing nor do they knock on your door, this is a person posing as Eversource. We strongly advise you to hang up or ignore. If you are questioning whether it is a scam, you can check and call Eversource directly to see if they contacted you.

Residents should also beware of the many ways that competitive suppliers can drive up your electricity bills. Suppliers offer complicated contracts, low introductory rates that quickly escalate, and some charge you to end your contract. We suggest people not respond nor give their account number to anyone who mails, calls, or comes to the door with an electricity offer. There are a lot of pitfalls and deceptions with competitive electricity suppliers so we recommend staying a part of the Cambridge Community Electricity program and not switching your supplier.

Cambridge Community Electricity has the most consumer protection built-in by the City, supports local solar, and has no additional fees or costs. Cambridge Community Electricity also offers 100% Green Plus, providing 100% renewable electricity with strong consumer protection and local investment in solar. To learn more about Cambridge Community Electricity go to: http://masspowerchoice.com/cambridge.

If you experience an interaction with an electricity supplier that you think was misleading, pushy or deceptive please report it:

Department of Public Utilities Consumer Division
617-737-2836
DPUConsumer.Complaints@state.ma.us

Tell the DPU the name of the company, the issue, and the date of the occurrence.

All In Energy, a Boston-based nonprofit and a partner of the City of Cambridge, invites you to serve your community and combat climate change by applying to one of their open positions!

All In Energy works to help underserved populations save money on their utility bills by connecting them to state and utility incentive programs that increase energy efficiency in their homes, lower their energy bill, and reduce their carbon footprint. The nonprofit organization is committed to filling their team with local community members and those underrepresented in the clean energy workforce, providing them with the skills and experience necessary for clean energy careers.

OPEN POSITIONS:

Neighborhood Outreach Representative 

We’re seeking a dynamic and passionate individual to execute our outreach campaign in Cambridge. We are partnered with the City to connect renters to no-cost, light-touch home energy assessments that do not require landlord involvement. If you love talking to people and being outside and are looking for part-time evening and weekend hours, this job is for you!  Your role will focus on helping us knock on the door of every renter in Cambridge to let them know of this time-limited opportunity.  

Community Outreach Event Representative 

We’re seeking a passionate, dynamic part-time community outreach event representative to execute our outreach campaigns in Boston, Cambridge and beyond. You’ll be the face of the outreach campaign, All In Energy, and our partner organizations engaging residents and helping them save money and energy at retail locations, farmers markets, festivals, fairs, corporate events, and community partnership events. If you love working with people and dread working at a desk in an office, this job is for you!  We strongly encourage applicants bilingual in Spanish and English to apply.  

Customer Action Internship (Spring 2020)

We’re seeking a caring and detail-oriented college student or recent graduate to help families in Boston, Cambridge and beyond navigate their way through Massachusetts’ generous, but complicated energy efficiency programs. You’ll play a critical role in ensuring the residents we meet receive high-quality support to navigate energy programs that can save their families money and in improving All In Energy’s organizational systems and customer follow-up resources. This is a paid internship. Applicants must be current college students or alumni within 1 year of graduation.

For more details go to allinenergy.org/careers. 

If you’re looking for sustainable, green gift ideas for the holidays, you can find discounted energy efficient products to help you shop guilt-free and prioritize the environment with our Holiday Gift Guide! The Mass Save Marketplace has discounted green gifts that help you save money and transform your home to become more energy efficient. You or your friend/relative can save on appliances, equipment, electronics, or lighting.

The Mass Save Marketplace has great products like has customizable wireless LED lightning systems that save electricity and spruce up your home with customizable colors and voice control. You can get over $130 off Google Nest, ecobee, and Sensi smart thermostats that can be controlled wirelessly and customized so you can turn on your heating when you’re on your way back from a weekend away, or off when you leave unexpectedly. Mass Save  also has up to 88% percent off LED bulb packs, which have a longer lifespan, consume a low amount of power, and a great color rendering index that reveals the actual color of objects. To order through this online catalog you can be a renter, condo/homeowner, or business owner and you must be a residential customer of one of the participating Sponsors of Mass Save (Berkshire Gas, Blackstone Gas Company, Cape Light Compact, Columbia Gas, Eversource, Liberty Utilities, National Grid and Unitil) with a delivery address in Massachusetts.

These are just a few of the great deals and energy-saving products in the marketplace – to order an item or see more products in the Marketplace visit poweredbyefi.org/masssave.

To learn about Mass Save go to MassSave.com.

Many Cambridge residents receive phone calls, letters and door-to-door solicitors asking them to switch their electricity supply.  Some solicitors even say they work for your utility company, Eversource, or are approved by the City. Eversource will never knock on your door or call you about your electricity bill. Do not show anyone your utility bill or share your utility account number unless you actually want to change your electricity supplier. Beware of the many ways that suppliers can drive up your electricity bills. Some suppliers offer low introductory rates that quickly escalate. Some suppliers charge you to end your contract.

If you experience an interaction with an electricity supplier that you think was misleading, pushy or deceptive please report it:
Department of Public Utilities Consumer Division
617-737-2836
DPUConsumer.Complaints@state.ma.us
Tell the DPU the name of the company, the issue, and the date of the occurrence.

The City of Cambridge offers a safe and consumer friendly electricity supply, the Cambridge Community Electricity Program. The City has had volunteers promoting the 100% renewable electricity option and Community Electricity Program volunteers will be clearly identified as volunteers.

Most residents are automatically enrolled in the City’s Community Electricity Program. The City of Cambridge rate is fixed from now through December 2020 at 11.12 ¢/kWh. The 100% renewable electricity rate is 11.94 ¢/ kWh.  While the City does not guarantee savings, Cambridge residents enrolled in the Community Electricity Program have saved over $10 million dollars compared to Eversource.

You can check your bill to see if you are currently enrolled in the Cambridge Community Electricity program.  Look on your bill for:

CAMBRIDGE COMM ELEC
DIRECT ENERGY
Billing for CITY OF CAMBRIDGE

If you see a different supplier listed on your bill and want help switching to the City’s Community Electricity program, please call or email Meghan Shaw. You can also contact Meghan about suppliers that you feel have misleading, pushy or deceptive.

Meghan Shaw
617-349-5323
mshaw@cambridgema.gov

If you would like to sign up for the Cambridge Community Electricity Program’s 100% renewable electricity, please call the City’s supplier:

Direct Energy:
1-866-968-8065

Repost from the All in Energy Blog on 9/17: 

The City of Cambridge has partnered with All In Energy, a Boston-based nonprofit, to increase and enhance energy efficiency outreach to renters and landlords living in 1-4 unit buildings. All In Energy’s outreach model focuses on underserved populations – including renters, moderate-income households, non-native English speakers, and people of color – to help them save money on their utility bills by connecting them with energy efficiency resources and renewable energy programs. The organization also serves as a talent pipeline for workforce development in the sector, expanding clean energy job opportunities for individuals in underrepresented groups through a paid, hands-on training program.

Through the partnership with the City, All In Energy and its partner Neeeco, a Mass Save home performance contractor, will offer dedicated access to a Rental Property Energy Advisor for Cambridge renters. Earlier this month, All In Energy hired Cambridge resident Jean Alofan for the role. Alofan, who recently completed the Cambridge Community Learning Center’s Bridge to College Program, emigrated to Cambridge from West Africa and is fluent in seven languages, including English, Portuguese, and French. Through All In Energy’s workforce development program, Alofan will become certified as a Building Performance Institute Home Energy Auditor, enabling him to seek employment with other companies in the clean energy industry.

Alofan will connect renters with no-cost home energy assessments, including instant savings measures like LED light bulbs and programmable thermostats, as well as a customized list of actions to help residents save energy and money. The partnership between the City and All In Energy aims to support hundreds of Cambridge renters in accessing energy-saving services. 

“All In Energy’s program model aligns with many of the City’s goals. In addition to furthering our efforts to reduce Cambridge’s carbon footprint, both of our organizations aim to promote social equity through our programs and support workforce development,” said Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development. “We look forward to working with their team to advance both these goals and support Cambridge renters, who represent over 60% of the city’s population.”   “Massachusetts has nation-leading public energy-savings programs which we pay for on utility bills. Unfortunately, renters are often not aware that they are also eligible to receive no-cost home energy assessments,” said All In Energy Co-Founder Gabe Shapiro. “We are thrilled to work with the City of Cambridge, who has received nationwide recognition for their clean energy efforts, to demonstrate that we can simultaneously ensure renters benefit from energy-saving programs and create new pathways into clean energy jobs.”

All In Energy’s outreach focuses on face-to-face interactions, tabling at local events, and community presentations to reach residents who may be unaware of energy-savings programs or have not had the time to take advantage of them. This approach ensures that each resident gets support to take advantage of energy efficiency opportunities to reduce their utility bills and make their homes more comfortable.

The partnership will build on a variety of City programs and resources that help Cambridge households save money and become more energy efficient, including the Multi-Family Energy Program, which provides no-cost energy efficiency assessments and solar assessments to owners of multi-family buildings with 5 or more, and the Cambridge Community Electricity Program, which connects residents to affordable and local renewable electricity. To learn more about the City’s energy efficiency resources, visit https://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/   All In Energy specializes in driving adoption of clean energy technologies and services in underserved communities. The nonprofit organization recruits, hires, and trains members of communities underrepresented in the clean energy workforce, providing them with the skills and experience necessary for clean energy careers. To learn more about All In Energy’s no-cost home assessments or to get in contact, visit awww.allinenergy.org/cambridge

The City of Cambridge has launched the Cambridge Clean Heating and Cooling Marketplace, a new initiative to help residents make their homes more comfortable, save energy, and cut their carbon footprint. The City has partnered with Boston-based EnergySage to develop this new program, which supports residents who are interested in learning about and installing air-source heat pumps, such as ductless minisplits, and solar hot water. EnergySage’s expert advisors will connect interested residents with pre-vetted contractors and installers, and help residents review technology options and installation quotes.

The Community Development Department will host a workshop on Thursday, October 3rd, at Lesley University’s University Hall (1815 Mass Ave), Room 2-078 from 6:30-8:00pm. Residents are encouraged to attend to learn more about air-source heat pumps and the Cambridge Clean Heating and Cooling Marketplace. Click here to register for the event.

Many Cambridge residents have already installed heat pumps and solar hot water, thanks to generous rebates from state and utility programs. The Cambridge Clean Heating and Cooling Marketplace will help residents ensure that they are taking full advantage of these incentives.

Heat pumps and solar hot water are a great way for residents to save on their utility bills and reduce their home’s carbon footprint, while making it more comfortable. Air-source heat pumps, often called minisplits, are powered by electricity and move heat into or out of a home, instead of burning gas or oil to create heat. As a result, heat pumps deliver energy-efficient heating and cooling, year-round, and can be zoned by individual room. Though they require electricity to operate, heat pumps use up to 70% less electricity than traditional electric-resistance heating, and can be powered by clean electricity.

The City of Cambridge has been working with EnergySage since 2015 to support the SunnyCambridge solar marketplace. The Clean Heating and Cooling Marketplace is supported by a grant from Yale University’s Renewable Thermal Alliance.

Do you want to help us design ways for you to save on utility bills and improve your home, all while reducing your environmental impact? Fill out this survey by July 31^st, 2019 to help us understand your priorities when it comes to your home, health, comfort, and cost of living.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CambridgeSurvey2019

Cambridge Energy Alliance is hosting a free bulb swap where residents can exchange incandescent or CFL lightbulbs for energy-efficient LED light bulbs. Residents can swap up to one standard (A19) bulb, and up to two recessed ceiling bulbs (BR30), per household, while supplies last. Both sizes of LED are 60 watt-equivalent, soft white bulbs.

The details: Saturday, 3/30/2019, from 10AM-2PM. Cambridge Winter Farmers’ Market, 5 Callender St.

CEA will also be accepting old CFLs (compact fluorescent lightbulbs) for safe recycling through the Department of Public Works, for residents that want to dispose of additional bulbs.

LED bulbs use 5-6 times less energy than incandescent bulbs and 40% less energy than CFL bulbs, resulting in significant savings on energy bills. In addition to financial savings, LED bulbs are mercury-free and can last up to 20 years.