(no subject)

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

I'm an NSTAR Electric customer, as I'm sure are many of us. This winter I looked into competing electric suppliers, identified four via NSTAR's website, and called them all. They all said they were not offering residential service, though 2 or 3 said they were planning to and I should call again in the Spring.

Today when I went to that link (based on the "Rate A1-Residential" keyword on my bill), I found only one competitive supplier, Dominion. They said they had had an offer out for new residential customers, but it's now closed.

Does anyone know of other options for us? We're interested to know about any cheaper and/or greener alternatives to NSTAR.

Also, there's a house on Highland Road with a bunch of solar panels on the roof which gets us thinking about solar sometimes -- can anyone recommend a vendor thereof, or a good starting point? I doubt we're up for much of a DIY component, but we should definitely look at the economics of a full installation deal. Running the meter backwards would have a nice feeling to it as well. :-)

Thanks!

Comments

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

I went through this ringaround a few months ago, and got nowhere. Let me know if you get somewhere with an NSTAR alternative? NSTAR tried to console me with the fact that they get FIVE TO TEN percent of their energy from green and renewable sources.

In other news, ceelove and starphire have some solar stuff. Not sure if they've actually installed it yet, but Carl knew where to get cheap panels. When we're up for it, we're going to ask them similar questions. :)

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

Same here I tried this about a year and half ago and had no options available except for putting solar panels on my roof. I wish I could choose and put my money towards green power. I would be happy to pay more for it too.

[cosinezero.livejournal.com]

Solar is pretty expensive up front... and you'll likely have a basement full of acid-filled car batteries.

If those two points don't scare you off, go for it.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

you won't need batteries if you're grid-interconnected, which is how a lot of the residential systems work. It is still expensive though. I keep waiting for breakthroughs in solar panel tech.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

a good place for relevant info on energy choice and solat energy project is the mass technology collaborative: http://www.mtpc.org/

also check out the somerville climate action committee http://www.massclimateaction.org/somerville.htm

home solar is finicky and won't be a quick payback, but if your site is good, it might work out.

[ceo]

Hey, if you find anything let me know. I might want to put solar panels on my roof too. :-)

[in case anyone doesn't know, I live upstairs from mattlistener.]

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

I once saw an article about a Somerville home with a geothermal system installed. It cost more up front than a regular heater; but, it pays for the difference in about 6 years. It also cooled the house in the summer. I could'nt find the article though. Geothermal is worth checking out and savings have to be more now with the rising fuel costs.

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

Here some local example houses that I think you can visit. At least one of these has the geothermal system I mentioned:
http://www.nesea.org/education/ycleanenergy/middlesex.shtml

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

You should also know that if your current customer contract with NStar is the default, your generation rate is fixed every six months (mine is July & December, I don't know if that's universal or not). If you change to another generation supplier, you'll have to pay the difference between the fixed rate and the variable rate for the months since the last rate change. (Or if electricity generation goes down you'll get a rebate).

That's what I interpret the following website to mean, anyways:
http://www.nstaronline.com/ss/customer_service/rates/ds.asp

Sorry, you don't have a choice.

[ariwriter.livejournal.com]

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there are four electricity suppliers:

Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company
Massachusetts Electric Company/Nantucket Electric Company
NSTAR Electric
Western Massachusetts Electric Company

If you want to read up on the regs and other info, go here:
http://www.mass.gov/dte/restruct/competition/index.htm

[turil.livejournal.com]

One way to go with solar is to get one panel and hook it up to one or two 12 volt batteries (with a, umm... thingy... ummm, yeah, it's called a "controller", in the middle to regulate the current) and then use the batteries to power small things. It takes a little knowhow, but not too much. My husband set up an 80 watt panel on the roof overhang of our last apartment (right outside our window, so no climbing on the roof!) and I ran my laptop off of it and sometimes my boombox, and I charged my AA batteries (for small electronics, like my bike lights) this way too. It wasn't a huge deal, but it at least kept some of my energy use green. I think my husband only paid $350 for the panel, but I think he got a crazy good deal, and the controller was about $80 I think. I also had to get a special inverter for my iBook, because Apple did some weird thing with the DC power, and it takes 24 volts instead of the nowmal 12 v.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Solar is wicked expensive to start up, but it's actually becoming more efficent as well as cheaper by the year.