By now, you have probably heard that NStar has filed for a rate increase of around 29% for 2015. If approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, the average residential customer’s bill will increase by about $28 a month as of January 1.
The utility blames the rate hike on the cost of buying electricity from power plants, which has soared because of an increased demand for natural gas used to generate electricity. More than half of New England’s electricity is now produced using natural gas.
This rate increase will be felt most keenly by homeowners whose rental homes have central air conditioning. But whether you have central air or not, it’s more important than ever that we make our homes as energy efficient as possible. You’ll find some great ideas on this post from a guest blogger from Cape Light Compact and another post from Home Depot. And for some ideas for renewable energy projects, check out this post.
We’ll keep you posted as things unfold. In the meantime, do you have any other energy-saving ideas to share?