Clean Energy Choice Program Ended June 30, 2009

Since 2004 the CLEAN ENERGY CHOICE® program has provided Massachusetts residents with the ability to:

1. Support clean energy by paying a premium for renewable energy to a Clean Energy Choice-certified supplier.
2. Earn matching grants from the Trust for clean energy projects for your town or city and for low income projects.  Approximately $5.5 million in matching grants has been earned to date.
3. Purchase high quality offerings from suppliers that met the program's consumer protection standards for information disclosure, accounting, reporting, and pricing.

A primary goal of the Clean Energy Choice program was to provide Massachusetts residents with the opportunity to voluntarily increase demand for renewable energy. In recent years, approximately 10,000 participants have together made annual renewable energy purchases of 18 Gigawatt hours of renewable energy, the output of approximately four New England-based 1.5MW turbines. Thank you for your support of clean energy in Massachusetts!

As a result of the implementation of the Green Communities Act, passed by the Massachusetts legislature in 2008, the Green Communities Division at the Department of Energy Resources is now the centerpiece of the state’s investment in green energy in communities (www.mass.gov/energy/greencommunities).  Therefore, the Trust will be discontinuing the Clean Energy Choice match program.  

No additional grants will be awarded to match customer premium payments for usage recorded by meter readings after June 30, 2009. However, a town will have until November 30, 2009, to access the balance of all Clean Energy Choice funds that it has accrued through the June 30, 2009 program end date. The Trust will post total municipal account balances by August 1, 2009 here.  Municipalities will be able to utilize their remaining funds for local clean energy initiatives by submitting a Final Matching Grant Application after August 1, 2009 and before November 30, 2009. The Trust will mail hard copies of the Matching Grant Application to the Mayor or Select board of each community in August 2009.

Please note that customers’ green power payments for the following Clean Energy Choice-certified offerings will no longer be tax deductible contributions to the Trust after August 31, 2009: Cape Light Compact Green, Mass Energy New England GreenStart and Sterling MA Choice. Customers’ green power billings for New England Wind Fund will no longer be tax deductible contributions to the Trust after June 30, 2009. In addition, these suppliers will no longer be required to meet the Clean Energy Choice program consumer protection standards. We will provide customers of these suppliers with a letter on or before January 31, 2010 reporting the amount of your premium payments in 2009 that are eligible for recognition as tax deductible contributions to the Trust. 

Even though the match program is being discontinued, those suppliers that were certified by Clean Energy Choice will continue to offer renewable energy options. For more information about these renewable energy options, please click here.