N.E. ratepayers have voice at energy forum

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The threat of ever-rising energy costs in New England brought consumer advocates from around the region together Wednesday for a summit designed to collaborate on ways to fight the high prices.

More than 120 advocates for commercial and industrial energy customers, as well as low-income residents, attended the summit, hosted by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Coakley said average electricity prices in New England – covering both commercial and residential consumers – have increased 49 percent over the last five years.

Government officials who represent ratepayers in all the New England states need to work together to exert more influence over state and federal regulatory boards, which set energy prices, she said.

“We believe ratepayers can do much more than we do to influence what we pay for electricity and the amount of electricity that we use,” Coakley said.

Regulators also need to consider providing incentives to businesses to create their own electricity onsite and to educate consumers about how changing their energy habits might lower their bills, she said.

John Farley, executive director of The Energy Council of Rhode Island, said it is critical that the New England states work together to influence the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and ISO New England Inc., the Holyoke-based nonprofit that oversees the region’s wholesale electricity market.

“The reason ratepayers are at a big disadvantage now is that we’re organized almost exclusively at the state level, and that really needs to change,” Farley said.

Jed Nosal, chief of the Attorney General’s Energy and Telecommunications Division, said the increase in the price of natural gas helps drive the cost of electricity. About 40 percent of the electricity in New England is generated by natural gas.