CO-OP POWER BOSTON METRO EAST
Co-op Power Metro East is a Community Energy Cooperative run by Co-op Power members in Metro East to organize and advance the goals of justice and sustainability.
Co-op Power Boston Metro East will reduce our communities' over-reliance on fossil fuels and work for environmental justice by promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, especially in low income communities and communities of color in the Greater Boston area.
We are building a movement to transform the Greater Boston area to a more just and sustainable future and everyone has a role to play.
Co-op Power Boston Metro East exists to build a multi-class, multi-racial movement for a sustainable and just energy future. Metro East will get people involved as residents – looking at ways we can reduce our energy use, energy costs, green house gas emissions, and reliance on fossil fuels. We will get people involved as workers growing new jobs in a community-based green economy. We will get people involved as human beings – connecting with each other, with their communities, learning together about the key energy and economic challenges before us today, and raising up our voices to have a say in how our communities and local economies work.
We're building solar now. We just supported Resonant Energy and Co-op Power to build the Boston Interfaith Community Solar project - where we installed solar arrays on three churches in Boston. We completed our first Solar Access project with Resonant Energy and we're training up our members to play a larger leadership role in our future solar projects.
In the past, we ran a job training and weatherization program for five years, air sealing and insulating homes in the greater Boston area. We're proud of all that we accomplished - carbon reduced and people trained.
Twenty people also came to another three family home to help install a solar hot water system and a solar electric system on a new Platinum LEED home in the heart of Dorchester.
Co-op Power Boston Metro East is a Community Energy Co-op in the Co-op Power network. Co-op Power is a multi-racial, multi-class movement for a just and sustainable energy future in New England and New York. It is organized as a decentralized network of energy cooperatives, Metro East being one of them. Cooperatives in Co-op Power develop programs together like a weatherization barn raising program, a solar hot water barn raising program, group energy purchasing programs, and support for community owned green jobs and green energy businesses. Co-op Power operates on a not-for-profit basis. Co-op Power member equity support these projects.
Community Leaders launched Co-op Power Boston Metro East to help Co-op Power members and residents of the Boston area address the high cost of energy. The first step was to support the development of community-owned green jobs and green energy. Co-op Power partnered with ACE (Alternatives for Community and Environment), BWA (Boston Workers Alliance), CPA (Chinese Progressive Association), Boston Connects, and CLU (Community Labor United) to support the business planning and business development for new community-owned businesses, including a community-owned Energy Services Company.
Co-op Power Boston Metro East helped reduce the purchase price of home heating oil through the initiation of a home heating oil buying group to purchase oil at a reduced cost for residents in the Four Corners area of Boston. We're encouraging people this year to sign up for Mass Energy Consumer Alliance's Heating OIl buying group.
Co-op Power Boston Metro East received a grant from the New England Environmental Fund which helped to educate people in Roxbury and Dorchester about home energy efficiency upgrades. These communities are saturated with turn-of- the century housing most of which heat with oil and many are terribly energy inefficient. Here's a picture of one of our energy efficiency neighbor-to-neighbor programs where volunteers came together to air seal a three family home in Roxbury.
The goal for these energy efficiency neighbor-to-neighbor inspections and upgrades is to promote energy conservation awareness in communities that experience a high rate of energy use often in an inefficient manner and where the access to education and awareness is limited. The first step is to provide a concrete example of how taking appropriate steps to conserve energy can save them money and provide long term energy benefits for their homes.
Co-op Power Boston Metro East completed weatherization upgrades in 12 apartments. We air sealed attics to stop warm air from escaping, fixed doors and windows to reduce drafts coming in, and installed programmable thermostats so people don't have to pay for heat when they don't need it.
Co-op Power Boston Metro East supports everyone to:
create more energy efficient homes by addressing weatherization and insulation problems
reduce energy use and energy costs further through conservation
increase use of renewable energy sources where appropriate
increase community ownership of sustainable energy
Boston CEC 2014-2015 Annual Report
Contact Ruth Lazare at ruth@cooppower.coop for the most up to date information about what is happening in the Metro East area or (617) 272-3340
Join Co-op Power and Boston Metro East Community Energy Co-op!
