As the sun shone down and temperatures hovered around the 75-degree mark on Tuesday, representatives from Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) and Eversource Energy held a briefing in Dorchester to advise the public on summer energy conservation usage and cost-saving measures.
“Dorchester is one of 12 neighborhood sites where thousands of low-income residents are able to come in and get help if they are struggling with basic needs or would like to see what resources they can use to improve their lives,” said Sharon Scott-Chandler, president and CEO of ABCD.
She was joined at ABCD’s Claybourne Street service center by two officials from Eversource Energy, Senior VP Jared Lawrence and Kate Peters, director of Residential Energy Efficiency, and James Collins, director of ABCD’s climate equity and impact department.
“I know we’re all looking forward to a lovely summer here in Massachusetts, especially after a long winter of high energy bills,” said Lawrence. “But one of the things that we must not take our minds off of is the fact that energy bills do go up again in the summer.”
A typical bill can jump by about 30 percent when the sun is high, and if this summer bring the heat in waves like it did in 2024, that number will be even higher.
“Now is really the best time to take action and think about preparing your home to minimize energy use to keep you cool in the summer,” said Peters. “A lot of the time we think about weatherization as a way to stay warm in the winter, but it also can be incredibly helpful in the summer on those hot, humid days.”
One recommendation is to schedule a home energy assessment through Eversource, which sends out a specialist to review a home’s energy use and identify ways the residents and owners can save energy and money.
According to Peters, weatherizing your home is the most impactful way to reduce energy use and could save around 15 percent on annual heating and cooling bills.
Peters also suggests setting your AC to the most comfortable warm temperature you can be at, turning off window units when not home, keeping vents free of obstruction, closing your blinds, switching to LED light bulbs, and setting ceiling fans to rotate counterclockwise.
“It really starts with helping to save energy, helping to reduce the amount that a customer needs to consume in the first place. We also offer some other customer programs as well,” Peters said.
“We have our budget-billing programs that make it much more affordable on a year-round basis. Secondly, we have a discount rate that we offer customers who are financially qualified on the electric side. We also help customers access HEAP programs,” said Lawrence. “For customers who fall behind and qualify for an income perspective, we offer a restart program. We also offer flexible payment arrangements for any customer, regardless of their income, who might be struggling to pay their energy bills.”
Anyone who is interested in these programs or is struggling with their summer energy usage should visit Eversource.com.