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This week, one electricity story cut through the noise and triggered serious discussion across utilities, grid operators, energy traders, regulators, and infrastructure developers: A new reliability warning tied directly to AI-driven electricity demand growth. The concern is no longer theoretical. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is now warning that hyperscale data center expansion is creating mounting pressure on grid reliability, transmission syste

Most industrial facilities in Massachusetts still think their electricity costs are driven by supply rates. That thinking is outdated. In 2026, the real drivers of cost and opportunity sit deeper in the system: capacity exposure, transmission allocation, ancillary services, and most importantly, how your facility behaves during peak grid stress. If you’re only negotiating your supply rate, you’re solving the wrong problem. What’s Changing Right Now Capacity Is Becoming a Movi

The energy market isn’t making loud headlines right now, but several underlying shifts are lining up that will materially impact electricity costs, procurement strategy, and distributed energy adoption over the next 12 to 36 months. If you’re responsible for energy decisions, this is not a “wait and see” moment. Capacity Costs Are the Next Price Pressure Most buyers still focus on supply rates, but capacity pricing is where real pressure is building. ISO New England is seeing

Energy costs are one of the most controllable-and most overlooked-expenses for small businesses. For those operating in Environmental Justice (EJ) communities across Massachusetts, the opportunity is even bigger right now. Mass Save® is offering enhanced incentives specifically designed to reduce energy burdens, improve building performance, and accelerate equity in historically underserved areas. Yet many business owners either don’t know these programs exist-or assume they’

There’s a quiet cost that doesn’t show up on your bill. Delay. Waiting to review your options. Waiting to make a decision. Waiting for the “right time.” In a stable market, waiting might not hurt you. In this market, it does. Prices move. Incentives shift. Opportunities fill up. Every delay is a decision by default. And default decisions are rarely the best ones. The goal isn’t to rush. It’s to be intentional and timely. Because the people who act with clarity tend to do bett

Electric bills are designed in a way that makes people tune out. There’s a lot on them. Charges, terms, breakdowns. But you don’t need to understand everything to understand enough. Start with two sections. Supply and delivery. Supply is what you pay for the electricity itself. This is where contracts and rates come in. Delivery is what the utility charges to bring that electricity to you. This includes infrastructure, maintenance, and system costs. Most people focus only on

Small businesses don’t have time to think about energy. Which is exactly why mistakes happen. The biggest one is set it and forget it. Signing a contract and not revisiting it. Not understanding terms. Not checking renewal clauses. The second is focusing only on rate. A low rate doesn’t always mean a good deal. Hidden charges, pass-throughs, and structure matter just as much. The third is waiting. Waiting to review. Waiting to act. Waiting for things to “settle.” They don’t s

Manufacturers are feeling it first. Energy is no longer a background expense. It’s a line item that can impact margins in a real way. The challenge is variability. Supply rates fluctuate. Delivery charges shift. Demand peaks drive costs higher than expected. And most facilities are operating without a structured energy strategy. Stabilizing costs isn’t about guessing the market. It’s about controlling what you can. Contract structure. Load management. Demand response. Efficie

Mass Save is one of the most valuable programs in Massachusetts and one of the most underutilized. It’s designed to make homes and buildings more efficient. Insulation. Air sealing. Heating systems. Rebates. Incentives. In many cases, the cost is heavily subsidized or covered entirely. Here’s what most people miss. It’s not just about saving energy. It’s about improving comfort and reducing long-term costs. A home that’s properly insulated feels different. It holds temperatur

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is that solar requires panels on your roof. It doesn’t. Community solar allows you to benefit from solar energy without installing anything. No panels. No construction. No upfront cost. You subscribe to a portion of a solar farm. That farm produces energy. You receive credits on your electric bill. Then you pay for those credits at a discount. Simple structure. Real savings. Typically around 5 to 10 percent off your total bill. The rea

Most people don’t think about energy until something goes wrong. A high bill. A confusing contract. A rate that doesn’t make sense. That’s usually when I get the call. An energy strategist isn’t just someone who finds a lower rate. That’s the smallest part of the work. The real role is understanding the system. The markets. The incentives. The risks. And then aligning all of that with your specific situation. For a homeowner, that might mean layering Mass Save with community

This is one of the most common questions I get and the honest answer is it depends. But not in a vague way. In a very specific, strategic way. Fixed pricing gives you certainty. You know what you’re paying. You can budget. You’re protected from spikes. Indexed pricing gives you exposure. Sometimes that means savings. Sometimes it means surprises. The mistake is thinking one is universally better. The real question is what environment are we in? If the market is stable or tren

If you’ve looked closely at energy pricing lately, you may have seen something new buried in the details. DASI. Most people don’t know what it is. Most suppliers don’t lead with it. But it’s there and it matters. DASI stands for Day-Ahead Ancillary Services Initiative. It’s part of how the grid maintains reliability. Think of it as paying for stability behind the scenes. The systems that make sure when you flip a switch, the lights actually turn on. Here’s the problem. It’s n

There’s a shift happening in Massachusetts energy and most people don’t see it until it hits their bill. For years, electricity felt relatively stable. Not cheap, but predictable. Now that predictability is gone. The grid is changing. We’re integrating more renewables, relying heavily on natural gas, and layering in new market mechanisms that most consumers have never heard of. At the same time, demand is rising. Electrification is accelerating. Heat pumps, EVs, everything is

Energy isn’t just something we consume. It’s something we manage. Whether we’re talking about the electric grid or the human body, the challenge is identical: maintain stability in a dynamic, demand-driven system. Recently, I reviewed a glucose curve that showed a rapid spike followed by a sharp drop. Most people would interpret that as a nutrition issue. I saw a grid event. Every System Solves the Same Problem: Balance On the electric grid: Supply must match demand in real t