Westwood, Mass. – The Sponsors of Mass Save® today announced that 30 municipalities and 4 community-based organizations across the commonwealth have been selected to participate in the 2022-2024 Community First Partnership and will benefit from funding and support to implement energy efficiency outreach in their communities. The Mass Save Sponsors serving the cities and towns selected for the Community First Partnership effort include Berkshire Gas, Eversource, and National Grid.

The Community First Partnership provides grants of up to $60,000 to Massachusetts municipalities and community-based organizations that meet the partnership’s goals for implementing energy efficiency outreach in their residential and small business communities and achieve exceptional energy savings by completing energy assessments and the installation of energy upgrades. These incentives to municipalities and community-based organizations are in addition to energy efficiency incentives already available to residents.

All municipalities and community-based organizations with commonwealth-designated environmental justice census blocks were invited to apply for the program to expand outreach activities through partnering with the Sponsors of Mass Save to increase energy-saving efforts by reaching more of the municipality’s residents, with a focus on renters, non-English speaking/Limited English Proficiency residents, and small businesses. Municipalities and community-based organizations submitted applications to participate, and grants will be awarded based on the goals achieved by the end of the year. Taken together, the selected participants have committed to helping nearly 25,000 residents and small businesses access energy efficiency upgrades by the end of 2024.

“Energy efficiency is the most valuable tool that our customers have to help them save money and reduce their energy use,” said Eversource Executive Vice President of Customer Experience and Energy Strategy Penni Conner. “As a sponsor of Mass Save, we look forward to enhancing community outreach through the Community First Partnership, especially in environmental justice communities. Whether a small business owner or renter, have a moderate or low income, this collaboration helps us reach out to all customers in our local communities to help them make upgrades to reduce the amount of energy used in their homes and businesses – helping to build a better, more energy efficient future for every family, business and community while supporting the commonwealth’s decarbonization goals.”

“Through our sponsorship of Mass Save and our collaboration with the Community First Partnership, we’re working to ensure energy efficiency programs are attainable for all our local communities, businesses and families – with no one left behind,” said Christopher Porter, Director of Customer Energy Management, National Grid. “We know that when our customers are able to use energy more efficiently, it’s better for them, it’s better for our environment, and it helps bring us all closer to the clean energy future we’re striving for.”

In addition to providing a financial incentive, the Sponsors of Mass Save will provide these communities with support throughout the duration of the program including training, marketing materials, and a dedicated point of contact to support strategy and customer needs in each community. Together the Sponsors of Mass Save, the municipalities and the community-based organizations will strive to help customers better understand the energy use in their home, insulate more than 4000 homes, provide incentives for over 3000 heating and/or cooling equipment efficiency upgrades, and provide efficiency solutions to more than 1000 small businesses through turnkey energy assessments in the first year of the program. In achieving that goal, each municipality or community-based organization could earn up to $60,000 in financial incentives, based on the goals they set, for their municipality.For more information on the Sponsors of Mass Save’s Community First Partnership, go to https://www.masssave.com/learn/partners/community-partnership.

The municipalities and community-based organizations participating in the 2022-2024 Community First Partnership:

• Beverly
• Malden
• Shelburne
• Boston
• Melrose
• Walpole
• Cambridge
• Natick
• Wareham
• Chelsea
• Norwood
• Westborough
• Framingham
• Revere
• Winthrop
• Gloucester
• Salem
• Lowell
• Sharon

Ener-G-Save in Pittsfield, Springfield, and West Springfield
Groundwork Lawrence in Andover, North Andover, Lawrence, Haverhill, and Methuen
Quincy Asian Resources Inc. in Quincy and Randolph
Berkshire Regional Planning Commission in Williamstown

About Mass Save
Mass Save^® is a collaborative of Massachusetts’ electric and natural gas utilities and energy efficiency service providers including Berkshire Gas, Cape Light Compact, Eversource, Liberty, National Grid, and Unitil. We empower residents, businesses, and communities to make energy efficient upgrades by offering a wide range of services, rebates, incentives, trainings, and information.