St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28 Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.
We're trying out blogs to offer shorter, easy-to-find news. Let us know what you think.
Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.
Mammography Dispute The government's issued controversial new guidelines stating that women shouldn't get annual mammograms until age 50, rather than age 40.
iBerkshires will be meeting with local medical experts Monday. Have a question you'd like answered on this issue? Send it info@iberkshires.com with "mammogram" in the subject line.
Utility Customers Urged to Weigh in on National Grid Rate Request
By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff 12:06AM / Friday, May 22, 2009
Alec Silitch of Heliocentrix of Williamstown explains how a solar heating tube works at an energy showcase at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort on Thursday. Right, Biomass Corp., also of Williamstown.
That was the message Thursday at the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's first Energy Showcase and Summit, held appropriately enough in the shadow of Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort's wind turbine. The event brought chamber members and energy-related businesses, utilities and organizations together to discuss and showcase alternative energies and conservation.
It also highlighted the chamber's focus on the energy issues facing its members, a focus that Kevin Conroy of the attorney general's office applauded.
"There's not a local or regional chamber in Massachusetts that is as active on energy as the Berkshire Chamber," he told participants at the concluding luncheon. "If I could clone this chamber — get 25 to 30 other chambers that are as active on this, that I could get actual ratepayers to care about energy issues, to take the time to focus on energy issues, we'd be in a much better state."
Chamber President Michael Supranowicz turned attention to the energy issue several years ago as costs skyrocketed, affecting the chamber's more than 1,100 businesses that included the region's historic paper mills. A year ago, he and other local business leaders testified before U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry and state Attorney General Martha Coakley on the impact of energy costs in the Berkshires. The chamber has also spearheaded an electricity cooperative to help its members contain costs.
It's the kind of activism that can only help all ratepayers, said Conroy, whose division is the advocate for utility customers, as well as looking at big picture issues like reliability, cost and clean resources.
"The people who get lost in that process are you, the ratepayers," he said. "You're the ones being affected by these decisions. ... It's so complicated that you don't have the ability to participate."
Conroy, chief of the Business and Labor Bureau with a portfolio that covers business, technology and economic development, and energy and telecommunications, said Coakley, a North Adams native, is well aware of the difficulties in Western Mass. The Springfield office has an energy component, including M. Katherine Eade, assistant attorney general in the office of ratepayer advocacy. The bureau doesn't want a repeat of the rate case of two years ago, when local customers had little or no input in Western Massachusetts Electric Co.'s rate hearings.
The office will be pressuring the Department of Public Utilities to hold hearings in Western Mass. for National Grid's rate hike request but there's no guarantee it will be in Berkshire County. Hours and hours of hearings will be held throughout the summer in Boston.
Kevin Conroy of the Attorney General's Office speaks about energy issues.
The Coakley has objected to National Grid's request that was filed Friday in Boston. The utility is asking for a 16 percent increase in the distribution side, about 30 percent of the average homeowner's bill, beginning Jan. 1, 2010.
"It is unfortunate that National Grid has chosen to propose significant electricity rate increases that could further harm ratepayers who are already struggling to pay their monthly expenses in these tough economic times," said Coakley in a statement. "As the ratepayer advocate, we intend to aggressively challenge National Grid's rate increase before the Department of Public Utilities."
Massachusetts already has among the highest energy rates in the nation. There is a movement to "decouple" profit from demand. As the nation seeks to conserve energy and pursue alternatives, state policymakers are saying it doesn't make sense for utilities to reap profits through higher demand, said Conroy.
National Grid is the state largest electrical provider and will be the first to go through decoupling, through litigation. The state is also looking to increase efficiencies in transmission, which could cost up to $1 billion that will, hopefully, come from stimulus funding.
The energy picture isn't great for Massachusetts, but there are alternatives for local businesses and homeowners. It can be as obvious as installing energy-efficient windows and insulation or more forward-thinking, like investing in photovoltaic or solar heating. Those options were among the informational booths at the showcase.
For example, David Burhans of Bennington, Vt., of Burhans Research offered the direct approach of slowing electric motors to make them more energy efficient; Michael Baral of Nus Consulting, a broad range of auditing and management tools for energy use.
There were also several presentations and the chance to see Zephyr, the only wind turbine powering a ski resort, up close.
"This was to get the word out that the cost of energy can be affected by efficiency and conservation," said Supranowicz. Long-term goals are to reduce energy generation costs through both conservation and alternative energy. As demand increases, he said, higher-costing power generators are kicked on, raising prices down the line.
In the meantime, Supranowicz will become a member of an energy liaison group to keep area residents informed on what's happening with state energy policy. Conroy encouraged those present to contact their utilities and their representatives to ensure their concerns were addressed.
I can only second everything that has already been said. For the hard-working customer (in this case, one whose spouse is unemployed), they are unforgiving if you're late with a payment. Nasty company (I mean, really, how warm and fuzzy can a company called "National Grid" be??). Why should we fund their over-priced product?
from: used user
on: 06-11-2009
go ahead and raise it,then you can turn ours off. we do not have the money to pay any more and we do not get help. you will have a job shutting off peoples power and gas, atleast for a time . no users,no jobs for you. we will see you on the unemployement line; and no we do not qualify for assistents, we've tried
from: both layed off
on: 06-09-2009
as a person on a fixed income, I am already struggling with the increases of recent past on my utility bills. my electric bill this winter was the highest I've ever had, even though my usage has dropped! I've cut back all I can and still can't seem to keep up. what are people like me supposed to do if it goes up yet again? can anyone stop this constant increase?
from: north adams resident
on: 05-27-2009
Why not raise the rates one more time? They'll just cause more hard working people to cut more from their food budget to pay the energy bills. Who cares about us? Nobody that's who. It's all just lip service but there is not one politician who would really go against them in favor of the taxpayer. If there was my electric bill would not be 3 times what it was 5 years ago! But my paycheck(take home) is much less.
from: Robin
on: 05-22-2009
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