Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Do you have an old dehumidifier in your basement collecting dust while you procrastinate getting rid of it? This weekend, stop putting off the task and recycle it at a dehumidifier turn-in event in Franklin hosted by the Sponsors of Mass Save. You can receive $30!
Here’s what you need to know:
What:Dehumidifier Turn-In Event
Where: Chilson Beach | 450 Beaver Street, Franklin, MA 02038
When: Saturday, May 20, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Why: Most towns charge residents to recycle appliances. This is a great opportunity to recycle your dehumidifier* for FREE and receive a $30 rebate from the Sponsors of Mass Save!
*Must be a working dehumidifier
Do you have a Dehumidifier (working) to get rid of?
Join Franklin resident and State Representative Jeffrey N. Roy, who will be in attendance, and others in helping the environment by cleaning out some storage.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
FM #887 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 887 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. For this session we were joined by State Representative Jeffrey Roy. We recorded this via the Zoom conference bridge Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
In this episode we covered the following topics:
Green banking, what is it?
Smart metering, better able to manage use by knowing what and when it is being used; rebate potential for off-peak use
Grimsby, England and video segment on 60 Minutes; Franklin Sheet Metal part of the developing ecosystem being built to support green energy
Building net zero stretch code opt in, pilot with 10 communities to gain lessons learned; Clean Heat Report due Nov 2022
How Will it be working on climate legislation with the new Governor
This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well.
If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
Representative Jeffrey N. Roy sat down with WCVB Channel 5’s Ben Simmoneau to talk about problems with Mass Save and the long delays and missing payments due to customers seeking rebates toward new heating units. Ben leads the station’s nationally recognized consumer reporting franchise, “Ben Has Your Back.”
MassSave is an initiative sponsored by Massachusetts’ natural gas and electric utilities and energy efficiency service providers, including The Berkshire Gas Company, Blackstone Gas Company, Cape Light Compact, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, Eversource, Liberty Utilities, National Grid, and Unitil. The sponsors of MassSave work closely with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to provide a wide range of services, incentives, trainings, and information promoting energy efficiency that help residents and businesses manage energy use and related costs.
NewsCenter 5 took the complaints about processing delays to Rep. Roy as the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. Rep. Roy has also heard similar complaints directly and has been working with the utilities to make improvements in the service.
"It’s absolutely not satisfactory for there to be long delays in the delivery of payments," Roy said. "A reasonable amount of time to get these rebates is six to eight weeks. Beyond that is unreasonable."
At the start of the year, the state's utilities — which run MassSave — restructured the program with the state’s approval, slashing many rebates for natural gas, oil or propane while increasing money for electric heat and implementing new energy savings programs. The goal is to move homes away from heating directly with fossil fuels and toward what will soon hopefully be a greener electric grid.
Rep. Roy says the utilities blamed those changes for some of the delays. MassSave processes 100,000 rebate submissions every year, which requires a number of due diligence checks. Roy noted that helping folks get their rebates from MassSave is important for our climate change efforts.
But the processing delays are not the only problem. The two customers included in the report both had difficulty getting answers about their checks because of the complex relationship between MassSave and the utilities who actually funnel the money to the program.
Rep. Roy says if delays and communication do not improve, the state will force the utilities to fix it.
"There should be an easy way for you to get information," Roy said. "I don't care whether it's an email or a website, there should be an ombudsman available to address that."
After NewsCenter 5 got involved, both customers got their full rebates right away. MassSave blamed part of the delay on missing information on their applications, but also said both checks were held up by various processing issues.
FM #669 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 669 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with our State Representative Jeffrey Roy. We had our conversation virtually via the Zoom conference bridge on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
An update on the Recycling event held Saturday, Sep 18, 2021 via State Representative Jeff Roy, one of the co-sponsor:
"We had a very successful Franklin Recycling and Energy Event at Chilson Beach Parking Lot on Beaver Street today. Over 300 cars were served and over 100 dehumidifiers were delivered in exchange for $30 and a rebate on a new purchase.
The program typically brings in 1,600 dehumidifiers annually across the state, and we did 100 in just one day in Franklin. We also collected four truckloads of furniture for Habitat for Humanity and two truckloads of electronics for recycling. We had folks from Eversource and Mass Save to sign up customers for energy savings repairs in their homes. It was a great way to help fight climate change and reduce energy costs.
Much thanks to Fred Frederick Cullen at Green Team Junk Removal, Marcie Rappa, National Grid, MassSave, Habitat for Humanity, and the Town of Franklin for helping put it all together and make it a success. And thank you to the residents for helping save the planet by showing up and turning in your unused goods and recycling them."
