| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Welcome to our March Newsletter - an apt name for this month’s theme about the irreversible march towards clean energy independence and the imperative for deeper community engagement to up its pace. Conventional energy incumbents and profiteers are exhibiting increasingly desperate measures to thwart the trend. The consequences of their measures highlight the need for speed and motivates BCI to redouble its efforts. You’ll find plenty of evidence of these efforts in this newsletter.
| | | | Beacon Climate Selected to become a Critical Underserved Businesses (CUBs) Spoke for MassCEC |
The award was announced at the Central MA Regional Clean Energy & Climatetech Workforce Summit at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The event was another impactful MassCEC event that brought together an incredible array of mission-driven, constructive, and thoughtful people from across the Commonwealth to share experiences and ideate about developing a skilled and equitable workforce to facilitate the energy transition. BCI was selected along with awards to our colleagues at Emerald Cities and Berkshire Strategic Alliance. | | | |
In February, the TRUE Collective’s 3rd Annual Rhythm of Resilience Gala in Brockton brought community members and clean energy partners together to celebrate progress and share plans for The Loft on Bay in Taunton—a future Clean Energy Community Resilience Hub that will serve as TRUE Collective’s headquarters, supporting youth programming and providing a trusted space during power disruptions and extreme weather. Projects like The Loft are supported by the Align Program from Beacon Climate Innovations, which helps upskill local contractors and expand opportunities for MWBEs and CUBs while advancing clean energy and community resilience. | | | |
This February, Beacon Climate Innovations formalized a partnership between the Resilient Energy and Infrastructure Consortium (RE&IC) and PowerOptions, integrating the consortium into PowerOptions’ network of 500+ nonprofits and public entities. To mark the milestone, RE&IC hosted a webinar featuring Lightning Pitches from innovators like Inlyte Energy, Bootbox Labs, Jouler, QEA Tech, plus a showcase of CEERUM, our data-driven community energy planning tool. Through this partnership, RE&IC will continue connecting consortium companies with PowerOptions members, helping institutions access innovative solutions to accelerate resilient infrastructure and climate action.
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On February 24th, members of the Municipal Energy Forum gathered for a hands-on “Sandbox” session focused on distributed energy resource planning. Participants took on diverse roles such as Mayor, Utility Manager, and Sustainability Advocate to navigate the trade-offs between aggressive decarbonization and budget constraints. The exercise demonstrated how local incentives and adoption rates directly influence grid infrastructure costs and municipal tax implications. By bridging technical modeling with community-focused decision-making, the CEERUM Sandbox provided a clear framework for how municipalities can reach their net-zero targets while maintaining economic resilience. | | | | | | | | | | Dr. Moira Zellner is a Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Director of the MS in Urban Informatics Program, and Co-Director of the NULab for Digital Humanities. Her research sits at the intersection of Urban Planning, Environmental Science, and Complexity, focusing on how participatory modeling can help stakeholders and decision-makers navigate complex socio-ecological problems. She has led numerous interdisciplinary projects examining how policy, technology, and behavior shape these systems to support collaborative policy exploration. Before joining Northeastern, Moira was an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she headed the Urban Data Visualization Lab, and previously worked as an environmental consultant in Buenos Aires, Argentina. | | | | | |
As energy prices rise and global instability underscores the risks of fossil fuel dependence, Massachusetts lawmakers are debating how to address affordability. But a proposed $1 billion cut to the Mass Save program could undermine one of the state’s most effective tools for lowering energy bills. | | | | | | Have any questions or want to connect with us? | | | | | | | | | | | | Copyright (C) 2025 Beacon Climate Innovations. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is:
Beacon Climate Innovations 444 Somerville Ave Somerville, MA 02143-3260 USA | | | | | | | |
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