Climate

Recent focus groups underscore widespread enthusiasm for clean energy and urgency for electrification in New England

Written by Kathryn Wright

As New England increases the momentum of its energy transition in response to worsening climate impacts, states are shifting out of planning towards implementation. To help surface key opportunities, challenges, and questions to support this momentum, the clean energy team sponsored new research to better understand how New England residents are thinking about and experiencing the energy transition in their daily lives.

In July and August, the clean energy team commissioned Hart Research to conduct a series of online focus groups with homeowners and renters in each of the New England states. We wanted to get a deeper understanding of experiences and opinions driving the polling data. Across each of the focus groups, we targeted a representative sample of residents at or below a moderate average median income (AMI) for their state. The responses were remarkably consistent across each of the New England states, homeowners and renters. There are a few key takeaways from these conversations that we wanted to share:

Clean Energy Transition Focus Group Quotes - Full

These focus groups provided a glimpse into how New England residents are thinking about the energy transition within their lives. As a member of the Massachusetts Grid Modernization Advisory Council, I know these findings will be helpful as we explore crucial questions about how to enhance flexibility, adaptability, and reliability of the grid to support the State’s ongoing electrification efforts. We hope that sharing these results also helps our partners identify areas where there may be gaps in current consumer outreach and education, particularly as federal incentives and grantmaking accelerate in the coming months.

Clean Heat Standard Footnote

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Kathryn Wright poses for a headshot. She has long braids and smiles warmly.

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