Northeast Clean Energy Council, Boston, MA
Working as a Policy and Government intern at the Northeast Clean Energy Council was the most interesting experience I have had. The Council brings together business leaders and key stakeholders to engage in influential policy discussions and business initiatives while building connections that propel the clean energy industry forward. Our results-oriented team is highly skilled at turning a clear vision into reality and effectively influencing policy to build a world-class clean energy hub in the Northeast. I spent my summer as the fourth member of the policy team working with New England legislators to bring the Northeast to the forefront of the fight against climate change.
I worked in the seaport district of Boston and commuted daily by taking the “T” from my home in Braintree to South Station. I grew up in the City of Boston and I am very comfortable being here, but this was my first experience being in the heart of the city every day for an extended period of time. My first day was not as uneventful as I expected. From the moment I walked in the door I was tasked with summarizing and drafting testimonies for nearly 50 energy laws to be heard by the Joint Committee on Utilities and Energy the following Tuesday. At first this job seemed tedious and the task resembled what I would call busy work. I also had little to no experience within the clean energy industry so most of the material was brand new to me. By the time the hearing came around I had a completely different outlook on what the job would entail. I was able to dive deep into just a small fraction of the potential laws being talked about by the state legislators. I was able to travel to Beacon Hill and visit the State House to listen to the testimony from experts within the industry on the various laws. I was almost overwhelmed with how many people I was able to meet and connect with just a week into my internship. At every turn I was being introduced to a Legislator from all across the state or a member of one of the hundreds of different energy companies. The connections I made at that first TUE hearing will hopefully last me a lifetime. The most influential law that was being heard that day was a bill that was drafted by the Massachusetts Speaker of the House, Robert DeLeo. This bill became known as GreenWorks and it became the focus of the rest of my summer.
The bill plans to create a bond system that designates over $1 billion for municipalities for climate resistance and adaptation methods. My job was to compile the different opinions on the bill and form one comprehensive testimony on behalf of our company to be submitted to Speaker DeLeo himself. While I continued my work on this comprehensive testimony, I made many more visits to the State House transcribing notes and summaries of testimonies on various topics including rooftop solar and electric vehicle bills. I ultimately used every experience at the State House in my testimony on the GreenWorks bill and I like to say that my work helped the Bill pass through the House of Representatives and be sent onto the State Senate right before the summer recess at the beginning of August.
The rest of my work was centered on working through utility companies’ rate cases and the many offshore wind procurements. My work on both of those fronts was focused on getting the lowest possible rate for the customer and placing most of the cost of doing business on the major corporations (i.e. National Grid). I spent a fair amount of time looking into the groundbreaking bill in NY State that places them at the front of the clean energy race. Most of my work involving that bill was to see how the rest of the Northeast could join NY as a leader in the industry, and writing letters to the State Leaders to petition them to join NY in such an ambitious clean energy plan. These task took up just a small amount of my time compared to the GreenWorks bill, but it was interesting to expand my knowledge of clean energy past just my home state.
This experience at the Northeast Clean Energy Council has completely changed my perspective on the way the world works as well as the way humans should act in our society. Prior to this internship, my understanding of the climate change crisis was fairly limited. I knew that our planet was in danger, but I never understood the gravity of the situation. Small actions like paper straws and reusable water bottles are not enough. We need our legislators, state, federal and international, to enact legislation that enacts specific efforts to combat the urgent climate change issue. I plan on becoming a very active member in the fight against climate change in the future until we all understand that this issue is not a joke and must be dealt with.
I want to thank the ’62 Center for Career Exploration for affording me the opportunity to explore my clean energy interests and hopefully develop my career within the industry. I also want to extend my thanks to Dr. James D. Marver ’72 for his generous support. Last but not least I would like to extend my greatest thanks to the entire NECEC team especially Dan Bosley, who connected me to this internship; Jeremy McDiarmid, the VP of Policy Relations; and Jamie Dickerson, my direct supervisor for making this the most enriching summer of my life.
Megamenu Social