[SEMCO] 3/24 Forum: "Big Choices: 21st Century Energy Advocacy for Reducing Bills & Emissions"

[Chris Powicki]

March 24 Energy-Climate Forum


"Big Choices: 21st Century Energy Advocacy for Reducing Bills & Emissions"

6:30 pm ­ 8 pm
Cape Cod Community College
Science Lecture Hall A


Cape & Islands Self-Reliance launches its 2016 "Big Choices" forum series on
March 24 with a talk by Melissa Hoffer, chief of the Energy & Environment
Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AGO). This forum,
free and open to the public, will be held in Science Lecture Hall A at Cape
Cod Community College from 6:30 to 8 pm.
 
Ms. Hoffer will focus on key findings from the AGO's ³Regional Electric
Reliability Options Study,² which explored whether new natural gas pipelines
are required to meet future energy needs. The study concludes that
additional investment to reduce consumption and manage demand represents the
most cost-effective solution for maintaining reliability and has the added
benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (See
http://www.mass.gov/ago/doing-business-in-massachusetts/energy-and-utilities
/regional-electric-reliability-options-study.html
<http://www.mass.gov/ago/doing-business-in-massachusetts/energy-and-utilitie
s/regional-electric-reliability-options-study.html> .)
 
Following the talk, experts from Cape Light Compact and Self-Reliance will
provide perspective on the AGO¹s study and join Ms. Hoffer in responding to
questions and answers from the audience. Eversource and other organizations
that support use of ratepayer funds to subsidize the development of new
natural gas pipelines have been invited to participate.
 
Since 2015, Ms. Hoffer has been overseeing the AGO's work to enforce
environmental laws, protect ratepayer interests, and support federal
regulations addressing emissions of mercury, air toxics, and greenhouse
gases. She joined the AGO in 2012 as chief of the Environmental Protection
Division after serving as a vice president of Conservation Law Foundation
(CLF), director of the CLF Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice
Program, and director of the CLF New Hampshire Advocacy Center.
 
Previously, Ms. Hoffer practiced at WilmerHale and clerked for the Honorable
Magistrate Judge Joyce London Alexander, Boston Federal District Court. In
2007, she received a Boston Bar Association President's Award for pro bono
representation of six detainees interned at Guantanamo Bay. She holds a J.D.
from Northeastern University School of Law, Certificate in Environmental
Management from Tufts University, M.Ed. from the University of
Massachusetts, and B.A. from Hampshire College. 


 
Self-Reliance¹s March 24 forum follows up on a 2015 ³Big Choices² series
exploring the roles of natural gas, hydropower, and offshore wind in meeting
the future energy needs and climate policy objectives of Massachusetts. (For
presentations and videos, see
http://selfreliancefuelcoop.org/education/big-choices-forums/
<http://selfreliancefuelcoop.org/education/big-choices-forums/> .)
 
 
Contact: 
Chris Powicki
President, Cape & Islands Self-Reliance
774-487-4614 
chrisp at weeinfo.com 



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