Fall 2025 Newsletter
NOVEMber 2025
VINEYARD POWER FALL NEWSLETTER
Dear Reader,
Brrr! It's that time of the year again on MV - the heating season is upon us! Are you looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency and comfort of your home as we close out 2025 and head into the New Year? Vineyard Power has got you covered! Read on to learn about how YOU can participate in energy efficiency programming and see what the team here at Vineyard Power has been working on lately!
Updates
Vineyard Power Co-operative Annual Member Meeting
We kindly invite you to join us for our Co-operative's 16th Annual Member Meeting! This annual event is an opportunity to learn about Vineyard Power's achievements, its future endeavors, and to be introduced to your newly elected board members.
Vineyard Power Co-operative’s 16th Annual Membership Meeting will be held in person on the following date and time.
Date: Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025
Time: 5:00pm-7:00pm
Location: 151 Beach Road, Suite 1A, Tisbury, MA 02568
Kindly RSVP to: info@vineyardpower.org
Zoom arrangements will be made for those unable to attend in person. Stay tuned for details.
Vineyard Power Co-operative Board Nominations
Vineyard Power Cooperative is seeking nominations for its Board of Directors in preparation for our annual Board elections!
Vineyard Power Cooperative's elected Board of Directors provides high-level oversight of corporate activities, performance, and provides support to the management. Each Director serves a three-year term. A Director must be a year-round or seasonal resident of Martha's Vineyard and should be able to commit about 2 hours per calendar quarter of their time. This election, we're seeking nominees with knowledge of local government, fundraising, energy systems, and non-profit experience. We are seeking to fill up to four vacancies.
For board consideration, please send nominations to info@vineyardpower.org by Monday, November 10th, 2025.
All nominees are required to send a brief bio and explain how they can contribute to fulfilling Vineyard Power’s Vision and Mission. Our vision for the island is to be 100% renewable in electricity, transportation, and heating by 2040. Solar, offshore wind, battery storage, smart grid technology, energy efficiency, and education will help us get there. Our mission is to foster the production of electricity from local, renewable resources while enhancing resilience at our community’s critical facilities and ensuring equitable access for all residents and businesses.
Once we have received nominations, our Board of Directors will propose a slate of candidates to stand for election.
The election polling will be open from Monday, November 17th, 2025 to Wednesday, November 26th, 2025.
Co-op Election Calendar
Massachusetts Heat Pump Rate
Starting November 1st, Eversource will be offering a brand new rate on electricity during winter months for customers who heat their homes partially or entirely with a heat pump. The Massachusetts Heat Pump Rate will reduce the transmission and distribution price on eligible customers bills by around 7.5 cents per kWh during the heating season. This brings the overall price of electricity down from $.331/kWh to around $.256/kWh, an approximate 22% reduction during the heating season.
Customers will be automatically enrolled in the heat pump rate if they installed their heat pump system through the Mass Save program after January 1, 2022. Anyone with a heat pump who did not participate in Mass Save or installed prior to this date can click here to enroll, or can call Eversource at 800-592-2000 after November 1st. On your December bill, a rate code of R1HP or R2HP will signify that you are enrolled in the heat pump rate.
Visit the Cape Light Compact website to learn more about the Massachusetts Heat Pump Rate.
HEAP / Fuel Assistance
The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) begins on Nov 1st, 2025 and will run through April 30th, 2026. The program, made available through the South Shore Community Action Council (SSCAC), provides need-based funding to assist residents with winter heating costs. Eligibility is determined by the gross income of all family members, as well as family size and energy burden. Savings vary based on these criteria.
Visit the SSCAC Home Energy Assistance page to learn more about the program, check your eligibility, and submit your application. If you would like help applying for HEAP, Vineyard Power offers no-cost ratepayer assistance coaching sessions. You’ll have the opportunity to sit down with a member of our team either in-person or via video call, during which we can walk you through the application process step-by-step and provide a checklist of required documents for the application.
In addition to the Home Energy Assistance Program, Vineyard Power promotes several other income-eligible programs to help lower qualifying customer’s energy bills. These include energy efficiency programming through Mass Save, the Eversource Income Eligible Discount Rate, Joe-4-Sun RAP community solar, the Cape Light Compact Power Supply, and the Vineyard Power Income Eligible Direct Subsidy Initiative. In combination, these programs can help lower customer’s bills by approximately 80%! You can learn more about all of these income-based programs on Vineyard Power’s Income-Eligible Programming page, and can book a ratepayer assistance coaching session at no-cost on our Energy Coaching page.
Community Presentations
There’s nothing we love more here at Vineyard Power than sharing our knowledge of energy with our fellow islanders! You might have made it to one of our recent community presentations, such as our talk on Electric Vehicles and EV Charging at the Oak Bluffs Library or our Sun Day presentation on the state of solar technology at the West Tisbury Library.
Can’t make it in-person? No need to worry! Now, you can visit the Documents page on the Vineyard Power website to view slideshows from all our past events. We’ll continue to update the page with future presentations!
Upcoming Events
Chilmark Library Tabling Event
November 4th from 12:00pm-2:00pm
Tabling at MVRHS Vaccine Clinic
November 9th from 9:00am-3:00pm
From Whales to Wind: The History of Energy on MV at the MV Museum
Novemebr 19th from 4:45pm-6:00pm
What we’re keeping an eye on…
NEW ENGLAND (wbur.org) - In recent years, the nascent US offshore wind industry has faced a series of ups and downs and has proved a divisive topic in the political sphere. Amongst the volley of headlines and opinions, some of the tangible numbers associated with New England's offshore wind projects have been lost in the shuffle.
From power generation capacity, to emissions reduced, to jobs created, these 7 statistics help paint a picture of the offshore wind industry’s true impact on the New England region.
NEW ENGLAND (InsideClimateNews.org) - Merrimack Station, New England’s last coal-fired power plant, permanently shut down all operations in September 2025. Located in Bow, New Hampshire, the plant had supplied the ISO-NE grid with power since its opening in the 1960s.
Now, as fossil fuel energy production is being phased out of the region, Merrimack Station has become antiquated. In place of the approximate .22% of New England’s energy profile that was produced at the plant in 2024, renewable sources such as wind and solar along with newer natural gas “peaker” plants will help meet the region’s energy demands.
NEW ENGLAND (UtiltyDive.com) - ISO New England has launched a transitional cluster study of 26 battery, wind, and solar projects that are looking to interconnect with the New England power grid. Some of the projects included in the study are SouthCoast Wind 1, which is the largest proposed addition at 1,200 MW, as well as a 706 MW battery storage project in Bristol, MA. The study was developed following an order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to address interconnection backlog issues. The study’s aim is to reduce time and effort spent looking at proposed projects, and to expedite the interconnection process for energy projects that are ready to be implemented.
Vineyard Power is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization capable of receiving charitable donations. We rely on support from folks like you to advance renewable energy, energy efficiency, and equity in our island community. Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation today!
Sincerely,
The Vineyard Power Team
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