OVERVIEW
The Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC) is the premier voice of businesses building a clean energy hub in the Northeast, helping renewable energy companies start, scale and succeed through business, innovation and policy leadership. In 2017, our firm worked with NECEC to generate media awareness to educate legislators around the benefits of strengthening a policy known as the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in Massachusetts. The RPS is a foundational policy tool for driving cost-effective renewable energy development at the state level by requiring utilities to provide an increasing percentage of renewables such as solar and wind in the electricity they supply.
OUR STRATEGY
Over the course of the year, we generated a steady drumbeat of media coverage across Massachusetts, discussing the economic, environmental and energy benefits of increasing the state’s RPS. The campaign began with aggressive outreach around NECEC’s Massachusetts Clean Energy Day, event at the State House in May 2017, in conjunction with the release of their report, An Analysis of the Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard. With the report and Clean Energy Day we secured coverage in key local outlets read by policymakers and staff, including State House News Service, Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook, MASSterList and the Lowell Sun, along with key clean energy trade outlets such as Solar Power World, Your Renewable News and Electric Light & Power.
OUR RESULTS
Following our initial efforts, we transitioned into a broader campaign to promote NECEC’s priorities through a blend of rapid response pitching, editorial and opinion outreach, and promotion of NECEC events. We worked with the Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions, a coalition co-chaired by NECEC and composed of business groups, clean energy companies, environmental organizations, and health and consumer representatives all advocating for an increase to the RPS in Massachusetts. Leveraging a diverse array of coalition voices calling for stronger clean energy policies, we secured opinion and news coverage in key outlets including The Boston Globe, Boston Business Journal, Commonwealth Magazine, State House News Service, MassLive, WAMC Radio in the Berkshires, WCAI Cape and Islands Radio, WGBH, SouthCoast Today, and several other regional outlets.