Winter Energy Price Spike Communications Resources

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Winter Energy Price Spike Communications Resources

Winter Energy Price Spike Toolkit

A communications and social media toolkit for Massachusetts municipalities.

Electricity, natural gas, and delivery fuel (oil) prices have increased across the Northeastern United States this winter, due in large part to global supply chain disruptions resulting from the pandemic and exacerbated by Russia’s war with Ukraine. Northeastern states rely heavily on imported natural gas to heat people’s homes and generate electricity, with more than half the homes in Massachusetts heated by gas. Increased supply costs are being passed on to consumers, some of whom will experience more than a 50% increase in utility bills as a result. These price increases come at a time when many residents are also experiencing skyrocketing costs for day-to-day household expenses that are exacerbated by inflation, forcing people to choose between heating their homes and meeting their other needs. While programs like the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provide critical resources for those in most need, this program alone is likely not enough to cover the full needs of both low-moderate-income residents or middle-income residents who are no longer able to afford their energy bills. Support for utility assistance and reducing energy bills will have to come from a range of sources. This toolkit is to support your communications efforts with your community about those resources.   

Get in Touch

If you have any questions, please contact the MAPC Clean Energy Department at Cleanenergy@mapc.org.  


Press Contacts:

Amanda Linehan
Communications Director
617-388-1556
alinehan@mapc.org

Tim Viall
Senior Communications Specialist
tviall@mapc.org

How to Use this Toolkit

The entire Greater Boston region will be affected by rising energy utility costs this winter. We encourage municipal governments, state legislators, nonprofits, educational institutions, and individuals to use this toolkit to communicate with your residents about available tools and resources to help grapple with these cost increases. This toolkit includes information from utilities, state agencies, and others, as well as template social media content you can tailor for your own community and use. In addition to providing easy-to-use communications resources, this guide aims to provide background on why these energy price increases are happening and how they are impacting residents across Massachusetts.  

Toolkit Objective
This guide provides easy-to-use communications resources to inform consumers, residents, and small businesses about the increase in energy costs and near-term solutions. This guide includes: 

  • Resources for residents in your community 
  • Social media language and images 
  • Utility assistance fliers in 8 languages (English, Arabic, Cape Verdean Creole, Haitian Creole, Khmer, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese)
  • Links to additional resources 

Did You Know?

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) estimates that residential customers will see the following cost increases: 

Natural Gas- 28.6% increase
Heating Oil- 18.6% increase
Propane- 3.0% increase
Electricity- 54.6% increase

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Resources for Residents in Your Community

Note: residents are protected from utility shut offs if they or someone in their household is seriously ill, have an infant under 12 months, or all adults are 65+ years old plus have a minor living with them (the utility must get approval from DPU in this case). Everyone is protected from electricity and gas shut-offs during the coldest months between November 15th and March 15th. However, during this time a utility customer will continue to accrue debt if bills are unpaid and may be at risk of shut-off when the winter moratorium ends in March.

Social Media

Hashtags You Can Use

#EnergyCosts  #UtilityAssistance  #EnergyBills  #EnergyEfficiency     #SaveOnEnergyCosts  #ReduceEnergyCosts

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A Few Best Practices

  • Know Your Audience: Who are you posting this information to? Residents? Create your social posts with that audience in mind.
  • Know the Platform: The social media platform you are using to post on should inform how and what you're posting. For example, posting on Twitter is for more immediate, word-limited posts. LinkedIn is for professional audiences, and there isn't a word limit.  Facebook is for more causal postings. You can use the same post across platforms but we recommend changing it up a bit based on the platform!
  • Accessibility: Ensure your social posts are accessible to all by making sure to use alt text, and if you use hashtags, capitalize every first letter of each word in the hashtag. Learn about ways to make your social postings accessible.
  • Interactive: Amplify other sources on social media, such as official sources, agencies, and experts, by sharing or retweeting their posts.
  • Tag Us! Be sure to tag MAPC in your social posts to reach a larger audience. Please feel free to also retweet any posts we do as well.

Social Media - Graphics

Right-click on the images below and choose "save image as" to save to your computer. Then, compose your own social media post or use some of the sample language further below. The social graphics should work well on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Image is a social card. A purple background, with a woman on the rightside on her cell phone and holding a utility bill. The text says, "Are you struggling with your energy bills this winter? Contact your utility provider about discounted rates, payment plans, and other ways that they can help. Find out who your provider is here: mapc.ma/FindMyElectricGas-Water"
Image is a social card that has a purple background with an African-American man on the righthand side pushing a button on his thermostat and smiling. Text says, "Did you Know your local Community Action Agency may be able to assist you with fuel assistance this winter? Learn more here: mapc.ma/HelpWithHeatingCosts"
Image is a social card, with a purple background. In the righthand side is a Caucasian men with brown glasses, brown hair, and he has his cell phone up to his ear. He's wearing a dark tshirt and a blue button up shirt. Text says, "If you're a renter and your utility bills are too high, talk to your landlord about Mass Save or visit the website to learn about ways to save; mapc.ma/EnergySavingsforRenters
Image is a social card with a purple background and on the righthand size is a utility worker wearing a white hard hat, yellow safety glasses, and reflective green jacket. The person is holding a tablet. The text says, "An energy assessmet is a great way to find out how to make your home more energy efficient, which can help you save money. Visit 866-527-SAVE and/or contact your Community Action Agency mapc.ma/HelpWithHeatingCosts to learn more." Then it has small print at the botton that says, "Do so as soon as possible because demand is high and wait times are getting longer!"
Image is a social card with a purple background. In the righthand side is an elderly white man with glasses sitting and wearing a bulky sweater, a puffy vest over it, fingerless gloves, and holding a coffee mug in his hands. Text says, Are you struggling with your energy bills this winter? Contact your utility provider about discounted rates, payment plans, and other ways that they can help. Find out who your provider is here: mapc.ma/FindMyElectricGas-Water"

Social Media - Sample Social Posts

You are welcome to copy, paste, and add to or change the sample social posts below. You can use them in conjunction with the social graphics above, or by themselves. 

Are you struggling with your energy bills this winter? Contact your utility provider about discounted rates, payment plans, and other ways that they can help. Find out who your provider is here: mapc.ma/FindMyElectricGas-Water


Did You Know that your local Community Action Agency may be able to assist you with fuel assistance this winter? Learn more here: mapc.ma/HelpWithHeatingCosts


An energy assessment is a great way to find out how to make your home more energy efficient, which can help you save money. Call Mass Save (866-527-7283) and/or contact your Community Action Agency (mapc.ma/HelpWithHeatingCosts) to learn more. Do so as soon as possible because demand is high and wait times are getting longer! 


If you're a renter and your utility bills are too high, talk to your landlord about Mass Save or visit their website to learn about ways to save: mapc.ma/EnergySavingsforRenters. 

Utility Assistance Fliers in Eight languages

MAPC developed utility bill assistance fliers in 2021. The downloadable fliers are in power point and easily editable so that you can customize for your locality. Many of the links and resources are still relevant today. To download the existing fliers Utility Bill Assistance: Massachusetts Resources – MAPC.

MAPC will also be translating this entire communications toolkit into several languages, which should be available in early 2023. 

Additional Resources

MA Department of Energy Resources (DOER)

Massachusetts Household Heating Costs: Estimate of energy prices for heating fuels during 2022/23 Winter Heating Season”
This website provides a comprehensive report of rising energy prices, how it will impact residential consumers, and information on financial support for heating assistance. 
Massachusetts Household Heating Costs | Mass.gov 

MA Department of Housing and Community Development

Cold Relief Brochure”
This brochure (2022-2023) has relevant information on energy assistance programs and energy saving tips.
Cold Relief Brochure 2023

Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)

Blog Post on “Reducing Energy Burden: Resources for Low-Income Residents”.
This blog post from January 2022 covers
information on what energy burden is, statistics for Massachusetts, and resources for low-moderate income residents.
Reducing Energy Burden: Resources for Low-Income Residents – MAPC

If you have other resources, you’d like to share that aren’t listed in this toolkit please send to SShyduroff@mapc.org