People's Power & Light

People's Power & Light is the name that our nonprofit organization, Energy Consumers Alliance of New England, operates under in the state of Rhode Island. In Massachusetts, we operate as Massachusetts Energy Consumers Alliance. We file financial reports every year with the federal Internal Revenue Service. You can see Foundation Finder's posting of... our latest Form 990 or the Giving Common's posting about us. We also submit reports to the Attorney General's office. You could look under "Energy Consumers Alliance of New England" or "People's Power & Light." Our green power program is regulated by the RI Public Utilities Commission and you can always see the quarterly content disclosure we produce for green power members as well. Donors to our Oil Bank program sometimes ask how much money we spend to families who need assistance. We spend all the money we collect from corporate, governmental and individual donations to our Massachusetts and Rhode Island Oil Bank programs in direct assistance. In the four years, from Fiscal Year 2010 through Fiscal 2013, our annual spending has averaged $163,000 and has ranged from $139,000 to $218,000. How much we spend in a year depends on the amount of donations we receive and how many referrals we get from agencies that provide publicly funded fuel assistance. In some years, the public funding covers more of the need than in other years. In lean years, we tend to use more of our discretionary funds to cover the shortfall. When we add the cost of staff time to administer the program, we lose a little money on the Oil Bank program, which we try and make up from our discretionary budget.Read More