NSTAR pledges $1 for each switch to e-billing

BOSTON – For every customer who switches to paper-free billing through July 31, NSTAR Inc. (NYSE: NST) has pledged to make a $1 donation to the Mass. Department of Conservation & Recreation’s community forestry programs.
The money – in DCR-administered NSTAR Go Green Grants that will target communities in the gas and electric utility’s service area – will go toward tree-replacement and other urban and community forestry projects.
“Customers are benefiting the environment in two ways with this program,” said Joseph Nolan, NSTAR’s senior vice president of customer & corporate relations. “They are helping to save trees by opting to go paperless,” receiving their invoices through E-bill instead of by mail, “while at the same time making sure additional trees are planted in their community.”
The DCR, which also oversees one of the largest state parks systems in the country, administers grants promoting and protecting natural and recreational resources across the state. NSTAR previously has supported the department’s forestry program with a donation of $10,000 in seed money, as part of its corporate drive to address the causes of global climate change.
The company was a sponsor of the MIT Clean Energy Entrepreneurship Competition (READ MORE); its Westwood facility was honored last fall as one of New England’s Best Workplaces for Commuters (READ MORE); and the recent rehab of NSTAR’s office in Westwood was one of the first in the Bay State to win LEED Gold certification for an existing building (READ MORE).
“Because trees consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, we all benefit every time a new one is planted,” Bill Hayes, NSTAR’s senior arborist, said in a Monday statement. “This program gives us the opportunity to give back directly to our communities through tree-friendly grants.”
NSTAR Inc. (NYSE: NST), based in Boston, is an investor-owned natural gas and electric utility serving 1.4 million customers in New Bedford, Dartmouth, Fairhaven and other portions of eastern and central Massachusetts. Additional information is available at www.nstar.com.