Government spending may get a bad rap, but there is one federal program that saved consumers $4 billion last year and benefited the environment as well. It’s called Energy Star, and it’s a voluntary labeling effort that identifies both prod…
T he Cooperator’s readers follow the news. Therefore, I need not say too much about the fact that despite petroleum quotas by the Saudis and President Clinton’s attempt to build up a heating oil reserve for our region, the predictions say t…
The phrases have grown familiar to all of us. Global warming. Ozone depletion. Greenhouse effect. As recycling, composting and other eco-friendly activities become more common, the time seems right to start asking what else can be done to k…
It seems as if many of us have been here before. In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, fuel prices escalated faster than any professional forecasters in the field thought were imaginable, with heating oil soaring faster than gas, electricity, o…
With electric de-regulation well underway in New York City, increased focus is shifting toward how well the competitive system is serving customers. The phased-in process, which began in 1998, has gradually allowed customers to get their el…
So, it’s the holiday season again and everyone is feeling generous, even you. You seem to have gotten past your Scrooge-stage and feel like splurging on someone else for a change. You don’t mind going the extra mile for your neighbor or run…
Electric deregulation is fast becoming a reality in New York. Adhering to the historic 1996 decision of the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC), utility companies throughout the state such as Con Edison, LILCO, Central Hudson and…