U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Hero Photo

Energy Efficiency & Clean Energy

Community Development

The City’s climate change planning focuses on two key goals: lessening climate change impacts by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making Cambridge more resilient to climate change impacts. Helping residents and businesses become more energy efficient and use renewable energy furthers these goals.The Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA), a City program, can help you obtain an energy assessment, connect you with resources that can make your building more efficient, and help you access rebates provided by utility companies.  Support is also available to install solar on your property or buy green electricity. The City encourages the use of electric vehicles (EVs) for those who drive by providing advice and installing public charging stations. 

Longterm strategies, like the Climate Change Preparedness Plan and the Net Zero Action Plan, are in progress to keep us on track to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and ensure that our city, its residents, and its businesses are prepared to cope with expected impacts of climate change. Learn more about climate change planning and clean energy efforts.

How Do I Save Money On My Energy Bills?

The Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) helps residents, businesses, and institutions access energy efficiency and energy efficiency and renewable energy programs and resources. Improving energy efficiency helps residents and business owners save money, improve building comfort, and reduce Cambridge’s carbon footprint. The following programs are available to the Cambridge community:

  • Electrify Cambridge is a new program to support residents with green, clean, electric home energy upgrades! Whether you live in a single-family home, a triple-decker, or a larger multifamily building, you can tap into educational resources and no-cost, specialized consultations to help you make your home greener, healthier, and more efficient with all-electric solutions. 
  • Sunny Cambridge is a city-wide initiative to make it easy for all types of Cambridge residents to get solar power for their homes. Through the online EnergySage Solar Marketplace, Sunny Cambridge helps residents request, receive, and compare solar options and installation quotes. 
  • The Cambridge Community Electricity Program is an electricity aggregation program that increases the amount of renewable energy in electricity and offers the potential for savings on the supplier services portion of Eversource electric bills. The City has chosen a new supplier to continue the community electricity program January 2019 - December 2020. Pricing will be announced in January.

         Residents and business owners can switch energy suppliers or opt out of the program at any time. To learn more, visit masspowerchoice.com/cambridge

Read the Cambridge Energy Alliance's tips for saving energy and money at home.

How Do I Learn About Installing Solar Panels on My Home or Business?

Sunny Cambridge can connect you to a online solar assessment, which will help you determine how solar works for your home or business. Sunny Cambridge has solar advisors to help you through your solar purchase and allows you to easily compare solar installation prices from multi, high-quality installers.

You can also check out your address's solar potential through Cambridge's Solar System map

Does the City Have Resources for Electric Vehicles?

The City can connect you with resources for exploring different types and models of electric vehicles (EVs), tax credits, and rebates

EV drivers can charge their vehicles at the following City-owned charging stations:

  • Department of Public Works, 147 Hampshire Street
This station is open to the public from 6:00p.m. - 6:00a.m. on weekdays, and all days on weekends (ending at 6:00 a.m. on Mondays). There is one dedicated EV charging space in the public parking lot at the front of the building. The charging station can provide a Level 1 or 2 charge.
  • First St. Garage, 2nd Level. Entrance on Spring Street

This station is open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It can charge two cars with a level 2 charge at the same time. There are two dedicated parking spots for EVs at this station.

  • City Lot #5 on Bishop Allen Drive, between Norfolk and Douglass Street
This station is open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It can charge two cars with a level 2 charge at the same time. There are two dedicated parking spots for EVs at this station.
  • City Hall, Inman Street side lot
This station is open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It can charge 1 vehicle (level 2 charge) at a time. 

In spring 2019, dual-head charging stations, capable of charging two vehicles at a time, will be installed at the following locations: 99 Sherman St. (Danehy Park Office), 73 Sherman Street (St Peters Field / Salt Shed), 177 Garden Street (St Peters Field / Montessori School), 375 Green St (Lot 8), 420 Green St. (Lot 9). For related updates, visit the Electric Vehicles webpage

To search for EV charging stations by zipcode, click here. 


Page was last modified on 11/17/2023 11:13 AM
Contact Us

How can we help?

Please provide as much detail below as possible so City staff can respond to your inquiry:

As a governmental entity, the Massachusetts Public Records Law applies to records made or received by the City. Any information received through use of this site is subject to the same provisions as information provided on paper.

Read our complete privacy statement


Service Requests

Enter a service request via SeeClickFix for things like missed trash pickups, potholes, etc.