Electrifying an Island

Back in February of 1951, Gay Head (now Aquinnah) was the last town in Massachusetts to receive electricity, trailing most other towns in the state by about 20 years.

“It was a big to-do in town,” recalled the late June Manning, who was four years old at the time, in a 2017 interview conducted and edited by Linsey Lee, oral history curator of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. The Aquinnah Club, a women’s organization, led the effort to convince the Cape & Vineyard Electric Co. to extend power lines to the western end of the Island. A Boston Globe archival photo shows June and her little sister, Judy, holding a lightbulb. “It was like, ‘Oh, a new toy,’” June said. “It was wonderful to get electricity.” The cost to connect the town to the grid was $22,000 — the equivalent of about $278,000 today. 

The slow march of electrification wasn’t just a story in Aquinnah — it stretched across the whole western side of the Island. The late Everett Poole, a longtime Chilmark resident, remembered eagerly watching the electric poles inch their way up the road toward his house. 

“We had a hand pump right by the back door and there was no electricity,” he recalled in another oral history interview with Linsey Lee. “I remember when electricity was coming to Menemsha, the electricity came up the South Road. We didn’t have electricity on the North Road for a long while after that. It came up the South Road and I would be coming home from grammar school every day, counting the poles to see how close they were getting to my house.”

Now, more than 70 years later, as demand for renewable energy sources grows across the state, the western part of the Island, once at the end of the electricity pipeline, is at the forefront. Aquinnah was selected as one of 10 towns in the Commonwealth to participate in a pilot program requiring all-electric construction for new buildings. The town also partnered with Chilmark and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to join a federally-funded initiative to develop microgrids for town centers. 

In fact, all six Island towns have identified buildings for microgrid or solar and battery storage projects as part of a plan to make critical infrastructure more resilient. In West Tisbury, a microgrid project is underway at the library, which also serves as an emergency heating and cooling shelter and public source of water for the town. Edgartown is developing a similar microgrid project for its Highway Department campus, while Vineyard Haven plans to install solar panels and battery storage at the Tisbury Senior Center, set to serve as an emergency shelter. And Oak Bluffs has chosen its town hall for solar and battery storage installation. 

Microgrid projects include solar facilities, battery backup, and the wiring together of multiple buildings, whereas ordinary solar and battery storage projects provide energy storage and power to a single building. These initiatives will offer backup electricity during power outages and help reduce everyday peak demand on the grid — lessening dependence on fossil fuel-powered generators. Projects in West Tisbury and Vineyard Haven are expected to be completed by the end of this year, while projects in Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, and Oak Bluffs are slated for 2026. 

“It’ll be the first time something like this has been done on the Island,” said Richard Andre, president and director of Vineyard Power, referring to the municipal microgrids. Vineyard Power, a nonprofit organization, is helping Island towns transition to clean energy using funding from a Community Benefit Agreement with Vineyard Wind. (The organization also offers energy assessments and coaching for homeowners, landlords, and renters.)

These initiatives are part of an ongoing effort to help the Island achieve its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040 — a commitment shared by all six towns. Various sectors are working to do their part. The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is planning to install additional solar panels and electric vehicle (EV) chargers at its new workforce housing, currently under construction. The Tisbury School, which opened its all-electric building last year, is equipped with four EV chargers. The Vineyard Transit Authority continues to electrify its bus fleet, supported by solar carports and a large battery storage system.

There are also large-scale solar projects on the way. Edgartown is planning a 4-megawatt solar array atop the closed Meshacket Road landfill, and Oak Bluffs received approval from Eversource to interconnect a new 1-megawatt solar array at its landfill site. 

In its 2024 Getting to 100% Renewable report, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission noted that achieving 100% renewable “means moving away from burning fossil fuels by transitioning to all-electric and providing our needed power from renewable sources. This requires a major shift in the way we heat our homes and hot water, how we get around, and where our energy comes from… In achieving this goal, we have cleaner air, healthier people, and a more equitable and prosperous community for everyone.”

Some renewable power will come from Island solar arrays — there are now over 1,500 solar arrays on the Island, generating about 10 percent of its power, according to the MVC report. More will come from offshore wind — “Vineyard Wind I alone will provide enough to power all the homes of Cape Cod, the Vineyard, Nantucket, and parts of Plymouth County,” the MVC report said. The timeline for Vineyard Wind I remains unclear at the moment due to unpredictability in permitting at the federal level.

And some will come from a cleaner, greener electrical grid.

“It’s not the same grid it was 100 years ago”

Martha’s Vineyard doesn’t have any power plants, and most of its electricity arrives from the mainland via undersea cables. As the Island transitions to all-electric systems, demand for electricity will increase significantly, and the grid is being updated to meet that demand.

Eversource is currently installing a new undersea cable and replacing an old one, with both cables expected to be in service by spring 2026. Both cables run through Falmouth, cross the Vineyard Sound, and come ashore on the Island in West Chop and East Chop. Once this work has been completed, the Island will effectively have two new cables, for a total of five. The replaced cable runs to West Chop, along with two other cables, and the new cable runs to East Chop, near Eastville Beach, along with one other cable. Eversource says that the new cables will be capable of providing 140% of the utility’s projected electricity needs for the Island by 2050. The company is also building a new substation near the hospital. Once these upgrades are online, Eversource plans to decommission its five diesel-powered generators on the Island.  

“It’s going to help tremendously,” said Richard Andre, noting that electricity demand is projected to double in the next 15 years. “As we decarbonize, the grid’s changing … it’s not the same grid it was 100 years ago.” Eversource is also upgrading transmission infrastructure — putting up new poles and wires and clearing trees around them to reduce interference.  

Electrifying the Steamship

The Steamship Authority, while unavailable for comment for this article, has 10 vessels that are responsible for 14% of the Island’s transportation emissions, according to the MVC’s Getting to 100% Renewable report. The Conservation Law Foundation has confirmed that Massachusetts’ decarbonization requirements apply across all sectors — meaning that the Steamship will need to follow suit. The company has stated that its next newly-built vessel will “at least be a hybrid,” and has budgeted $375,000 to design a hybrid vessel. Its Woods Hole Terminal Building, currently under construction, is designed to be net zero, powered by solar and geothermal heating and cooling systems. The SSA is also looking to add electric buses to its fleet.

Steamship general manager Robert Davis recently said the ferry line has been in contact with Seattle-based Elliott Bay Design Group, which conducted a 2022 study that stated the Vineyard route was viable for electric ferries. 

Other ferry systems around the world are already making the shift. Denmark’s E-Ferry Ellen, in service since 2019, is similar in size to one of the Steamship’s freight boats. Norway, Sweden, and Canada also have all-electric or hybrid-electric ferries, and ferries in Maine and Washington State are undergoing electrification as well. 

One challenge: the Steamship is one of the few ferry systems that relies entirely on fare revenue and receives no state funding. “This model limits the funding sources available for making the required transition, even if just for our capital expenses,” the MVC report states. “The Steamship may have to look for additional sources of revenue to fund the procurement of hybrid or electric vehicles.”

A newly formed Steamship Authority Citizens’ Action Group encourages residents and visitors to voice their concerns about the ferry system’s efforts to decarbonize, especially as it chooses a new general manager. The group penned a sample letter voicing concerns and priorities for people to send to the Steamship’s offices at 228 Palmer Ave. in Falmouth. 

What homeowners can do

For homeowners, one of the most important first steps toward energy efficiency is  ensuring proper insulation and switching to electric appliances, heating, and hot water systems. Then, adding solar panels or driving electric vehicles are also key options. Battery storage — still an emerging technology— allows homeowners to store energy and reduce demand on the grid during peak hours (typically between 3 and 7 pm), cutting fossil fuel use, and providing backup during outages.

South Mountain Company is one of the Island-based companies that does both solar and battery installations, and Rob Meyers, director of energy technology, said two shifts in the battery storage sector have made it more accessible to homeowners. “Battery costs have fallen by about 70 percent over the past decade,” he said. The second shift is the ability to install batteries outdoors, something introduced over the last year. “Battery manufacturers have updated their technology so that they have either onboard HVAC systems or are able to withstand our colder climate.” That’s significant, he said, because older systems often required costly fire-rated rooms in basements. “Having the flexibility to install them outdoors makes it a much more desirable option.”

What second homeowners can do

Even if you’re not on the Island year-round, you can still help the community reach its renewable energy goals. A lot of summer homes consume more electricity, and many people don’t fully shut them down during the winter. Installing solar panels on a second home and using “net metering” — where excess power is sent back to the grid — can help. Energy credits can be donated to a nonprofit, a food pantry, or a neighbor through a Schedule Z form. “The state and the utility companies have made that a fairly easy process,” Richard Andre said. “It’s a way to give back — to contribute to the Island’s goals.” 

New incentives for homeowners

Two new state programs are making clean energy even more attractive: 

• SMART 3.0, a production-based incentive launching later this year, will pay homeowners for every kilowatt-hour of solar energy generated, whether used on-site or sent back to the grid. “It’s a 10-year program and homeowners get direct income through it,” Rob Meyers said. While the exact payout rate is still unknown, solar installers like South Mountain will handle enrollment. 

• Connected Solutions is a voluntary program that allows the utility to occasionally draw power from a homeowner’s battery during peak demand times. “So when the use is the highest, they’ll pull a little juice from your battery, and it’s a way to reduce the amount of peak power plants that they have to turn on, and for homeowners to earn money to stabilize the grid,” Rob said. 

Looking ahead, one event Islanders might want to mark on their calendars is SunDay, Sept. 21, 2025 — a global day of action celebrating solar and wind power and the transition away from fossil fuels. Organizers encourage communities across the world to rally, build, and raise awareness for clean energy efforts. Learn more at sunday.earth. 

More resources 

• Car charging stations on Martha’s Vineyard: bit.ly/carchargingMV
• How to purchase green energy through Cape Light Compact: capelightcompact.org/clcgreen/
• Mass Save energy-savings opportunities: masssave.com

For a list of even more energy resources, visit Edgartown’s Energy Committee website (scroll to the bottom of the webpage).