Page 14 - BusinessWest March 17, 2025

EDITORIAL >>
Challenging Times for a Screen Gem
While extolling the benefits of Amherst Cinema in this issue’s lead feature story, Executive Director Yasmin Chin Eisen- hauer didn’t mince words when it came to the challenges faced by the facility and other independent, nonprofit moviehouses like it.
One is the fact that ticket sales have never totally recovered from the COVID years. That’s true across the industry, but in the case of Amherst Cinema, while the 84,260 tickets sold in 2024 represented the continuation of a strong recovery from 21,150 in 2020, it was still only about 80% of the 108,000 sold in the average pre-pandem- ic year.
At least the facility survived; many theaters did not. The National Cinema Foundation reported that there were more than 39,000 movie screens in the U.S. in 2022, down from 41,000 in 2019, and more screens have been lost since then.
The main problem may be that more content is available to stream at home. The Atlantic reported last month that the average adult sees three films at the movie theater per year but consumes nearly 19 hours of television — the rough equivalent of eight movies — on a weekly basis.
“Combined with significant industry disruption and rising costs, the cinema has experienced three years of financial losses,” Eisen- hauer told BusinessWest. “This is an unsustainable trend.”
Which is why Amherst Cinema is implementing measures to reduce costs as part of a broader, organization-wide sustainability plan, directing resources where they can have the greatest impact and safeguarding the nonprofit’s ability to deliver on its mission. (These decisions were finalized in the days following our interview
OPINION >>
with Eisenhauer, and related to us just before we went to press with this issue.)
Specifically, the facility has discontinued some of its least-attend- ed showtimes (Sundays at 9 p.m. and Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and 9 p.m.). In mid-May, it will permanently shutter its Studio Theater, a space it leases rather than owns; after significant cost-benefit analy- sis, Eisenhauer said, reducing operations from four to three screens is the most sustainable path forward. Unfortunately, these measures will also necessitate a reduction in staff.
“That said, two things can be true at once,” she told Business- West. “While we’re experiencing the impacts of a disrupted film exhibition landscape, our commitment to advancing film arts and culture has never been stronger. We will continue to program criti- cally acclaimed films and artfully created and educational film experiences. As we like to say, there is something for everyone at Amherst Cinema.”
As the article on page 4 makes clear, this is very true. From clas- sic kids’ films to Friday-night cult films; from indie films difficult to find on other big screens to movies paired with lectures by filmmak- ers and topical experts, Amherst Cinema has certainly created and deepened a niche over the past two decades of, as Eisenhauer put it, catalyzing community. And, as we would put it, being an essential part of this region’s cultural landscape.
Which is why we encourage everyone to check out a movie —
or many — there, and to consider becoming a member. Not every region has a resource like this one, offering an experience you just can’t find on a living-room couch: real community connection. It’s an institution worth supporting. BW
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DPU Prioritizes Energy Affordability
BY PENNI CONNER
Eversource commends the Department of Public Utilities for lis- tening to customer concerns about affordability and taking the difficult action on Feb. 28 to order a reduction in the proposed
2025-27 Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization Plan. This is the most immediate step the state can take to provide long-term rate relief to customers and ensure that the pace of the energy transition in Massachusetts is affordable and attainable.
To be clear, we are steadfastly committed to the Mass Save pro- grams, which are essential to meeting the Commonwealth’s decar- bonization goals and provide significant benefits to customers and the state as a whole, but this winter’s higher-than-normal natural-gas bills make a revision to this plan imperative at this time.
This is how the collaborative process is intended to work — a wide variety of diverse stakeholders come together to develop a plan aimed at achieving Massachusetts’ ambitious clean-energy targets, and that plan then receives a thorough regulatory review to ensure all aspects of the program respond to customer needs and strike
a balance between meeting statewide climate goals, establishing program affordability, providing robust access for customers, and enhancing reliability.
We appreciate the invaluable collaboration of the wide variety
of diverse stakeholders on the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council who unanimously supported the proposed plan, as well as the Mas- sachusetts Department of Energy Resources, the Attorney General’s Office, and countless other community, business, and labor stake- holders who provided their input through this process — and we look forward to our continued work together to deliver the nation- leading energy-efficiency programs that reflect our broad support
of efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, improve air quality, and advance electrification while also driving down energy usage for customers.
At the same time, this winter’s bills have posed serious challeng-
es and concerns for our customers that reinforce the critical need to maintain affordability and reliability as top priorities in our collective pursuit of the Commonwealth’s energy transition. We will be closely reviewing this order with those priorities top of mind as we work collaboratively to develop a revised plan that best serves all custom- ers and communities.
Massachusetts has been number one in the nation for energy efficiency under previous plans that had lower budgets for these pro- grams, and we’re confident that we can keep the Commonwealth at the national forefront of energy efficiency and decarbonization with a revised plan.
Moving forward, we’re as committed as ever to the collaboration and hard work that will be required to provide impactful, long-term rate relief to customers while also advancing a clean-energy future that addresses climate change. Energy efficiency is just one of many important pieces on that broader path to decarbonization, and col- lective buy-in is essential for the various solutions that will be need- ed to achieve our shared goals, including addressing the region’s energy-supply challenges.
Along with a 10% reduction to the total bill through the local distribution adjustment charge that Eversource proposed late last month, customers began seeing lower rates effective March 1. Total estimated bill impacts through the off-peak months for customers as a result of these adjustments are not yet available and will be pro- vided in upcoming regulatory filings.
Eversource encourages customers to take advantage of the many options available to help them manage their energy bills with finan- cial assistance, flexible payment plans, and energy-efficiency pro- grams. BW
Penni Conner is executive vice president of Customer Experience and Energy Strategy for Eversource.
14 MARCH 17, 2025
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