Despite common misconception, the correct term is Daylight SAVING Time, not Daylight SAVINGS Time.
According to FOX 25 News, Massachusetts could become the first state to give up Daylight Saving Time in 2017.
An 11-member committee is will weigh the pros and cons with abandoning a process that has been in place since WWII. The committee will consider what, if any, effects these changes will have on the local economy and public health.
Historically, Daylight Saving Time was intended to save money. In Ben Franklin’s day it was hoped to save on the cost of candles. By WWI it was meant to reduce the cost of energy.
A study reported by National Geographic in 2006 found that in some states, the opposite happens. In Indiana, residents were stuck with higher electric bills from running their AC an hour longer each day in the summer. During the 2000 Olympics, Australia extended their Daylight Saving Time to reduce electrical costs from lighting. What they found was that while lighting costs went down in the evening, they rose in the morning and negated any savings.
Massachusetts usually springs forward an hour into Eastern Daylight Time from the second weekend in March through the first weekend of November.