Municipal Aggregation/Community Choice
Opportunities for Electric Savings with Greener Power
Fall 2022 Town Meeting authorized the Select Board to investigate municipal aggregation in West Newbury and
on August 21, 2023 the Select Board approved a Municipal Aggregation Plan with Colonial Power as consultant.
Next step: consultation with DOER.
Massachusetts allows cities and towns not served by a municipal light plant to use aggregated purchasing power to buy electricity for loads within their territory (on a customer opt-out basis) from competitive suppliers. Over 200 municipalities have been granted the right to develop municipal aggregation aka community choice programs, ranging from towns like Gill (pop. about 1,551) to Boston. Costs of a broker/consultant are built into the power price—meaning no Town outlay in fees or staff resources.
Source: Green Energy Consumers Alliance
Benefits include:
- Price stability with multi-year power purchases vs. utility energy rate changes every 6 months
- Reductions in Town carbon contributions due to greater renewable power sources
- Cost savings generally experienced with municipal aggregations though savings are not guaranteed.
For more information: see Mass. DPU's webpage. See the Town's Municipal Aggregation Plan here.
Source: MA Department of Energy & Environmental Resources
The process involves:
- Green light vote at Town Meeting to allow the Select Board to investigate municipal aggregation--obtained at the October 24, 2022 meeting.
- Select consultant/broker--Colonial Power selected spring 2023.
- Create an aggregation power purchase plan.
- Consult with Department of Energy & Environmental Resources (DOER). West Newbury is at this stage.
- Engage in community outreach and input.
- File with Department of Public Utilities (DPU) & obtain approval.
- Procure electricity & renewable energy through competitive bidding.
- Announce enrollment and opt-out opportunities.
- Monitor program and continue power acquisitions.