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Date: 12/15/2021
PELHAM – Local electric bills may soon drop a bit, and the energy will be cleaner, as the effort to establish an aggregator in the Pioneer Valley is approaching the next procedural step.
“Community power aggregation, on average, has been able to provide a lower price for electricity,” said Chris Mason, energy efficiency officer for Northampton. “Community choice aggregation, they try to get the best price ... but it will provide the option to buy a greener product.”
Pelham, Northampton and Amherst will be the initial participants in the proposed aggregation. Residents from an organization, Community Choice Energy (CCE) brought the desire to aggregate to the three municipalities and, according to Mason, are doing most of the leg work. There’s still plenty to do.
“Our goal would be to have implementation happen by 2023,” said Stephanie Ciccarello, sustainability coordinator for Amherst. “In 2022 we’ll hire a consultant for education and community outreach.”
According to the CCE’s website, consumers save between 3 and 10 percent on the cost of electricity with aggregation. In the project under development the benefits extend beyond those modest savings.
Aggregations are run by consultants who collect a fee, a small piece of the bill consumers pay; but in this aggregation the consultant’s fee will remain with the municipalities for the local production of green energy.
“At the baseline, that’s what a community aggregation is for,” Ciccarello said. “You might get a better price, or a greener blend of electricity. In this case, we’re [also] looking more to do programming that will help reduce emissions. It’s more of the possibilities of what we can do through an aggregation.”
A benefit besides greening up the energy supply, according to Mason, is equity. Low-income residents also gain equal access to green energy. Residents will automatically enroll into the plan and must “opt out” if they do not want to participate.
The proposed aggregation may also nudge the development of micro-grids, home area networks, storage measures, solar arrays, and wind power generation at the local level. Municipalities have the flexibility to install electric vehicle charging stations and other green energy options for the community.
“You do have more flexibility,” Ciccarello explained, “but you also have more control over...whether you can help increase the development of more green energy.”
Towns and cities joining to aggregate electricity is not a new idea. According the CCE’s website, over 145 communities in the Bay State are members of aggregations set up just to see the savings on electricity. Cape Light Compact is the only other aggregator to offer, along with savings, local green energy development.
“Assuming they approve it,” said Wayne Feiden, referring to the state’s Department of Public Utilities, “what happens is, our aggregator becomes the electrical provider. We’re responsible for buying the power wholesale.” Feiden is the director of Planning and Sustainability for the city of Northampton. “We would just become the provider, not the utility, with a greater mix of energy sources.”
The municipalities would not be responsible for billing, customer service, maintenance of electrical lines and poles, and resolution of power outages. All those services would continue to be provided by the utility, EverSource or National Grid. Those with home or business solar arrays will still be subject to net metering and be able sell excess power to the aggregator, without individual contracts.
John Larson, co-chair of the Pelham Energy Committee, tasked with counseling the Select Board, told Reminder Publishing that the town is discussing the arrangement. The towns would sign a Joint Powers Agreement and oversee the resulting power supplier.
The three founding members may not be alone in the agreement for long. In the future, after the agreement between the communities is signed, a plan for operation must be submitted and accepted by the Department of Public Utilities.
After that stamp of approval, the next step is to sign purchase contracts for electricity.
Other communities may then become part of the power arrangement.
“We have every intention of including other communities in this program,” Ciccarello said. “We’re hoping that it becomes widespread, across the region, and would be a regional effort.”
More information on the electrical aggregation process and Community Choice Energy can be found at https://wmacce.wordpress.com.