"The project was not always easy"

From the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA)

"Twelve towns in Franklin County and one in Hampshire County have come together to form a municipal electricity aggregation program with the goal of combating climate change and providing residents with more renewable energy options.

The 13 towns – Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Gill, Huntington, New Salem, Northfield, Shelburne, Sunderland, Warwick and Whately – recently entered into a 41-month contract with municipal energy consultant Colonial Power Group to develop and manage the Community Choice Power Supply Program, with Dynegy Energy Services to supply electricity.

The aggregation program allows the towns to purchase electricity as a group, giving them greater bargaining power when selecting their supplier. The towns were able to select a range of different renewable energy products to offer their residents, with each town deciding its own default option from the portfolio assembled through the bidding process.

“It’s something that would be very difficult for a tiny town to do, but because we could get multiple towns together, we could make it work,” said Conway Selectboard Member Bob Armstrong, who leads the project. “We were able to get a bid that was lower cost than Eversource, and which offered more green options – something that we had promised the towns.”

Continue reading the article online

https://www.mma.org/13-towns-in-franklin-and-hampshire-counties-create-electricity-aggregation-program/

 

From the Archives:

 

February 12, 2020 in this audio segment of the Town Council meeting, Town Administrator Jamie Hellen talked of the contract and bid price reached (finally)

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/02/fm-208-jamie-hellen-on-municipal.html

 

Aggregation Plan released for Town Council meeting review and discussion
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/02/municipal-aggregation-program.html

Link to Municipal Aggregation docs on Town of Franklin page
https://www.franklinma.gov/administrator/pages/municipal-aggregation-documents

 

From the Town Council meeting where this was approved
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/03/live-reporting-legislation-for-action.html

Aggregation Presentation doc - March 9, 2016
https://www.slideshare.net/shersteve/franklin-community-choice-aggregation-program  

 

 

municipal aggregation program