The Town of Needham announced the Needham Power Choice program, a municipal electricity aggregation, which is a type of group electricity purchasing program for Needham residents and businesses. Through Needham Power Choice, the Town will use its collective buying power to increase the amount of renewable electricity in the community’s electricity supply. The program will also provide new electricity choices, giving Needham electricity customers greater control over the price and environmental impact of the electricity they use. While Needham Power Choice will not be able to guarantee lower prices compared with Eversource’s Basic Service prices, the Town is committed to working toward providing prices that are competitive and stable for the long term.
When Needham Power Choice launches, Eversource will continue to deliver electricity to Needham without interruption, and Needham Power Choice will not replace Eversource as the Town’s electric utility. Rather, the program will be integrated into the Eversource bill, changing the price used to calculate the Supply charge from Eversource’s Basic Service price to a Needham price.
“The Town looks forward to offering this program to its residents and businesses,” said Select Board Chair Marianne Cooley. “Municipal aggregation is an important tool for our community to increase our use of clean energy at a competitive price, provide ratepayers with more flexibility, and help the Town pursue our collective clean energy and climate goals.”
Before launching the program, the Town must develop an Aggregation Plan and submit it to state regulators for review and approval. To ensure the public has an opportunity to be a part of developing this program, the Town is making its draft Aggregation Plan and associated documents available for review and comment before beginning that regulatory review process.
The draft Aggregation Plan for Needham Power Choice will be available for public review and comment from December 6, 2023, until January 5, 2024. Those interested in reviewing the Plan can download it from the Town of Needham website (https://needhamma.gov/5463/Needham-Power-Choice) or obtain a hard copy of the draft plan from the Office of the Town Manager located on the first floor of Town Hall (1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA 02492). Needham residents and business owners are encouraged to review the plan and submit written comments via email to otm@needhamma.gov or via US Mail to: Office of the Town Manager, c/o Needham Power Choice Public Review, Town Hall, 1471 Highland Ave, Needham, MA 02492. Comments sent by mail must be received (not postmarked) by the end of the comment period in order to be addressed.
An overview of the Plan was presented at the Needham Select Board Meeting on Tuesday, December 5, 2023. For additional information about Needham Power Choice and answers to frequently asked questions, please visit the new program website at NeedhamPowerChoice.com or call customer support with the Town’s program consultants at 1-844-379-2171.
