The Marion Selectmen are interested in saving money and providing stability for residential and small business electric bills. Pending an affirmative vote by residents at the May 11 Annual Town Meeting, Marion will join the SRPEDD Community Electricity Aggregation (CEA) program.
To date, 14 cities and towns with over 150,000 households in the SRPEDD region have voted at town meetings or city council meetings to join the SRPEDD Community Electricity Aggregation. Five other SRPEDD municipalities with over 35,000 households are interested in joining.
“Everyone understands the concept of purchasing larger quantities is more cost effective than smaller individual purchases. Grouping the residents of Marion in to a single purchasing group and further expanding group by joining with other communities will provide Marion electricity accounts with the purchasing power equal to or better than the largest commercial/industrial customer.” said Ross Perry, SRPEDD’s Director of Municipal Partnerships and CPO.
After a competitive selection process, SRPEDD selected Good Energy L.P. as the aggregation consultant to develop, implement and manage the SRPEDD Community Electricity Aggregation. Good Energy will develop the aggregation documents including the aggregation plan, the public outreach and education plan and the electric services agreement; guide the plans through a very comprehensive Department of Energy Resources consultation period and Department of Public Utilities review and approval process; conduct a very competitive bid for electric supply; manage the opt-out period and monitor and manage the aggregation plan for the term of the electric services agreement.
The Marion Selectmen are looking forward to presenting the Community Electricity Aggregation (CEA) program to the voters. The CEA should help reduce electric bills on an annual basis, provide budget stability through purchase contracts that may cover 12-36 months and allow residents more choice in the amount of green or alternative energy they use.
The SRPEDD Community Electricity Aggregation is a voluntary program. All participants will have the ability to opt-out at any time without paying any termination charges.
There will be a meeting at 7PM on Monday April 27 at the Music Hall where representatives from SRPEDD will provide information and answer questions. More detail can be found at the following website: www.srpedd.org/energy-aggregation.