Cambridge Community Electricity Program to Offer New Prices and Three Years of Price Stability Beginning in January


1/14/2021 • 3 years ago

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The City of Cambridge has signed a new, 36-month electricity supply contract with Direct Energy for the Cambridge Community Electricity Program. With this contract, the City reaffirms its commitment both to creating more local renewable electricity and to providing Cambridge residents and businesses with competitive pricing and access to cost-effective, clean electricity. The new contract is the result of a competitive bidding process, and it will offer new prices and three years of price stability to all program participants beginning in January 2021.

Participants in the Standard Green offering, which is the default program offering, will see their price drop from 11.12 cents/kWh to a new price of 10.20 cents/kWh. The new price is also lower than Eversource’s January 2021 through June 2021 residential price of 11.795 cents/kWh. However, it is important to note that savings cannot be guaranteed for future Eversource rate periods because Eversource’s prices change every 6 months for residential and small business customers and every 3 months for large business customers.

Participants in the 100% Green Plus option, which provides 100% renewable electricity through the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) from renewable energy projects in New England, will see an increase from 11.94 cents/kWh to 13.669 cents/kWh. The increase is primarily due to an increase in the cost of renewable electricity from New England. By choosing to opt up to 100% Green Plus, program participants increase demand for renewable electricity produced in New England, which helps to drive the development of new renewable energy projects on the local power grid and supports the jobs that go with them. Any Cambridge resident or business can opt up to 100% Green Plus at any time.

Through the new contract, the City will continue to collect a small amount of money, $0.002/kWh, from all participants as part of their regular electricity bill, which will be used to fund a new local solar project. Once built, the solar project will provide clean, renewable electricity to all participants in the Cambridge Community Electricity Program. The $0.002/kWh is included in the Standard Green and 100% Green Plus prices quoted above.

Active participants in the Cambridge Community Electricity Program do not need to take any action to participate in the new contract with Direct Energy. They will be automatically enrolled with their January 2021 meter read, and the new prices will first appear on February 2021 Eversource electricity bills. Program participants will continue to see Direct Energy listed as their electricity supplier on their Eversource electricity bills.

Program participants will continue to receive and pay one bill from Eversource, which will be responsible for delivering electricity to Cambridge and for addressing power outages. Those who are eligible for discounts from Eversource will continue to receive the same benefits. Those with solar panels on their property will continue to receive net metering credits, which will be calculated based on the Eversource Basic Service rate, not on the program rate.

New electricity accounts in Cambridge will be automatically enrolled in the Cambridge Community Electricity Program, but program participation is not required. Program participants can opt out of the program at any time with no penalty or fee and return to Eversource’s Basic Service.

To switch between the Standard Green or the 100% Green Plus enrollment options, to opt out of the program, or to ask questions, contact customer support with the City’s program consultants at 1-844-379-9934 or cambridge@masspowerchoice.com.  Additional information is available on the program website at www.masspowerchoice.com/cambridge. If you have questions about how to read or understand your electricity bill, please call the City’s new help line: 857-305-8812.

Launched in July 2017, the Cambridge Community Electricity Program is an electricity aggregation, which uses the group purchasing power of the entire community to negotiate a price and increase the amount of renewable energy in the City’s electricity supply. The City uses a competitive bidding process to choose an electricity supplier for residents and businesses and to secure the best price possible for the community while advancing the City’s sustainability goals.