Roff_Bob t1_ir3f5vv wrote on October 5, 2022 at 1:14 AM

Reply to comment by Automatic_Sleep_4723 in PSA: if you're concerned about electric costs rising, see if your town is part of a municipal aggregation program by tzigane

>Of COURSE Norwood isn’t listed

Norwood's electricity is municipally regulated (Norwood Power and Light) so *might* not be included in Mass's aggregation law. Doesn't Town of Norwood already negotiate cost of electricity themselves through the town-owned electric utility. So you're already aggregated in the sense that the town is negotiating the cost of electricity for you, not an investor-owned utility like Eversource doing the negotiating.

Ksevio t1_ir3hta8 wrote on October 5, 2022 at 1:34 AM

Municipal power companies are even better than negotiating with National Grid. Used to have one and it had way better service at lower prices

wittgensteins-boat t1_ir3o7qn wrote on October 5, 2022 at 2:25 AM

Lower prices are in great part due to the Massachusetts Municipal Electric Wholesale Electric Company owning a significant portion of the Seabrook NH Nuclear Power Plant: 11.59%, on behalf of many municipal power and light companies in Massachusetts.

Reference:

SEABROOK STATION
Mass Municipal Electric Wholesale Electric Company
https://www.mmwec.org/our-energy-assets/seabrook-nuclear/

> MMWEC (11.59%) and two Massachusetts municipal utilities, the Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant (0.1%) and the Hudson Light & Power Department (0.08%).

> MMWEC’s Seabrook Project Participants include 28 Massachusetts municipal utilities based in the communities of Ashburnham, Boylston, Braintree, Danvers, Georgetown, Groton, Hingham, Holden, Holyoke, Hudson, Hull, Ipswich, Littleton, Mansfield, Marblehead, Middleborough, Middleton, North Attleborough, Paxton, Peabody, Reading, Shrewsbury, South Hadley, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, West Boylston and Westfield. The Pascoag (Rhode Island) Utility District also is an MMWEC Seabrook Project Participant.

Automatic_Sleep_4723 t1_ir3jqzn wrote on October 5, 2022 at 1:50 AM

Not that I and many others are aware of. There are many folks that have already seen almost double the usual cost of our electric bills and we haven’t even entered the coldest months.

commentsOnPizza t1_ir3yqio wrote on October 5, 2022 at 3:57 AM

Towns that are negotiating their aggregations this fall are seeing their rates jump 40-60% and they're going to stay high for two years (though maybe market prices will also stay high).

Norwood Power and Light is likely setting their rates every 6 months and so it's likely that Norwood will see a greater jump this winter while seeing prices come back down as the energy market cools (assuming it does).

Norwood Power and Light isn't a for-profit company trying to milk you for profits. They're your town.

I'd also note that Norwood's electric rates are $0.1199/kWh which is pretty great right now. However, that might go up in January. If people are "see[ing] almost double the usual cost of [their] electric bills" in Norwood, they're either using more electricity or forgetting how much they usually pay.