Thank you to Leslie, Sally, and others for asking how the projected price hikes by Eversource will affect those of us participating in Lincoln's electrical aggregation program .
Short answer We all have been and will remain protected from Eversource’s price hikes, collectively saving about $1.1 million through the end of this year, when our current contract will expire. However, when we enter into a new contract, we will unavoidably have to pay more due to the changed market conditions for electricity due to the war in Ukraine etc. We hope to maintain in the new contract at least a slight price advantage relative to Eversource customers who aren’t in our program, and we will keep you posted. Detailed answer Our town electrical aggregation program, "Lincoln Green Energy Choice", has protected everyone who participated from Eversource's price increases. Even those who opted up to the "100% Green" option by agreeing to pay a little more are nevertheless now paying less than regular Eversource customers do. In fact, by the time our current contract ends at the end of December, participants in the Lincoln Green Energy Choice program will have collectively saved about $1.1 million, compared to if we had all stayed regular Eversource customers. Yea! Because our contract will expire in December, we need to go out to bid in October for the next contract. The contract contains two components, the cost for electricity and the cost of the Class 1 Renewable Energy Credits, or "RECs". Those RECs are what allow us to call our electricity partially "green" (or completely green, for those of us who have chosen to opt up). Except to the extent that we have our own solar panels, we still unavoidably get our electricity from the regional grid, which is powered more by natural gas than by renewables. However, our buying more RECs forces more renewables to be built sooner, thereby speeding up "greening the grid". That's real change, meaning actual reduction in emissions of global-warming gases. In the next contract, we aim to keep the cost of the REC component the same as currently. However, because we still must get our electricity from the regional grid, our next contract will include a price increase reflecting the changed market conditions. Anyone dropping out of the Town program would face the same worsened pricing conditions. We hope that we will be able to use our contract timing to keep the total cost of the Lincoln Green Energy Choice program -- i.e., cost for electricity plus RECs -- less than the price for regular Eversource customers. However, that cannot be guaranteed. As required by state law, we will inform the public when the pricing is settled, so people can make an informed choice. Opting up Lincoln has the state's highest percentage of people opting up to 100% Green. Yea for us! You can still opt up at any time, by going to https://www.masspowerchoice.com/lincoln. It’s one of the most impactful things you can do and the additional cost is modest, so I encourage everyone to do so. Paul Shorb on behalf of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee
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