Marlborough’s municipal aggregation program might be able to save you hundreds of dollars this winter.

MARLBOROUGH, MA — It might sound complicated, but it’s very simple: Marlborough’s municipal aggregation program might be able to save you thousands of dollars on your electric bills over the next two years.

Like hundreds of other cities and towns in Massachusetts, Marlborough offers an alternative way to buy electricity from National Grid — which is planning a huge rate increase on Nov. 1.

Under Marlborough’s municipal aggregation program, residents can pay an electricity supply rate of about 9.3 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to 33 cent per kilowatt-hour rate National Grid will jump to on Nov. 1

State law allows individual cities and towns to buy electricity in bulk and sell it to residents. Otherwise, you default to National Grid as your supplier — and that means you pay the much higher National Grid supply rates.

If you examine your electric bill, you’ll see two separate charges: one for distribution over the power lines, and one for electricity generation. The supply part of the bill is what you pay for generation before electricity travels across National Grid’s infrastructure. Marlborough buys electricity power from the broker Colonial Power Group, and has locked in the 9.3 cents per kilowatt-hour supply rate until January 2024.

Many Marlborough residents already pay the municipal aggregation rate — but officials estimate there are still about 4,000 customers in the city that are missing out on the savings.

“If you compare a monthly bill to a friend or family member who is not on our aggregate program, their bill is going to be significantly higher. Rates have never been so high, and Marlborough residents will reap the savings from our program this heating season,” Mayor Arthur Vigeant said in a news release.

Want the lower aggregation rate? Contact Colonial Power at (866) 485-5858 or visit the company’s website.