TEWKSBURY, MA – The town of Tewksbury and Colonial Power Group, Inc. announced Wednesday they have entered into a five-year agreement to bring significant energy cost-savings to the town’s residents and small businesses through a new initiative.
Tewksbury residents and business owners will save more than $1.4 million in the first 12 months of a five-year agreement, thanks to the newly created Tewksbury Community Choice Power Supply program.
“We’ve seen how the spikes in the cost of electricity can be burdensome for our residents,” said Town Manager Richard Montuori in a statement issued Wednesday. “We’re pleased to work with Colonial Power to offer Tewksbury residents and small business owners the opportunity to have a more stable and lower-cost energy option.”
The new program will help residents and business owners achieve stability and substantial savings on electricity costs. Participating residents and businesses in Tewksbury will see an annual savings of about 19 percent in their monthly energy bills and the program will provide a combined savings of as much as $153,000 per month for the town’s homes and businesses.
“The Tewksbury Community Choice program provides price stability, local control, and competition while also lowering the burden of energy costs for Tewksbury’s residents and business community,” said Mark Cappadona, president of Colonial Power Group, Inc. in the same statement. “We commend Tewksbury’s Board of Selectmen and Town Manager Montuori for their forward-thinking approach to energy purchasing. By taking this action, they are helping to save residents and business owner’s money on their electricity costs.”
Under the Tewksbury Community Choice Power Supply program, residents will not notice any change in their electricity service. Officials say the only discernable difference will be that Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, or CMEEC, of Norwich, Connecticut, the selected electricity supplier for the Tewksbury Community Choice program, will be printed under the “Supplier Services” of monthly bills. Residents and small business owners will continue to receive one bill from National Grid and to send payments to National Grid for processing. There will be no interruption in billing, power, or customer service.
Colonial Power Group is the leading aggregation consulting firm in Massachusetts. Municipal electricity aggregation allows cities and towns to pool the electrical consumption of all ratepayers in their jurisdictions and competitively procure lower cost electricity supply on behalf of the participants. The aggregation allows the municipality to obtain better pricing than individual residents and business owners could due to economies of scale. Colonial Power works with state officials, utility executives, and energy industry leaders to facilitate the purchase of electricity at a rate lower than basic service rates. Since July 2013, Colonial Power has saved households and businesses across New England a total of nearly $11 million on their electric bills.
Colonial Power Group, which serves nearly 50 municipalities in Massachusetts including the City of Lowell, was chosen to design, implement, and administer the program on behalf of Tewksbury. CMEEC was selected as the electricity supplier through a competitive process. The cost savings for Tewksbury residents and businesses will begin with the May 2016 meter reads (June 2016 billings).
No action is required by ratepayers to participate in this cost-saving program. The program will be operated on an opt-out basis, meaning that all Tewksbury residential and business customers currently on National Grid’s basic service will be automatically enrolled into the program unless they choose to opt out.
The town and representatives of Colonial Power Group will hold informational sessions on April 13 at both 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Town Hall to discuss the Tewksbury Community Choice Power Supply program