Pittsfield Board Seeks Greener Power From Aggregation Plan
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Green Commission wants an increase in more "local" renewable energy sources to be part of the the city's emerging power aggregation plan, though the primary focus of the new energy-buying compact will be to try to reduce costs for residential and commercial customers.
Under the new aggregation plan, Pittsfield ratepayers will be able to opt into a system by which their buying power is pooled in an attempt to secure lower supplier rates for end users. In most respects, the draft Municipal Aggregation Plan is comparable to those of other communities in the commonwealth, but has been slightly modified to incorporate a number of comments received from the public during a 30-day public comment period. A majority of these focused on emphasizing "greener" renewable energy, Parks, Open Spaces & Natural Resources Manager James McGrath told the commission last Tuesday.
"If we can get more green, at a better price, that's a win-win for everybody," McGrath said.
This resulted in the addition of new language, Section 11.4, which specifies a preference for supply featuring more Renewable Energy Certificates than the minimum Massachusetts requires under the terms of municipal aggregation.
"In addition to soliciting bids for power supply that meet the required Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) obligation, the City will solicit bids to supply additional Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for an optional product," according to the new section, which states the city will "seek RECs from a variety of renewable sources and will choose the proposal that offers the best combination of environmental benefit and price."
The hope is to source more product not only from renewable sources, but ideally from Mass-based Class 1 renewable suppliers.
"What this would do is it helps advance renewable energy generation and production in the commonwealth," said McGrath. "It keeps the money local and it advances the industry and technology here."
Commissioner Nancy Nylen raised concerns that the new language may not be sufficient to guarantee that more supply ultimately is purchased from renewable sources, or from production in Massachusetts.
"We could potentially go forward with this and have no greener power," said Nylen, inquiring what the protocol would be for selecting the "optional product" referred to in the plan.
McGrath said this would most likely come as an option provided to ratepayers directly by Colonial Power Group as part of the aggregation agreement it reaches with the city. Once an agreement is reached, Colonial will undertake outreach to customers throughout the Pittsfield area, alerting them to the new arrangement and offering the opportunity to opt out of the program if desired. It would also likely presumably include an alternative to opt in to for this alternative product, of which a higher proportion, as much as 5 percent, would be comprised of RECs, though potentially at higher rates for those customers.
"Whatever we come up with, we want it to be at least as green as it is today, but at a better price," said Commissioner John Krol, who also serves on the City Council. "We want to be a greener city, but the main thing with this is that a majority of Pittsfield residents just want to see some relief on their bill."
McGrath said when the city is assessing bids from potentials suppliers, it needs to be cognizant of both price and source, and that "there may need to be some trade offs."
"There's a happy medium somewhere, between price and the shade of green that we're seeking," he said.
This can be further clarified in the language of Section 11.4, McGrath told the commission, and made more specific in the final draft of the agreement with Colonial.
Krol made a motion to approve recommending the commission support the document, including some amended language, to be determined, further emphasizing the city's desire for additional Massachusetts-based, Class 1 RECs in its portfolio above the minimum requirement, and was approved unanimously.
With the Green Commission's recommendation, the plan will go on to Mayor Linda Tyer for review. If put forth by the mayor and approved by City Council, the Department of Public Utilities will then hold a public hearing before preparing an RFP to go out to bid.
Tags: alternative energy, electrical aggregation, renewable energy,
