News Archive Article

Ayer mulls starting local utility

AYER, MASSACHUSSETTS - Selectmen recently agreed to spend $30,000 in grant money to start researching potential benefits of creating a municipal electric company.

If nothing else, the town could save about $30,000 annually by buying the streetlights in town from National Grid, said Roger Beeltje, former chief executive for Groton Municipal Power Corp. The town pays National Grid about $60,000 a year for the lights, said Selectman Connie Sullivan. The town would save money by changing its own fixtures and installing more efficient equipment, Beeltje said during a recent board meeting. "Do the street lights now," he said. "I know there are... substantial savings there."

The town will use money from the Urban Development Action Grant to hire a consultant.

Beeltje said he's retired and not interested in the job. Owning a municipal department is a huge value for a community but there hasn't been a new municipal light department created in the state in about 80 years, Beeltje said. "It's also the highest financial risk and least chance of happening," he said.

If the town were to create its own electricity, it would need to use diesel, biomass, wind or some other form of fuel. Cooperative electric plants around the country are able to negotiate rates in order to attract businesses to their communities, Beeltje said. If the town were to create its own electric department, it would still need to pay for transportation and distribution costs unless it were to buy the power lines used to send the electricity to homes and businesses in town.

The town is part of the Constellation New Energy consortium paying 7 1/2 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity compared to about 11 or 11 1/2 cents for electricity from National Grid, said Town Administrator Shaun Suhoski.

Related News

power lines

Buyer's Remorse: Questions about grid modernization affordability

WASHINGTON - Utilities’ pursuit of a modern grid to maintain the reliability and safety pillars of electricity delivery has raised a lot of questions about the third pillar — affordability.

Utilities are seeing rising penetrations of emerging technologies like distributed solar, behind-the-meter battery storage, and electric vehicles. These new distributed energy resources (DER) do not eliminate utilities' need to keep distribution systems safe and reliable.

But the need for modern tools to manage DER imposes costs on utilities that some regulators, lawmakers and policymakers are concerned could drive up electricity rates.

The result is an increasing number of legislative and regulatory grid modernization…

READ MORE
china electric bus

Why electric buses haven't taken over the world—yet

READ MORE

renewable energy protest

Why the shift toward renewable energy is not enough

READ MORE

nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset

Hinkley C nuclear reactor roof lifted into place

READ MORE

Ontario utilities team up to warn customers about ongoing scams

READ MORE