Harvard has signed a new two-year energy service contract with rates that are almost half of what they were last winter of 2022. The new rates will not change for the next two years.
Residents of Harvard who are already a part of the Community Choice Aggregation program will be automatically enrolled in the new contract with Dynergy, an energy service provider.
The new rates with Dynergy will be 0.14841 for 100% renewable or 0.14692 for basic energy and will not fluctuate seasonally. From November 2022 through April 2023, Harvard was in a contract with Direct Energy and the price of energy was inflated. The town then entered another six-month contract in May 2023 with Direct Energy that will end this October, which caused there to be different summer and winter rates.
Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro and Colonial Power, Harvard’s energy broker, sought a new contract that would lower electric bills for Harvard energy users. “There had been that zany period of incredibly high rates, sort of a hyper inflation of electricity,” she said. Sobalvarro, with the guidance of Colonial Power, decided this new contract with Dynergy was the best fit for the town.
Unless residents have a private contract with an energy supplier, all are opted in to the aggregation program, which by default sources renewable energy. However, residents can opt out and seek a private contract with an alternative provider that uses nonrenewable sources at a somewhat lower cost per kilowatt.
According to Brian Smith, chair of the Energy Advisory Committee, the benefits of partnering with an energy broker, like Colonial Power, is that they are always predicting the cost of energy and shopping for the lowest rate.
The Community Choice Aggregation program is a statewide program that allows for towns to contract with energy providers other than National Grid, Harvard’s default provider. National Grid still transmits electricity and maintains power lines in Harvard, according to Ellen Sachs Leicher, chair of Harvard’s Climate Initiative Committee. Before the aggregation program, towns were limited to whatever supplier and rates National Grid was offering. However, for the last few years Harvard has been able to seek out alternative rates through the program. Leicher estimated that around 80 to 85% of Harvard residents in 2022 were on renewable energy because of this program.
Harvard aggregation enrollment
If “Direct Energy (Harvard Aggregation)” is listed as your electricity supplier on page 2 of your monthly National Grid bill, then you are enrolled in the Community Choice Aggregation program and do not need to take action to receive the new rates. Residents or commercial users interested in joining the program should contact Harvard’s energy broker, Colonial Power, at 508-485-5858, to enroll.
