Last week, residents received an email—with a postcard scheduled to follow—about a change to the company that supplies electric power to a majority of town residents, as well as to the schools and town buildings. Starting in November, First Point Power will be the new power supplier for Harvard’s Community Choice Aggregation program.
At a Special Town Meeting in October 2016, Harvard voters approved Community Choice Aggregation, allowing the town to negotiate a bulk rate for electricity with a supplier, under a contract for a fixed period of time. Most residents now receive their electricity through the CCA.
For those residents, the transfer to First Point Power will be automatic, and they will not need to take any action. They will still receive their bills from National Grid, with First Point listed on the bill as the power supplier. National Grid, which owns the wires, remains the distributor of electric power. Its distribution costs per kilowatt-hour are added to the power supplier charges. People with solar panels or membership in the Harvard Solar Garden will continue to receive credits as before.
One advantage of a CCA was price stability, with a fixed rate for electricity for the duration of the contract. Another advantage was that the town had more choice about the source of electricity. A 2019 town survey showed that almost 90% of respondents wanted more of their electricity to come from renewable sources of power. As a result, that year the Select Board signed a contract to receive electricity generated 100% by renewable energy.
For residents currently in the CCA program, the 100% renewable energy plan is the default program. But customers can also choose a basic plan, which costs a fraction of a cent less per kWh and gets about 66% of its electricity from renewable sources.
Residents and businesses that are not members of the CCA and have arrangements with other electricity suppliers such as Constellation or Clearview will not be affected by the change to First Point Power. If those customers wish to join Harvard’s CCA, they will need to terminate their other contracts and “opt in” to either the default or the basic plan.
Those who want to change their current program or get more information can go to the homepage of the town’s new website at www.harvard-ma.gov and click on Public Notice/Community Choice Power Supply Program.
