Waltham Community Electricity Program To Begin: What To Know

WALTHAM, MA — Climate experts and environmentalists say one of the most important things we can do when it comes to climate change is using more renewable electricity. But, until now, Waltham electric customers have had little say over how much of the energy they buy comes from renewable sources.

Now, Waltham is giving residents a choice when it comes to how green their electricity is beginning May 1.

The program, called Waltham Community Electricity, allows residents to choose how much (if any) renewable electricity they'd like their electric company to offer.

More than 125 communities in Massachusetts, including neighboring Newton and Boston, are already engaged in this type of electricity aggregation. The program will impact the supply charges on your Eversource electricity bill, but it's not required to participate.

Here's what to know about it:

What's the point:

Aside from begin to make a dent in efforts to curb climate change, the program is designed to provide more green electricity supply options for residents and businesses in Waltham. The program was approved by Waltham's City Council in 2018 and passed the Department of Public Utilities’ review in November 2020.

How does it work?

The program is an "opt-out program." That means, if you do nothing the program will give customers a default electricity rate has 10 percent more local renewable energy than the state requires. But the deal is that even with this option, the cost will be 9 percent lower than the Eversource Residential Basic Service electricity rate of $0.11795 per kilowatt-hour for the two-month period between May and June 2021.

However, future savings under Waltham Community Electricity compared to the Eversource Residential Basic Service rate are not guaranteed because future Basic Service rates aren't yet known.

The program will also offer three other choices:

• You can opt to 50 percent renewable electricity,
• You can opt to 100 percent additional renewable electricity,
• Opt down to receive no additional renewable electricity above the state law requirement.

The electricity rates will be fixed throughout the 31-month term of the electric supply agreement, through December 2023.

You can review the chart here to understand how much more additional clean renewable energy will cost at current prices, varying with the amount of electricity you use.

Why is it opt-out rather than opt-in?

According to consultants working on the project, having it an opt-out program increases the program's attractiveness to the energy companies and makes it so they are more likely to give a better rate.

When did Waltham start talking about this?

Waltham began a "broad-based education and outreach effort" to make residents and businesses aware of the program last month. Around March 15, the winning electricity supplier, Direct Energy sent out a letter on behalf of the city providing detailed program information and instructions on how to choose an optional the rate or how to opt out of the program.

The city held several community meetings to help explain what was happening, too.

Anything else?

Residents who are currently enrolled with a third-party electricity supplier will not receive a letter about the program and are not eligible for automatic enrollment. Furthermore, they may be subject to penalties or early termination fees from the third-party supplier if they were to switch to the Waltham Community program during the term of their contract.

For more information about the program, go to Waltham-CEA.com or call 866-968-8065.