Athol residents, officials, review aggregation plan

ATHOL – Town officials and interested residents attended a recent presentation for a municipal aggregation plan and how it could benefit the community.

Held on Tuesday, July 15, the forum was led by Dr. Kevin Kelly, CEO of Crimson Power Solutions, the town’s consultant for the program.

According to Electric Power Division of the state website, “municipal aggregation is the process by which a municipality purchases electricity in bulk from a competitive supplier on behalf of the residents and businesses within the community.”

Benefits include potential cost savings and price stability.

Athol Town Meeting approved an aggregation plan at the 2012 Town Meeting, though it was never put into action. Town Manager Shaun Suhoski said attempts were made with other towns to submit an application to the state, but it was denied. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, the matter was set aside.

“Then, more recently, with all the focus on power and costs, and with the Energy Committee getting involved, we retained a consultant to bid all our energy for (the town) and the school district,” Suhoski said. “So, we got competitive pricing on the town’s municipal energy, and it kind of morphed into the push to get aggregation moving again.”

Kelly said that 167 cities and towns in Massachusetts have approved a municipal aggregation plan. Many third-party energy suppliers can offer electricity, he explained, but the power needs to be transmitted by, in Athol’s case, National Grid.

“Under aggregation, which is what we’re talking about here, we’re pooling everybody in the town and going out and, hopefully, getting a more attractive bid than if you went out on your own,” he added. “Or you can stay with your utility, and that would be basic service from National Grid.”

Individual customers could also sign up with the third party supplier of their choice. National Grid, Kelly explained, normally adjusts its electricity rates every six months, meaning that aggregation could provide more stability when it comes to pricing. Kelley added that customers who sign up long-term with a third-party supplier can be charged a penalty if they decide to exit the contract early.

Athol electricity consumers will automatically be signed up to participate in the program once it goes into effect, though they have the right to leave it. Customers who sign up for aggregation will still receive their utility bill from National Grid, and service and billing questions will go through the utility company. No changes will be made to meters.

Kelly noted that Massachusetts mandates a certain percentage of electricity to come from renewable sources. Currently, 64% percent of electricity must come from green energy and that will increase to 75% by 2027. Athol customers will have the option of choosing 100% green energy, he said.

Town Energy Committee Chair Aimee Hanson asked when Athol customers will be signed up for the program.

“We work with the commonwealth to get the program finally approved,” Kelly responded. “Once we get the okay to go out to the marketplace, then we can secure the energy and get a start date. If you’d asked me a year ago, I probably would have said about 10 months. But the program has been updated over the past year. If not the end of the year, I would say into the winter of ’26 or so. I don’t think it will be much before that.”

Planning and Development Director Eric Smith said the town’s aggregation plan has to be available for review by residents for 90 days, and documents submitted by the town must be reviewed by the state.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.