Electricity rates will rise for everyone in the coming year, but the hike will be a bit more modest for Lincoln Green Energy Choice (GEC) customers, even those enrolled in the program’s “100% Green” option.
Because of the war in Ukraine and other global factors, “there will be a significant increase in electricity bills in January whether or not you’re in program, but green electricity costs will hold steady,” Paul Shorb, chair of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee, said at the second State of the Town meeting on November 15.
Earlier this month, Eversource announced that its residential rate for the first six months of 2023 will be 25.649 cents per kilowatt hour — a jump of 30% over the 17.871¢/kWh for the current six-month period. Before that announcement, Lincoln GEC signed a new one-year contract, setting 2023 prices for its three program tiers — all of which are lower than the coming Eversource rate. The new GEC rates will be 21.206¢/kWh for Basic, 22.316¢/kWh for Standard Green, and 24.018¢/kWh for 100% Green.
Eversource adjusts its rates twice a year, while the GEC’s rates will be fixed for all of 2023, so it’s unclear what the price differential will be for the second half of the year. However, for those who sign up for the Lincoln program for the first time, there’s no risk.
“People are free to drop out of our program at any time, such as if the relevant Eversource rate then drops below ours,” Shorb told the Lincoln Squirrel. “I don’t think Eversource has beaten us on rates yet, but it could happen. Even if it does happen sometimes, we hope people will stay in our program, recognizing how much it reduces their personal contribution to the climate crisis that is now in progress.”
The GEC program tiers are priced according to the proportion of clean energy they provide. The state already requires that at least 20% of a utility’s energy supply come from renewable sources. Lincoln Basic adds another 2% to that, Lincoln Standard Green adds another 20% for 47%, and Lincoln 100% Green customers get all of their power from renewables.
Shorb noted in a November 27 LincolnTalk post that some have asked why a spike in fossil fuel prices would affect even the 100% Green option, which is based entirely on wind power. “That’s a great question with an interesting answer that I will unpack in a separate post,” he said.
More than 10% of Lincoln households have enrolled in the 100% Green option, and program customers have collectively saved more than $1 million since its inception, Shorb noted at the SOTT meeting.
Town meeting proposals
To further the goal of weaning the town from nonrenewable energy sources, the Green Energy Committee will propose two measures at the Annual Town Meeting in March. The first will ask voters to approve adoption of the new Specialized Municipal Opt-in Code released by the Department of Energy Resources in September that includes net-zero building performance standards and is designed to help the state meet its goal of 50% greenhouse gas emissions reduction from the 1990 baseline levels by 2030. The code is a third option beyond the basic code and the optional “stretch code” that’s already been adopted by most Massachusetts cities and towns.
- See the Green Energy Committee’s slides from the State of the Town meeting
The second measure will ask Lincolnites to go even further by asking for the state’s permission to ban fossil fuel hookups in new construction or major renovation projects. The home rule petition, if approved, will let Lincoln apply to join a pilot program as one of 10 Massachusetts municipalities to institute this requirement. Only cities and towns who’ve met the state’s 10% affordable housing target can qualify, and the requirements won’t apply to health care facilities and science labs, as explained by WBUR.
If approved, the new town bylaw will still allow standby generators that run on fossil fuels to be used in case of power failures, Shorb said.