New Valley Green Energy electricity program will bring cleaner electricity, stable electricity prices, and new electricity choices
The Town of Amherst, City of Northampton, and Town of Pelham are pleased to announce the Valley Green Energy electricity program. The program is a municipal electricity aggregation, which is a type of group electricity purchasing program. Through Valley Green Energy, the communities will use their collective buying power to increase the amount of renewable electricity in the electricity supply for all three communities. The program will also provide new electricity choices for residents and businesses, giving electricity customers greater control over the price and environmental impact of the electricity they use. While Valley Green Energy will not be able to guarantee lower prices compared with National Grid and Eversource Basic Service prices, the communities are committed to working toward providing prices that are competitive and stable for the long term.
Valley Green Energy will not replace each community’s electric utility. Instead, the program will be integrated into existing electric bills, and it will change the price used to calculate the Supply charge from the utility’s Basic Service price to a Valley Green Energy price. Eversource will continue delivering electricity to Amherst and Pelham and handling billing, and National Grid will continue delivering electricity to Northampton and handling billing.
Before launching the program, the communities must develop an Aggregation Plan and submit it to state regulators for review and approval. To ensure the public has an opportunity to be a part of developing this program, the draft Aggregation Plan for Valley Green Energy will be available for public review and comment from June 1 until June 30.
An overview of the Plan will be presented at a virtual public information session on June 6, 2023 at 6:30 PM. The meeting can be accessed via Zoom. Information about participating can be found on the Calendar page of each municipality’s website.
Those interested in reviewing the Plan can download it from each community’s website at the links below. Residents and business owners are encouraged to review the plan and submit written comments via U.S. mail or via email. Information about how to submit comments is available on the same web page:
Hard copies of the draft documents will also be available in the Amherst Inspections Office (2nd Floor), Northampton City Hall, and the Pelham Town Clerk’s office. Comments sent by mail must be received (not postmarked) by the end of the comment period in order to be addressed.
For additional information about Valley Green Energy and answers to frequently asked questions, please visit the new program website at: www.MassPowerChoice.com/ValleyGreenEnergy or call customer support with the Valley Green Energy program consultants at 1-844 202-6033.
Contact: Stephanie Ciccarello, Director of Sustainability (413) 259-3149 Ciccarellos@amherstma.gov
