Methuen Energy Program Will Save Ratepayers $900K in Electricity Costs

Methuen Mayor ZanniMethuen residents and business owners will save more than $900,000 annually thanks to the newly created Methuen Community Choice Power Supply program.

The City of Methuen and Colonial Power Group, Inc. announced that they have entered into a two-year agreement to bring significant energy cost-savings to the city’s residents and small businesses through this initiative.

“We’ve seen how the spikes in the cost of electricity can be burdensome for Methuen residents,” said Mayor Stephen Zanni. “We’re pleased to work with Colonial Power to offer Methuen residents and small business owners the opportunity to have a more stable and lower cost energy option.”

The new program will help residents substantial savings on electricity costs. Participating residents and businesses in Methuen will see an annual savings of about 7% in their monthly energy bills. The program will provide a combined savings of more than $78,000 per month for the city’s homes and businesses. Methuen’s long-term managed product plan allows pricing to be adjusted every six months to secure optimal savings for residents and small business owners.
“The Methuen Community Choice program provides price stability, local control, and competition while also lowering the burden of energy costs for Methuen’s residents and business community,” said Mark Cappadona, President of Colonial Power Group, Inc.

Under the program, residents will not notice any change in their electricity service. The only difference will be that TransCanada of Westborough, Mass., will be printed under the “Supplier Services” on monthly bills. Residents and small business owners will continue to receive one bill from National Grid and to send payments to National Grid for processing. There will be no interruption in billing, power, or customer service.

Municipal electricity aggregation allows cities and towns to pool the electrical consumption of all ratepayers in their jurisdictions and competitively procure lower cost electricity supply on behalf of the participants. The aggregation allows the municipality to obtain better pricing than individual residents and business owners could due to economies of scale. Colonial Power works with state officials, utility executives, and energy industry leaders to facilitate the purchase of electricity at a rate lower than basic service rates. No action is required by ratepayers to participate in this cost-saving program. The program will be operated on an opt-out basis, meaning that all Methuen residential and business customers currently on National Grid’s basic service will be automatically enrolled into the program unless they choose to opt out.