New Electricity Program Saving Money for Town Residents, Businesses
Town expects residents and businesses to continue seeing net savings on their electric bills through October 2026.
Burlington residents saved around half a million dollars in the last quarter of 2024 under the municipal aggregation program, the first quarterly report shows.
The town initiated a two-year contract with Constellation New Energy in October 2024, and the quarterly report (which lags by a quarter) was presented at the April 28 Select Board meeting by town financial analyst, Sam Hockenbury.
Residents and businesses had the opportunity to opt out of the program and, while the average opt-out in this type of program is 8-9%, Burlington only saw a 5% opt-out. A hundred residents who weren't on the auto-enroll list, in fact, opted in to the program.
The monthly average savings for residential users was about $15.50, while commercial users saved $50 a month on average and industrial users (of which there are four, but which account for 3% of Burlington's total electricity usage) averaged a savings of $1,380 per month. The savings to the town totaled up to $511,945.
The municipal aggregation program rate stays stable for the length of the contract, but the Eversource rate changes periodically; while the town's rate might not always be below the utility's, the goal of the program, explained Hockenbury, is to save residents and businesses on average over the length of the program. The residential rate from Eversource changes each August and February, and while the change in February brought it closer to the town's rate, it's expected to rise again in the fall as natural gas demand increases.
The report for the first quarter of 2025 is expected in July. It won't show as much savings on electrical supply charges for residents, and commercial users might experience minor losses during this period. However, both are expected to maintain net savings overall. Industrial users should continue seeing substantial savings throughout the year.
The town is hopeful that the program will continue to save residents and businesses money throughout the length of the contract.
