Town Of Arlington: More Than 1,000 Arlington Households Chose Renewable Energy In 2021

Press release from Town of Arlington:

02/17/2022 12:00 PM

After just over one year of effort, volunteers with the Arlington Community Electricity (ACE) program have succeeded in signing up more than 1,100 Arlington residents to make the switch to 50% and 100% renewable energy. ACE is a carefully designed program offered by the Town of Arlington to provide greater options for electricity supply and more renewable energy to residents and businesses. The Town and local volunteers need just 400 residents to sign up for the 100% and 50% options to meet their outreach goal of 1,500 sign ups.

Participants enrolled in the program used an additional 15.1 million kWh of renewable energy in 2021, enough to power 2,600 Arlington homes entirely on renewables. That voluntary demand is substantial. By opting for renewables through ACE, customers collectively reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by 10.9 million pounds, equivalent to the annual emissions from over 1,000 passenger vehicles on the road.

“The program is an instrumental component of the Town’s Net Zero Action Plan, by providing residents and businesses tiered options all the way up to 100% renewable energy,” said Adam Chapdelaine, Arlington’s Town Manager. “I commend the many volunteers who have been actively promoting the program, which provides these options to reduce carbon pollution and support the development of renewable electricity sources in New England.”

The program has engaged in community outreach for the 100% option in several ways, including through lawn signs that participants can place at their homes throughout the town. By letting neighbors know that they have signed up for 100% renewable energy, residents can help spread the word about the value of the program. 

“We’ve set out around 150 lawn signs by now, all around Arlington,” said Alan Linov, a volunteer with the Climate Action Working Group at First Parish Unitarian Universalist in Arlington. “I’ve been distributing the lawn signs since the fall, and the sign requests have kept coming, showing a strong interest in the community. People can request a lawn sign on the program website, which makes it simple to reach us.”

Beyond increasing demand for renewables sourced from New England, the program also provides stable electricity rates. Individuals in Arlington who have chosen not to participate in the program may be surprised upon opening their electricity bill in February and seeing the increase in the Basic Service rate from Eversource, which is now 15.764c/kWh for residential customers from January to June 2022.  In comparison, the default Local Green product from ACE costs only 11.029c/kWh and includes an additional 11% of renewable energy (in MA Class I Renewable Energy Certificates, the cleanest standard in Massachusetts); 100% renewable energy through ACE costs 13.699c/kWh. This translates to a savings of approximately $23 per month for residents with the Local Green product, and approximately $10 per month for residents who have opted up to 100% renewable energy.

Note that participation in the ACE program affects only the supply portion of a participant’s bill—the delivery portion is unaffected; any discounts that received from the utility are also unaffected by participation in the program. Future savings, beyond June 2022, cannot be guaranteed because future Eversource rates are unknown.

Information about the program, along with forms to enroll in the program or sign up for 100% renewable energy, can be found on the program website ACE.arlingtonma.gov. For more information about ACE and other Town sustainability programs, please contact Talia Fox, Sustainability Manager at 781-316-3428 or tfox@town.arlington.ma.us.

This press release was produced by Town of Arlington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.