Newton To Lead State in 'Green' Power Under New Renewable Energy Contract

NEWTON, MA – Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has signed a new two-year contract with Newton Power Choice, which will provide Newton customers with electricity that is 95 percent from renewable sources – making the city the leader in the state for "green" power.

The renewable sources include solar and wind power, and will significantly reduce Newton’s carbon footprint, Fuller wrote in an email newsletter on Thursday.

The new contract increases the amount of renewable electricity (known as “Class 1 Recs”) by another 11 percent from 84 percent in the current contract, bringing the level of electricity coming from renewable sources up to 95 percent. This level is significantly higher than the state minimum required amount of Class 1 green power which is 22 percent this year, 24 percent in 2024, and 27 percent in 2025.

Newton Power Choice is the city’s “municipal aggregation” program, meaning communities can choose the electric supplier for their electricity, rather than having the city’s local utility, Eversouce, buy the electricity.

However, Eversource will continue to deliver electricity to Newton residents, and customers can continue to contact Eversource if their power goes out and can expect to be billed by them. The difference is that Newton now selects the supplier of the electricity for customers rather than leaving it up to the utility.

Fuller said she bidded for the contract on Wednesday, despite the current contract not expiring until January 2024, for financial reasons.

“We concluded that an earlier power procurement would be advantageous for customers in terms of price,” Fuller wrote in the newsletter.

Newton’s current contract will remain in place until it expires in January.

The standard or default level in the new contract is 95 percent green power, which customers will purchase automatically. Newton Power Choice will continue to offer customers other choices as well, such as:

• To opt up to 100 percent renewables
• To opt down to the amount of renewables (22 percent) mandated by the State
• To choose Eversource Basic Service rather than Newton Power Choice

The electricity prices under the new contract, which starts January 2, 2024, are listed below:

• Standard: 17.18 cents/kWh
• 100% Green: 17.36 cents/kWh
• Basic (only State-required amount of renewable power): 14.36 cents/kWh

For comparison, here are the prices under the existing contract, which expires on January 1, 2024:

• Standard: 13.5 cents/kWh
• 100% Green: 14.5 cents/kWh
• Basic (only State-required amount of renewable power): 10.6 cents/kWh

Fuller wrote that prices are expected to rise, but said the increase in the new contract is “almost entirely due to a 35 percent increase in the non-green electricity power supply,” due in part to the war in Ukraine.

Under the new contract, Fuller wrote the median Newton customer will pay these amounts for electricity:

• Standard: $94.49/month
• 100% Green: $95.48/month
• Basic (only State-required amount of renewable power): $78.98/month

Newton is expected to lead the state at 95 percent green power with the Newton Power Choice program. Nearby cities and towns such as Acton, Brookline, and Lowell, get 66 percent, 69 percent, and 69 percent of their energy from renewable sources, respectively.

Low-income residents may qualify for Eversource’s low-income rate, which provides a discount of approximately one-third. These customers may also qualify for a reduction in their electricity bills from Newton’s low-income solar program.