Options To Lower Electric Bills For Newport Residents Beginning In May

NEWPORT, RI — Newport residents could be able to save on their electricity bills beginning later this spring, when city officials launch an energy aggregation program in May.

The program, Newport Community Electricity, was approved by the city council in December 2021 as part of an effort to provide new, competitively priced electricity supply options, including the use of more renewable energy.

City officials said under the initial terms of the program, Newport Community Electricity will offer a standard electricity option that will cost less than the current Last Resort Service rate from Rhode Island Energy while using 5 percent more renewable energy than required by state law.

The program will also offer three optional electricity options, including:

• A 100 percent renewable energy option
• A 50 percent renewable energy option
• An option with only the minimum amount of renewable energy required by state law for those seeking the lowest cost.

City officials said the electricity rates will be fixed over an initial six-month period from May 2023 through November 2023.

All the program’s additional renewable energy will come from several local Rhode Island projects, including sourcing power from wind turbines in Coventry and Providence and solar built on brownfields in Johnston, North Providence and West Greenwich, according to city officials.

All Newport residential and business electricity customers using Rhode Island Energy’s Last Resort Service electricity option are eligible for automatic enrollment in the program’s standard electricity option as of their May 2023 meter read date. In the beginning of March, all eligible customers will receive a notification letter on behalf of the city from the chosen electricity supplier for the program, NextEra Energy Services.

The letter will notify them of the upcoming enrollment and provide instructions on how to choose a different program option other than the standard or how to opt out of the program.

Anyone that does not want to participate in Newport Community Electricity may opt out without penalty.

The table below shows the prices for residential customers. Prices for commercial and industrial customers can be found on the program website:

Electricity customers who are currently enrolled with a third-party supplier will not receive the notification letter and will not be automatically enrolled. These customers can voluntarily join the program, but city officials advise they check with their current supplier in case it may charge penalties or early termination fees.

The city is part of a group of seven cities and towns in Rhode Island launching the state’s first municipal aggregation programs: Barrington, Central Falls, Narragansett, Newport, Portsmouth, Providence and South Kingstown. Each community is launching their own distinct program in May 2023, but combined their buying power to procure a common electricity supplier, Next Era Energy Services.

For more information about Newport Community Electricity, visit the program website, or call the program’s supplier, NextEra Energy Service, at 877-323-3049.