SAUGUS — At a Special Town Meeting Monday evening, members voted unanimously to allow Town Manager Scott Crabtree to “initiate the process to research, develop, and participate in a contract or contracts for the aggregation of electrical supply,” which could lead to reduced electricity costs for residents.
Crabtree explained that the state program, which allows municipalities to “aggregate the electrical load of customers within their borders to procure competitive supply of electricity,” would allow the town to purchase electricity from a different supplier, potentially at a lower rate. The vote from Town Meeting members on Monday was to authorize Crabtree to begin the process of developing a plan, and with that authorization, he can work with the Department of Energy Resources to do so.
Once a plan is developed, it would be submitted to the Department of Public Utilities after a public posting and hearing process. As town manager, Crabtree has the power to negotiate contracts on behalf of the town and would not have to come back to Town Meeting to gain approval on a contract with a new electricity supplier.
Crabtree explained that the potential for lower rates is the result of other companies’ ability to purchase electricity at different times of year than National Grid, the town’s current supplier of electricity.
“A lot of communities are doing this all over the state and I’ve got a couple initial leads,” Crabtree said, noting that the program would include opt-outs for residents and businesses. “The data shows … communities paying considerably less in their kilowatt usage and delivery charges than with our supplier here in Saugus.”
The authorization, Crabtree said, does not mean the town would supply its own electricity like nearby Peabody, and would simply allow Saugus to shift its electricity supplier. Crabtree added that National Grid would still be responsible for delivering electricity to Saugus homes, and any issues residents run into would remain under National Grid’s purview.
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“This isn’t the town having its own municipal electricity or light company,” Crabtree said.
As Crabtree indicated, Saugus would be far from the first community statewide to join the aggregate program, as 176 communities — including Melrose, Salem, and Swampscott — have joined.
The authorization allows Crabtree to gather information, and he said he would disseminate more information to elected and appointed officials as well as members of the public when he learned more.
Town Meeting members also voted to reverse a previous vote taken at the Annual Town Meeting in May that allocated $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for budget expenditures that were no longer needed with the town’s financial position growing stronger.
Articles addressing bills from the previous fiscal year as well as the shifting of funds from salaries in the engineering department to expenses, a necessary move following a vacancy and the hiring of a consultant, were also unanimously approved by Town Meeting Monday.
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
