Nantucket PowerChoice is a municipal electricity aggregation, which is a form of group electricity purchasing.
Typically, your electric utility, National Grid, provides two sets of services to you:
But in Massachusetts, consumers actually have three options for electricity supply:
Municipal aggregation was unanimously approved at the 2016 Annual Town Meeting (Article 104) as a way to help the local community to save money and protect against dramatic seasonal price swings that have been difficult to predict and challenging for many to manage. Aggregation can also deliver greener power more cost effectively, including from island renewable energy sources.
Nantucket PowerChoice provides stable electricity supply prices, consumer protections like the ability to leave at any time with no fee or penalty, and local sustainability benefits. Learn more about Nantucket PowerChoice benefits and goals.
Municipal aggregation was unanimously approved at the 2016 Annual Town Meeting (Article 104). After a period of state regulatory review and approval, Nantucket PowerChoice launched with March 2017 meter reads.
The Town of Nantucket has signed a contract with First Point Power to supply electricity to Nantucket PowerChoice participants until November 2027. The Town intends to sign a new electricity supply contract when the current contract ends. The electricity supplier and renewable energy content may change, and the price may be higher or lower than the current price. You will continue in the same program option at the new price unless you inform the program otherwise. The Town will provide advance notice of any such changes, and you will be free to opt out or change your option before the changes take effect. However, if the Town decides the program is not beneficial to the community, it is free to cancel the program at the end of the current electricity supply contract and return all participants to National Grid’s Basic Service.
Municipal electricity aggregation was enabled by the Massachusetts Restructuring Act of 1997 (Chapter 164, Section 134), which allows local municipal governments to aggregate the electricity supply loads of the electricity consumers within their geographic boundaries in order to negotiate more favorable terms with an electricity supplier.
State law requires aggregations to use an automatic enrollment model. Nantucket did not have a choice as to whether the program would be opt in or opt out.
However, participation is never required. You have the option to opt out before being automatically enrolled, or you may try the program and leave later. There is never any fee or penalty to opt out, and you may do so at any time.
If you have received a notice of automatic enrollment from the Town, you do not need to take any action. Your account will be automatically enrolled after the opt-out deadline listed in the notice. View the most recent notice of automatic enrollment.
If you have not received a notice of automatic enrollment, you may request enrollment.
Visit the Participating page for more information.
To choose PowerChoice Green, complete the online form or call customer support at 844-241-8598.
Participation is open to all metered electricity accounts in Nantucket. And if you are the account holder, you make the decision about whether or not to participate.
For more details, please see the Participating page.
Yes. Any metered electricity account on Nantucket is eligible to participate. And if you are the account holder, you make the decision about whether or not to participate.
Yes, however if you opt out of the program and want to re-enroll, you are not guaranteed the program price when you re-enroll. There’s a possibility that you will be charged a higher market price instead of the program price for the remainder of the current electricity supply contract. If the program’s electricity supplier decides to charge market pricing, you will be notified before enrollment and can decide then whether to continue with enrollment or not.
Yes. Participation is never required. There is no fee or penalty to opt out, and you may do so at any time.
You will see two changes on your National Grid electric bill as a result of participating in Nantucket PowerChoice:
Additionally, the amount of electricity you receive from renewable sources will increase if you participate in PowerChoice Green.
Otherwise, everything else will remain the same. You will continue to receive your electric bill from National Grid, you will continue to pay National Grid, and you will continue to call National Grid if the power goes out.
If you are eligible for any discounts from National Grid, such as a low-income discount or fuel assistance, those discounts will be unaffected by your participation in Nantucket PowerChoice.
No. As a resident of Nantucket, National Grid will always handle your electric billing, whether or not you participate in Nantucket PowerChoice.
If you participate in Nantucket PowerChoice, the program will be integrated into your existing National Grid bill. Learn how to find Nantucket PowerChoice on your National Grid electric bill.
Nantucket PowerChoice will be integrated into your existing National Grid electric bill. You will not receive any additional bills because of participating in Nantucket PowerChoice.
National Grid continues to send your bill, and you continue to pay them using whatever method you have set up with them.
To see what your electric bill will look like, view an example bill.
The program will appear on your National Grid electric bill, and your Electricity Supply price will reflect the program option you are enrolled in. View an example National Grid bill to see where the program and price appear on your bill.
No. There will be no change in the consistency or reliability of the electricity coming into your home or business as a result of participating in Nantucket PowerChoice.
National Grid remains responsible for ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of electricity in Nantucket. Further, they have no preference whether they are your electricity supplier or you choose another supplier. National Grid does not profit from the supply portion of your bill. They make their profit from the delivery portion.
If you participate in a program option that includes additional electricity from renewable sources, it means more of the electricity that is put onto the grid on your behalf will come from renewable sources, but this does not change the overall reliability of the electricity on the grid.
Yes. If you are participating in community solar, or if you are receiving net metering credits or incentive payments for electricity produced by solar panels on your property, you will continue to receive your credits or incentive payments as a participant in Nantucket PowerChoice.
Further, there will be no change in how they are calculated. Their calculation is not connected to your electricity supply price.
However, you could see a benefit. If your Supply Services charge is lower because the Nantucket PowerChoice price is lower than National Grid’s Basic Service price, the credits or incentive payments could go further in offsetting that charge.
Please note, however, that because National Grid’s Basic Service prices change and their future prices are not known, savings compared with National Grid can never be guaranteed.
No. If your account is active in Nantucket PowerChoice at the time of a price change, you will be automatically enrolled in the new price for your program option when it goes into effect.
Tax-exempt accounts that wish to maintain their tax-exempt status in Nantucket PowerChoice must submit tax-exemption documentation to the program’s electricity supplier.
This means that tax-exemption documentation must be submitted each time the program’s electricity supplier changes.
The program’s electricity supplier is required by the State of Massachusetts to have valid tax-exemption documentation on hand for all tax-exempt accounts.
You may have submitted tax-exemption documentation to National Grid already, but National Grid does not share this documentation with the program’s electricity supplier. It is the customer’s responsibility to submit this documentation.
The price calculator allows you to calculate the monthly cost of participating in each Nantucket PowerChoice option and to compare each option to National Grid’s Basic Service price.
Nantucket PowerChoice prices are set through a competitive bid process, during which electricity suppliers submit price-based bids to supply electricity to Nantucket PowerChoice participants. The prices secured represent the most competitive prices the Town was able to obtain when the contract was signed.
While the program prices have a history of providing savings when compared with National Grid’s electricity supply prices, the Town cannot guarantee they will always be lower than National Grid’s prices. This is because while Nantucket PowerChoice prices are long-term prices, National Grid’s prices change every 6 months or less, and their future prices are not known. The price calculator will allow you to compare Nantucket PowerChoice prices with National Grid’s most recent 12-month average prices.
It is also possible that lower prices may be available through private electricity supply contracts. However, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office has found that most customers in private electricity supply contracts lose money. Private contracts can include features to watch out for:
In contrast, Nantucket PowerChoice is regulated by the state, conducts competitive procurements, signs fixed-price, long-term contracts, and is required to announce price changes.
Maybe! According to a report by UMass Amherst, the majority of communities with aggregation programs do see some savings compared with National Grid’s Basic Service prices.
However, Nantucket PowerChoice offers long-term fixed prices, while National Grid’s prices change every 6 months or less. As a result, savings compared with National Grid can never be guaranteed.
If you are not happy with the program, you are always free to leave the program at any time with no fee or penalty.
No. National Grid’s Budget Plan will continue to apply to your total bill.
If you are eligible for any discounts, including a low-income discount or fuel assistance, you will continue to receive that discount with no change.
No. The delivery portion of your electric bill is not impacted by whether or not you participate in Nantucket PowerChoice. These charges are regulated.
Offshore wind projects do not impact Nantucket PowerChoice prices.
The cost of offshore wind projects is collected through National Grid’s Delivery Services charges. National Grid purchases the output of the wind projects for a contract price and then sells that electricity into the wholesale market. National Grid then charges (or credits) the difference between the contract price and the market price as part of its Delivery Services charges.
Nantucket PowerChoice impacts only the Supply Services portion of the bill. It has no impact on or connection to the Delivery Services portion of the bill. Nantucket PowerChoice prices are set independently through a competitive bid process during which electricity suppliers compete based on price. Nantucket PowerChoice prices do not include the cost of offshore wind projects.
