How aggregation works

Municipal electricity aggregation is a form of group electricity purchasing. Electricity aggregation replaces your electricity supplier, and it changes the price that Eversource uses to calculate the supply charges on your electricity bill. In addition, aggregation can increase the amount of renewable energy in your electricity supply. But electricity aggregation does not replace Eversource as your electric utility or change the delivery charges on your electricity bill.

Here’s how it works:

Without Acton Power Choice

(Unless you already have a contract with an electricity supplier)

Typically, Eversource provides two services to you as an electricity customer, and your electricity bill includes charges for both of these services:

Electricity delivery	Eversource’s primary role is as an electricity delivery company. They deliver electricity to you, maintain the poles and wires, and address power outages. They charge you for these services on the delivery charges on your electricity bill.
Electricity supply	For most people, Eversource also provides a second service, which is as an electricity supplier. They purchase electricity on your behalf and charge you in the supply charges for the amount you use. When Eversource is your electricity supplier, you have Eversource’s Basic Service. When you first open your electricity account, you are placed on Eversource’s Basic Service.

The diagram below shows Eversource both delivering and supplying electricity.

Eversource’s fixed Basic Service prices change seasonally, every 6 months for residential and commercial customers and every 3 months for industrial customers, and future prices are not known.

With Acton Power Choice

In an electricity aggregation like Acton Power Choice, Eversource continues to deliver your electricity and you continue to call them when the power goes out, but you no longer have Eversource’s Basic Service for the supply portion of your electricity bill. Instead, the Town of Acton uses the bulk purchasing power of the community to negotiate a contract with an electricity supplier on behalf of residents and businesses and to determine both the price of the community’s electricity supply and whether any additional renewable electricity is included. If you participate in Acton Power Choice, Eversource uses the Acton Power Choice price to calculate the supply charges on your electricity bill instead of their own Basic Service price.

The Acton Power Choice price is a fixed, long-term price that does not change seasonally.

What changes with the program

If you participate, you will see two changes on your Eversource electricity bill:

Acton’s electricity supplier, Constellation, will be listed on your bill as your electricity supplier

Eversource will use the Acton Power Choice price to calculate the supply charges on your electricity bill instead of their own Basic Service price.

Otherwise, your primary relationship for electricity will remain with Eversource. This means:

You will continue to receive one bill from Eversource. This is the only electricity bill you will receive as a participant in Acton Power Choice.

You will continue to call Eversource if your power goes out. Eversource will continue to deliver electricity, restore electricity service after a power outage, and maintain the poles and wires.

If you receive net metering credits from solar panels on your Eversource bill, you will continue to receive them, and those will continue to be calculated using Eversource’s Basic Service price, not using the Acton Power Choice price.

If you are eligible for a low-income discount, you will continue to receive that discount.

Participating in the program

All new electricity customers in Acton will be automatically enrolled in Acton Power Choice within a few months of opening the account. Automatic enrollment is state law.

You will receive a notification in mail from Acton before being automatically enrolled with information about the program. If you do not wish to participate, you may opt out before being automatically enrolled or any time after enrollment, with no penalty. If you choose to opt out, Eversource will continue to be your electricity supplier, and Eversource will use their own Basic Service price to calculate the supply services portion of your electricity bill.

*** Please note: The notification letter will come in an envelope bearing the Acton Town Seal, and the letter itself will bear both the Acton Town seal and Acton Town Manager John Mangiaratti’s name. If you receive a communication that does not include the Town seal, it is not from the Town of Acton. ***