Wayland Electricity Choice is a municipal electricity aggregation, which is a type of group electricity buying program.
Typically, your electric utility, Eversource, provides two sets of services to you:
But in Massachusetts, consumers actually have three options for electricity supply:
Wayland Electricity Choice provides long-term, stable pricing, the potential to save compared with Eversource (though savings cannot be guaranteed), and the consumer protections that come with a regulated, municipal program, including the freedom to leave at any time with no fee or penalty. Learn more about program benefits.
Municipal aggregation was approved at the May 15, 2021, Town Meeting. After a period of state regulatory review and approval, Wayland Electricity Choice launched with May 2024 meter reads. Learn more about the program implementation process.
The Town of Wayland has signed a contract with First Point Power to supply electricity to Wayland Electricity Choice participants until June 2028. The Town intends to sign a new electricity supply contract when the current First Point Power 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 program 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 before the new contract takes 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 First Point Power electricity supply contract and return all participants to Eversource’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. Wayland 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. Opt out.
In the past: Wayland Electricity Choice has supported renewable energy by purchasing more renewable energy certificates (RECs) than are required by Massachusetts state law for two program options, Wayland Standard Green and Wayland 100% Green. State law promotes renewable energy projects by enabling them to sell RECs based on their electricity generation and requiring electricity providers, including utilities like Eversource, to buy certain amounts of RECs each year. The goal of purchasing the extra RECs is to build demand for renewable energy above the state’s required REC purchase levels and thereby drive the development of still more renewable energy projects.
From the program’s launch in May 2024 through December 2025, participants in the Wayland Standard Green and Wayland 100% Green options together helped our community boost more renewable power generation by purchasing more RECs than the state’s required purchase levels. Wayland’s incremental REC purchases helped our region avoid generating 5,264 metric tons of CO2 from buying electricity from power plants using fossil fuels. That saved CO2 is equivalent to the emissions associated with driving more than 13 million miles in a passenger vehicle. This is something we can all feel good about.
Now: Current federal government policies are slowing the building of new renewable energy projects by ending multiple federal tax and other financial incentives, slowing or revoking permits, and imposing other regulatory barriers. In effect, our incremental REC purchases from Wayland Standard Green and Wayland 100% Green are not fostering the development of new renewable energy projects.
The new Wayland Electricity Choice structure: For that reason, for the next contract period beginning in May, the Wayland Electricity Choice program structure will change from three options to a single option, which includes only the minimum REC purchases required by state law. Beginning in May, Wayland Electricity Choice will no longer include options to foster the purchase of additional RECs above the state requirement because, at this time, the extra cost associated with buying those additional RECs is not facilitating the development of new renewable energy projects. Participants in the Wayland Standard Green and Wayland 100% Green options will be shifted to the new single option. The Town of Wayland hopes this will be temporary and will continue to explore alternate and cost-effective ways that our aggregate electricity purchases can support new renewable power plants.
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 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.
Participation is open to all metered electricity accounts in Wayland.
For more details, please see the Participating page.
Yes, however, if you opt out and then wish to re-enroll in the program, you are not guaranteed the program price when you re-enroll. The electricity supplier is entitled to charge you a market price for the remainder of the current electricity supply contract, which may be higher. 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.
You will see two changes on your Eversource electric bill as a result of participating in Wayland Electricity Choice:
Otherwise, everything else will remain the same. You will continue to receive your electric bill from Eversource, you will continue to pay Eversource using whatever method you have set up with them, and you will continue to call Eversource if the power goes out.
If you are eligible for any discounts from Eversource, such as a low-income discount or fuel assistance, those discounts will be unaffected by your participation in Wayland Electricity Choice.
If you have Eversource’s Budget Billing, it will continue to apply to your total bill.
Wayland Electricity Choice will be integrated into your existing Eversource electric bill. You will not receive any additional bills because of participating in Wayland Electricity Choice.
Eversource 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 Eversource electric bill, and your Generation Service Charge will reflect the program price. View an example Eversource 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 Wayland Electricity Choice.
Eversource remains responsible for ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of electricity in Wayland. Further, they have no preference whether they are your electricity supplier or you choose another supplier. Eversource does not profit from the supply portion of your bill. They make their profit from the delivery portion.
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 Wayland Electricity Choice.
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 electricity supply charge is lower because the Wayland Electricity Choice price is lower than Eversource’s Basic Service price, the credits or incentive payments could go further in offsetting that charge.
Please note, however, that because Eversource’s Basic Service prices change and their future prices are not known, savings compared with Eversource can never be guaranteed.
Tax-exempt accounts that wish to maintain their tax-exempt status in Wayland Electricity Choice 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 Eversource already, but Eversource does not share this documentation with the program’s electricity supplier. It is the customer’s responsibility to submit this documentation.
The Wayland Electricity Choice price for May 2026 – June 2028 is 14.776 ¢/kWh. More details are available on the Pricing page.
To see how much your monthly supply charge will be, use the calculator.
Maybe! According to a report by UMass Amherst, the majority of communities with aggregation programs do see some savings compared with Eversource’s Basic Service prices.
However, Wayland Electricity Choice offers long-term fixed prices, while Eversource’s prices change every 6 months or less. As a result, savings compared with Eversource 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.
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.
If you have Eversource’s Budget Billing, it will continue to apply to your total bill.
No. The delivery portion of your electric bill is not impacted by whether or not you participate in Wayland Electricity Choice. These charges are regulated.
