How aggregation works

Westborough Power Choice is a municipal electricity aggregation, which is a kind of group electricity buying program for a city or town.

  • Westborough buys electricity from an electricity supplier that it chooses.
  • You receive a new price for the electricity supply charge on your National Grid electric bill.
  • National Grid remains Westborough’s electric utility and continues to deliver your electricity, address power outages, and handle all billing as it does now.

Aggregation is possible because in Massachusetts we can choose our electricity supplier, which is the company that puts electricity on the grid for us. But we have no choice in our electric delivery utility.

Municipal electricity aggregation was enabled by the Massachusetts Restructuring Act of 1997 (Chapter 164, Section 134) and is regulated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.

Before aggregation

Before an aggregation launches, most customers have National Grid’s Basic Service. This means National Grid is supplying (buying) your electricity in addition to delivering it, and National Grid uses their Basic Service price to calculate the Supply Services charge on your bill. You are placed on National Grid’s Basic Service when you first open your account, and you can always go back to it.

National Grid’s Basic Service prices change every 6 months or less.

Diagram describing how supply and delivery works without Westborough Power Choice. Detailed description above after the header Before aggregation.

With an aggregation in place

With an aggregation, the electricity supplier chosen by Westborough, which is currently Direct Energy and changing to First Point Power in November, supplies your electricity. But National Grid continues to deliver your electricity without interruption. National Grid uses the price provided by the supplier to calculate the Supply Services charge on your bill instead of their Basic Service price. Under the contract with First Point Power, Westborough Power Choice prices are fixed until November 2027.

Diagram describing how delivery and supply works with Westborough Power Choice. Detailed description above after the header With an aggregation in place.

Your primary relationship for electricity remains with National Grid:

  • You continue to call National Grid if you lose power.
  • National Grid continues to send your bill, and this is the only electric bill you will receive as a participant in Westborough Power Choice.
  • You continue to send bill payments to National Grid.

If you are eligible for a low-income discount or fuel assistance, you continue to receive that benefit.

If you have National Grid’s Budget Plan, it continues to apply to your whole bill.

If you are participating in community solar, or 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 Westborough Power Choice. Further, there will be no change in how they are calculated. Their calculation is not connected to your electricity supply price.

 

Will you save money?

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, Westborough Power Choice 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.

Learn more about aggregation

Example National Grid bill
Participating
Renewable energy