Wayland Energy Committee endorses fast-track May launch for electricity aggregation

WAYLAND — January 10, 2024 — Wayland Energy and Climate Committee votes 5-0 to fast-track a May launch of Community Choice Aggregation. The unanimous recommendation, which goes to Town Manager Michael McCall and the Select Board, would require signing a supply contract by early February to beat Eversource's basic service price reset in August. Peregrine Energy consultant Paul Gromer told the committee Eversource's current rate is roughly 17 cents per kilowatt-hour, down from 28 cents a year ago, and that nearby Holliston recently locked in a new three-year aggregation contract at 13 cents. "We've been waiting for a while, so I want to go as fast as we can go," Chair Ellen Tohn said. The committee separately reported the Select Board has inserted all three of its town meeting articles — adoption of the specialized opt-in stretch code with a Jan. 1, 2025 effective date, a solar PPA extension, and blanket Select Board PPA authorization for small municipal projects — into the warrant. A four-town "Plug In" heat pump and solar outreach campaign has drawn 350 survey responses, 94 from Wayland.