Framingham Community Electricity 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:
For a brief overview of Framingham Community Electricity, click here. (PDF)
Framingham Community Electricity provides more renewable energy, stable electricity supply prices, and consumer protections . Learn more about program benefits.
Municipal aggregation was approved at the March 15, 2022, City Council meeting. After a period of state regulatory review and approval, Framingham Community Electricity will launch with March 2025 meter reads.
The City of Framingham has signed a contract with First Point Power to supply electricity to Framingham Community Electricity participants until March 2027. The City 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. However, if the City decides the program is not beneficial to the community, it is free to cancel the program at the end of the current supply contract and return all participants to Eversource’s Basic Service. The City 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.
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. Framingham 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 City, 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.
To choose Framingham Green Plus or Framingham Basic, complete the online form or call customer support at 1-844-202-6226.
Participation is open to all metered electricity accounts in Framingham.
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 Framingham Community Electricity:
Additionally, the amount of electricity you receive from renewable sources will increase if you participate in Framingham Standard Green or Framingham Green Plus.
If you have Eversource’s Budget Billing, it will continue to apply to the Delivery portion of your bill, but it will no longer apply to the Supply portion.
Otherwise, everything else will remain the same. You will continue to receive your electric bill from Eversource, you will continue to pay Eversource, 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 Framingham Community Electricity.
Framingham Community Electricity will be integrated into your existing Eversource electric bill. You will not receive any additional bills because of participating in Framingham Community Electricity.
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 option you are enrolled in. 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 Framingham Community Electricity.
Eversource remains responsible for ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of electricity in Framingham. 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.
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 Framingham Community Electricity.
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 Framingham Community Electricity 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.
Program prices are available on the Prices 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. At program launch, the prices for Framingham Standard Green and Framingham Basic are lower than Eversource’s residential and small business Basic Service prices.
However, Framingham Community Electricity 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 the Delivery potion of your bill, but it will no longer apply to the Supply portion of your bill. If it is important to have Budget Billing applied to your whole bill, you should opt out of Framingham Community Electricity.
No. The delivery portion of your electric bill is not impacted by whether or not you participate in Framingham Community Electricity. These charges are regulated.
