Frequently asked questions

Nantucket PowerChoice is a municipal electricity aggregation, which is a form of group electricity purchasing.

Typically, your electric utility, National Grid, provides two sets of services to you:

1. They deliver your electricity. Delivery services appear on your bill as Delivery Services charges.
2. They also supply your electricity, which means they buy electricity for you and pass the cost along to you. The cost of the electricity they buy for you appears on your bill as your Supply Services charge.

But in Massachusetts, consumers actually have three options for electricity supply:

• Your utility can serve as your electricity supplier, as just described. This is called Basic Service, and this is what we all have when we first open our electricity accounts if we don’t make any other choices. National Grid’s Basic Service price changes seasonally.
• You can sign a private contract with an electricity supplier that locks in an electricity supply price. The duration of that price will depend on the contract you sign.
• Your municipal government can sign a contract with an electricity supplier that you benefit from. This third option is municipal electricity aggregation, and this is what Nantucket PowerChoice is. Nantucket PowerChoice locks in long-term, stable prices.

Learn more about how aggregation works.

Municipal Aggregation was unanimously approved at the 2016 Annual Town (Article 104) meeting as a way to help the local community to save money and protect against dramatic seasonal price swings that have been difficult to predict and challenging for many to manage. Aggregation can also deliver greener power more cost effectively, including from island renewable energy sources.

Learn more about Nantucket PowerChoice benefits and goals.

Nantucket PowerChoice is integrated into your National Grid electric bill, and you can use your bill to understand whether you are enrolled. If you are enrolled, you can also use your bill to understand which program option you are enrolled in.

Learn how to find Nantucket PowerChoice on your National Grid bill.

Nantucket PowerChoice prices are set through a competitive bid process, during which electricity suppliers submit price-based bids to supply electricity to Nantucket PowerChoice participants. The prices secured represent the most competitive prices the Town was able to obtain when the contract was signed.

While the program prices have a history of providing savings when compared with National Grid’s electricity supply prices, the Town cannot guarantee they will always be lower than National Grid’s prices. This is because while Nantucket PowerChoice prices are long-term prices, National Grid’s prices change every 6 months or less, and their future prices are not known. The price calculator will allow you to compare Nantucket PowerChoice prices with National Grid’s most recent 12-month average prices.

It is also possible that lower prices may be available through private electricity supply contracts. However, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office has found that most customers in private electricity supply contracts lose money. Private contracts can include features to watch out for:

• Low prices that rise sharply after the introductory period ends
• Short-term pricing
• Monthly variable pricing that takes effect after the initial contract term ends
• Early-termination fees

In contrast, Nantucket PowerChoice is regulated by the state, conducts competitive procurements, signs fixed-price, long-term contracts, and is required to announce price changes.

No. If your account is active in Nantucket PowerChoice at the time of a price change, you will be automatically enrolled in the new price for your program option when it goes into effect.

The price calculator allows you to calculate the monthly cost of participating in each Nantucket PowerChoice option and to compare each option to National Grid’s Basic Service price.

No change. National Grid’s Budget Plan will continue to apply to your entire bill.

And 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.

No. As a resident of Nantucket, National Grid will always handle your electric billing, whether or not you participate in Nantucket PowerChoice.

If you participate in Nantucket PowerChoice, the program will be integrated into your existing National Grid bill. Learn how to find Nantucket PowerChoice on your National Grid electric bill.

Yes. Participation is never required. There is no penalty or fee to opt out, and you may do so at any time.

• If you receive a notice in the mail that your account will be automatically enrolled, you may opt out of the program before being automatically enrolled.
• You may also try the program and opt out at any time in the future with no fee or penalty.

Yes. Any metered electricity account on Nantucket is eligible to participate. And if you are the account holder, you make the decision about whether or not to participate.

Yes. If you are receiving net metering credits or incentive payments for electricity produced by solar panels on your property, or you receive bill credits from participating in community solar, you will continue to receive your credits or incentive payments as a participant in Nantucket PowerChoice.

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 Nantucket PowerChoice price is lower than National Grid’s Basic Service price, the credits or incentive payments could go further in offsetting that charge.

Please note, however, that because National Grid’s Basic Service prices change and their future prices are not known, savings compared with National Grid can never be guaranteed.

Offshore wind projects do not impact Nantucket PowerChoice prices.

The cost of offshore wind projects is collected through National Grid’s delivery services charges. National Grid purchases the output of the wind projects for a contract price, and then sells that electricity into the wholesale market. National Grid then charges (or credits) the difference between the contract price and the market price as part of its delivery services charges.

Nantucket PowerChoice impacts only the supply services portion of the bill. It has no impact on or connection to the delivery services portion of the bill. Nantucket PowerChoice prices are set independently through a competitive bid process during which electricity suppliers compete based on price. Nantucket PowerChoice prices do not include the cost of offshore wind projects.

Nantucket PowerChoice prices are increasing because electricity prices are higher for all of New England than they were in the past.

Specifically, Nantucket last signed an electricity supply contract for Nantucket PowerChoice in 2021, when electricity prices were much lower than they are today. Since that time, electricity prices increased sharply as a result of the war in Ukraine, then they came back down some, but they remain elevated compared to where they were in 2021.

Natural gas prices drive electricity prices in New England because most of our electricity is generated by burning natural gas. The media has reported that the wholesale price of natural gas has dropped back to pre-war levels, so it would seem to make sense that electricity prices would also drop back to pre-war levels. But they have not, as the chart below shows.

The reason electricity prices have not returned to 2021 levels is that there is more than one wholesale price for natural gas:

• The price that dropped to pre-war levels is the “spot” price, which is a price for gas delivered currently.
• However, because the Nantucket PowerChoice contract is for electricity to be delivered over the next two years, the relevant natural gas price is the price for natural gas to be delivered over that time, which is a “forward” price.

As the chart below shows, forward natural gas prices have followed a similar trend as electricity prices: They have come down from their peak, but not to pre-Ukraine-war levels.

A good benchmark for Nantucket PowerChoice prices is National Grid’s Basic Service price. The Basic Service price shows a similar trend: The chart below shows that prices shot up in late 2022 with the Ukraine war, and while prices have come down since, they have not returned to pre-Ukraine-war levels.

Importantly, even with the recent increase, the price of Nantucket PowerChoice remains below National Grid’s Basic Service price, and on average, Nantucket’s price has been more than 25% lower than National Grid’s Basic Service price since program launch.