How aggregation works

Valley Green Energy is a municipal electricity aggregation, which is a kind of group electricity buying program for cities and towns.

  • The Valley Green Energy communities work together to buy electricity from an electricity supplier that they choose.
  • You receive a new price for the electricity supply charge on your Eversource or National Grid electric bill.
  • Your utility (Eversource or National Grid) remains the same 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. If you live in Amherst or Pelham, Eversource is always your electric delivery utility. If you live in Northampton, National Grid is always your 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 their utility’s Basic Service. This means your utility is supplying (buying) your electricity in addition to delivering it, and your utility uses their Basic Service price to calculate the Supply charge on your bill. You are placed on your utility’s Basic Service when you first open your account, and you can always go back to it.

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

With an aggregation in place

With an aggregation, the electricity supplier chosen by Valley Green Energy, which is First Point Power, supplies your electricity. But your utility continues to deliver your electricity without interruption. Your utility uses the price provided by First Point Power to calculate the Supply charge on your bill instead of their Basic Service price. Valley Green Energy prices are fixed until November 2026.

Diagram describing how supply and delivery works with Valley Green Energy. Detailed description above after the header With an aggregation in place.

Your primary relationship for electricity remains with Eversource or National Grid:

  • You continue to call Eversource or National Grid if you lose power.
  • You will continue to receive one bill from Eversource or National Grid. This is the only electric bill you will receive as a participant in Valley Green Energy.
  • You continue to send bill payments to Eversource or 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 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 of your 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 Valley Green Energy. 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 their utility’s Basic Service prices. At launch, the prices for the VGE Standard Green and VGE Basic options are lower than both Eversource’s and National Grid’s residential Basic Service prices.

However, Valley Green Energy offers long-term fixed prices, while Eversource’s and National Grid’s prices change every 6 months or less. As a result, future savings compared with Eversource or 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 Eversource bill
Example National Grid bill
Participating
Implementation process