Westborough Community Choice

Westborough Community Choice is a Town electricity program that gives Westborough residents and businesses an electricity supply alternative to National Grid Basic Service. It also helps to support Westborough’s sustainability efforts.

The program is an electricity aggregation. Allowed by Massachusetts law, electricity aggregation is form of group purchasing in which a city or town selects an electricity supplier on behalf of its residents and businesses.

This means National Grid delivers electricity to Westborough, but Westborough uses a competitive bid process to choose its own electricity supplier. The program goal is to provide a fixed price for the electricity supply portion of your National Grid bill that beats the average of National Grid’s Basic Service summer and winter rates. The program does not impact the delivery portion of your bill.

Westborough has selected Public Power as the Town’s current electricity supplier. The Town’s current contract is a 33-month contract with Public Power that runs from February 2018 meter reads through November 2020 meter reads.

Program Options

Westborough Community Choice offers participants two options:

  • Standard Offering: Like National Grid Basic Service, the Standard Offering meets the minimum state requirements for renewable energy, which means it meets the minimum Massachusetts Renewable Portfiolio Standard (RPS) requirements. You will be automatically enrolled in the Standard Offering unless you choose the Greener Option.
  • Greener Option: If you want 100% green energy in your electricity supply, you may choose the Greener Option. This option includes energy from a mix of renewable and alternative energy sources, including 20% more energy from new renewable projects (specifically from New England wind projects) than is required by the state. You may choose the Greener Option for a small premium by contacting Public Power directly at 1-800-830-2944.

Learn more about the pricing and energy mix for each option.

Program Benefits

Savings

The Westborough Community Choice program goal is to deliver savings, when compared with Basic Service, when costs are averaged across all months of the electricity supply contract. National Grid residential and commercial prices change every six months, and industrial prices change monthly. As a result, the program price will likely not always be below the National Grid Basic Service Price.

Choice

The program offers two alternatives to National Grid’s electricity supply: The Standard Offering and, for those who wish to make a more significant commitment to renewable energy, the Greener Option, which is 100% green. Learn more about the pricing and energy mix for each option.

Predictability

Westborough has negotiated a 33-month contract with Public Power. Your electricity supply price will not change before November 2020. (National Grid prices change twice a year or more, depending on rate class.)

All program terms are public, and there are no hidden costs.

How to join the program

All eligible residents and businesses were automatically enrolled and eligible for savings at the time of program launch, February 1, 2016. Eligible customers included residential and commercial National Grid Basic Service customers within the geographic boundaries of Westborough. Since launch, new National Grid accounts have been automatically enrolled into the program on a rolling basis. If you established your own contract with an electricity supplier, you may not have been automatically enrolled. But you may join the program if you wish by calling Public Power at 1-800-830-2944.

New in town? New Westborough residents who become National Grid Basic Service customers are eligible to participate in Westborough Community Choice. You should receive a letter in the mail explaining the program and your right to opt out. If you do not opt out within 30 days of the postmark on the letter, you will be automatically enrolled in the program with the Standard Offering. If you would like to be enrolled more quickly than the automatic enrollment process allows, contact Public Power directly at 1-800-830-2944 and ask to join.

Have a contract with a different electricity supplier? If you establish a contract with an electricity supplier on your own immediately after moving into Westborough, you are welcome to join Westborough Community Choice, but you will not be automatically enrolled. If you have such a contract, we recommend that you carefully check the terms and conditions of your electricity supplier agreement before you join Westborough Community Choice. Your ability to terminate your agreement with your supplier may be restricted. However, if you would like to join Westborough Community Choice, you may so so by calling Public Power at 1-800-830-2944.

Your experience as a new participant in Westborough Community Choice

As a program participant, you will see two changes on your National Grid electricity bill:

  1. A new price for the electricity supply portion of your bill
  2. The name of the electricity supplier selected by the town in place of National Grid Basic Service

What will not change:

  • You will continue to receive one bill from National Grid
  • National Grid will continue to deliver electricity, restore service after an outage, and maintain the poles and wires
  • Net metering will remain the same
  • Budget billing and low-income discounts will remain the same

No interruption in power, billing, or customer service

Participating in Westborough Community Choice impacts only your electricity supplier and the rate you are charged for the electricity supply portion of your National Grid bill. The program does not impact the delivery portion of your National Grid bill.

If you do not wish to participate

You do not need to participate in the Westborough Community Choice program if you do not wish to. You may opt out of the program at any time with no penalty or fee. If you choose to opt out, you will be returned to National Grid Basic Service. You have two choices for opting out:

  1. Complete the online form
  2. Call Public Power at 1-800-830-2944 and tell them you wish to opt out