Officials seeking less expensive electricity rates

Town Board members are reviewing possible participation in a program designed to reduce electricity costs for communities through bulk purchases.

The program was discussed during a meeting last week, when officials were given a presentation on the state Municipal Energy Program.

“The residents come together as one,” said Managing Director Edward Carey. “The residents form an aggregation together and you buy in bulk and you’re getting a discount.”

Carey said participation in the Good Energy program would allow residents to purchase electricity with-

out being committed to a long-term contract that is currently required when property owners want to end their use of Central Hudson as a provider. Good Energy is a consultant and broker for community aggregation of energy purchases.

“There is no contract,” he said. “So you can come into the program and you can exit the program at any time and there is no penalty.”

Central Hudson would

still be responsible for issuing electric bills but the portion paid for use would be adjusted based on the contract arranged under the community aggregation program.

Carey said the program can be customized to emphasize low cost or environmentally friendly generation.

“There’s nuclear power, there’s green power, there’s hydro power, there’s solar power...there’s also natural gas,” he said. “Natural gas is a primary feed stock that creates electricity. So, if there’s cheap gas right now, you’re getting cheap electricity

as well.”

Supervisor James Quigley said the board is expected to discuss the proposal during its April 5 meeting, but another two months will be

needed to make a decision.

“It’s a chance to give the community a chance for cost savings,” he said.

Information was not immediately available for the

amount of reductions that could be expected.

“I’ve been told that Central Hudson’s rates are some of the highest in the state,” Quigley said. “It (savings)

will depend upon the analysis that’s done once the plan is done and the administrator ... gains access to the billing data from Central Hudson.”