Village wary of electricity program
Village Board members are not enamored with the prospect of establishing an ordinance that would set a community electricity provider.
The concerns were raised during a video conference meeting Monday, with Mayor Bill Murphy saying that residents should not be caught in the position where they don’t realize they have to request to stay with Central Hudson.
“Unless there’s a way that every person that pays utility bills with Central Hudson get informed that they have to opt out, I don’t like that idea of this board automatically signing 6,000 people up and then saying, ‘if you don’t like it, you have to opt out yourself,’” he said.
Under a community aggregate program, the municipality would participate with other communities to obtain bulk- purchasing discounts for electricity, which would be reflected as the supply portion of a bill, while Central Hudson would still have charges for the delivery costs.
The choice by a municipality would then make a company other than Central Hudson the default electricity provider for residents.
Murphy said there would need to be a comprehensive effort to make sure people understand the steps needed if they want to keep Central Hudson as an electricity supplier.
“I think the plan’s great but a lot of people don’t have internet access and don’t pay attention,” he said.
“It’s like Apple iTunes,” Murphy said. “You get a free
30 days and if you don’t decline after 30 days they start billing you monthly for it.”
Trustee Terry Parisian said that information proposed to be used about opting out of the town program looks similar to junk mail.
“I saw a copy of sample letter sent out by the town and my first impression ... was that it was propaganda from an (electric company) and I’m not sure that everyone will be willing to read it,” he said. “It was four pages... answering all kinds of questions, and if you’re confused to begin with, I think it’s more confusing.”
Similar programs have
been approved in other municipalities, where officials have been told there would be an anticipated savings of about 10% annually by changing providers. It also allows municipalities to determine whether to support companies that generate electricity through wind, solar, hydro or fossil fuel production.
Hudson Valley Energy representative Jeff Domanski earlier this year told Town Board members that getting the best rates comes from having between 25,000 to 50,000 meters guaranteed to a specific electricity producer.
Village officials note that they have to determine whether to sign onto the program separately from the town.