Princeton has come to an agreement with an electric supplier under an energy aggregation program meant to save residents costs on their utility bills.
“The Princeton Community Renewable Energy Program will provide electricity supply to residents at a lower price than offered by PSE&G, with higher renewable energy content, and with no change to the level of service,” said a news release.
Energy aggregation allows local governments to bundle electricity accounts—such as the ones belonging to residents—in order to seek bids for cheaper energy rates. Electricity is then sold to this group of accounts together, at a bulk rate lower than one an individual customer could receive. Normally, customers of utilities like PSE&G receive electricity at a fixed rate.
Residents who do not opt out of the program by May 6 will be automatically enrolled and begin receiving electricity supply from the new supplier effective with their June 2020 meter read date.
The program was initiated in November 2019 when the town issued a request for proposals to procure affordable and clean, renewable electricity on behalf of its residents.
As a result of the request for proposals, the municipality has awarded a contract beginning in June 2020 to Constellation New Energy Inc. for energy supply to residents with 50% renewable energy and the opportunity to opt-in to a 100% renewable energy option. Prices are guaranteed for 18-months.
The awarded contract price is projected to be less than the PSE&G tariff price-to-compare on a per-kilowatt-hour basis, said the release. “Thus, all residents will receive an electricity supply with more than double the renewable energy content of the supply provided by PSE&G (50% renewable vs 24%), at a slightly lower cost ($.13053/kWh vs. $0.13508/kWh), and with no change to the level of service.
Eligible residents will receive a PCRE Program Notification mailer from CNE startling the middle of this month. The package includes an introductory letter from Mayor Liz Lempert, a program summary and FAQs.
Also provided will be information about how to opt out of the program for those who don’t wish to participate, or how to “opt up” to the 100% renewable energy product. Residents are free to remain with PSE&G or switch to another supplier.
Residents that already have a third-party electricity supplier or solar will not be enrolled and can contact PCRE-info@gabelassociates.com for more information.
An online public information session is set to be held on April 22 at 7 p.m., and Princeton’s energy consultant, Gabel Associates, will answer questions from residents. Residents that have questions they would like to ask during the Public Information Session can email them in advance to: PCRE-info@gabelassociates.com. More information on the session is available on the municipal website.
The PCRE program bars CNE from making unilateral changes to the contract price; require that CNE allow residents to leave the program at any time; and prohibit CNE from assessing termination fees, if and when a resident decides to opt-out of the program.
“We believe that the PCRE provides benefits by making power supply available with a higher renewable energy content, at a price slightly below the average PSE&G tariff price for power supply,” the news release says.
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