The Saugerties Village Board began its discussion of a proposal to join a consortium to buy electricity produced from non-polluting sources and at a lower cost than the conventional electricity market. The discussion came at the board’s December 21 meeting.
The Saugerties Town Board has been discussing the same proposal involving participation in a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) arrangement for some months.
Susan Murphy, a member of the Climate Smart Task Force, said she hopes the board would take up the issue of joining the Climate Smart Aggregation plan, which is designed to save money through bulk buying of electricity through a consortium of municipalities.
“If you have any questions or concerns, or a more complete presentation the topic, you can talk to the town board; they are very well versed in this,” Susan Murphy said at the board’s December 21 meeting, She had suggested the trustees talk to Jeff Domanski of Hudson Valley Energy, who outlined community choice aggregation at the December 7 board meeting. Hudson Valley Energy is the local representative of Joule Energy, which oversees aggregations of energy purchases throughout the northeast.
A CCA brings a majority of people in a number of communities together to bargain for a lower rate for electricity. When 75 or 80 percent of residents of several towns and villages band together, they can negotiate a lower price, and require that the energy they buy be from ‘clean’ sources such as wind or solar.
Mayor Bill Murphy said the board had only had a presentation on community choice aggregation at the previous meeting, and had not had time to consider it. That, he said, was why it was not on the agenda for the December 21 meeting.
“I have had several conversations with Freddy [town supervisor Fred Costello] before it was brought to my board,” Mayor Murphy said. It will take a few weeks to absorb all the information, “but we do plan on discussing it.”
Village board member Jeff Helmuth said he had understood that the village was already a part of the consortium that would be buying power through the municipal consortium. Jeannine Mayer, who has been working with the energy company, said she believed the village was already part of the consortium through the town, but has since been informed that the village would have to apply on its own.
Marcus “Skip” Arthur, a member of the town conservation advisory committee, said he recently moved to the village from the town. “I think CCA is a really good thing, it’s a win-win situation, getting lower prices and lowering your carbon footprint” he said. “I just wanted to encourage the board as a new member of the village to go ahead with this, and I’m very excited about it, and I would like to sit in and hear what you have to say about it.”
Mayor Murphy laid his cards on the table. “I’ll give you my one-minute concern,” he said. “I don’t like that it’s opt-out only. The idea that if the village agrees to it, everybody in the village is automatically signed up for it unless they opt out. Unless there’s a way they can get informed, that everybody who pays a utility bill to Central Hudson could get informed that they have to opt out if they [don’t want to be in it]. I don’t like the idea of signing 6000 people up and then saying, ‘If you don’t like it, you have to opt out yourself.’ That’s my only concern.”
Susan Murphy said that people would get a letter from the village after a lot of opportunity for them to educate themselves about it and public outreach. “I would hope people would not ignore mail from the village,” she said. The mail would be from the village formally,” she said, thought the operation would be paid for by the company. Still, the village would have to do some administrative work.
“I have a three-person office staff, and I don’t want to have to send 6000 letters out of this office,” said the mayor. Jeff [Domanski] hadmade it clear that his organization would take care of informing the villagers of the plan, including the letter, as well as additional information. “They’re taking the responsibility, the village board doesn’t have to do that. You have to pass a law, but they take on the information, and from what I understand the outreach is going to be significant.”
“I saw a sample letter the town sent out, and I’m not sure that everyone will be willing to read it,” he continued. “It was four pages of letters answering all kinds of questions, and to begin with I think it was more confusing. Everyone has to understand what it [community choice aggregation] is, and they have to opt out, and that is a major concern of mine.”
The notice of the proposed plan could be attached to the water bill, one of the ways the village gets information out, Mayor Murphy suggested. “We could put an announcement on our water bill saying be on the lookout for this [letter about the proposal].”
The discussion will continue at a future board meeting, Mayor Murphy said.
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